Life is full of obstacles - and sometimes we just get stuck.
It's the journey through those challenging situations that proves to be the most valuable for us in life. Those who are willing to stay the course – even with repeated failures – will come out successful on the other side.
John Maxwell says, "In order to achieve your dreams, you must embrace adversity and make failure a regular part of your life. If you're not failing, you're probably not really moving forward." There is no great success story today that is not coloured by failures. Not one!
I have had the privilege of sharing insights about life with people of different age, gender, class and faith; and one thing keeps resonating: that our willingness to embrace whatever life throws at us as a challenge and the resolve to keep pushing the boundaries of our lives, will go a long way to help us navigate the difficult terrains of this life. We cannot afford to stay on one spot and keep crying and whinning about how difficult life is or hoping and believing that one day the utopia we have always wished for will drop on our laps just like that.
See, God is not a magician. He is a God of principle, plan and purpose. He has put in motion certain laws in life that have a direct impact and effect on our lives. We have to be courageous to face up to the issues of life with great determination and aim high for the best that life has to offer. We have to be bold in the face of challenges and resolve not to back out or back down in the presence of that seemingly overwhelming situation. We have to convince ourselves that there is more to us than we are yet to see and fully exploit for our own advantage. We have to stand rooted in our determination to see to it that we are the superintendents of what life has to offer. We have to be strong in the face of those things that might pressure us to derail in our resolve to make life happen.
In the words of the Late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, “Life is certainly unfair. It gives to you only the things you demand of it!”. How more succinctly can this be put? Our defining moments in life can only come at the point of resolving to confront the status quo, and raise the bar considerably.
You have remained in that position simply because you have refused to move.
Remember, the Law of Inertia?
Even God told Moses to instruct the children of Israel to move forward when they were stuck in the same position for a long time. He charged them that it was time to make advancement and confront their fears. Are you making movements but no direction? It’s worthy of note to take a learning from the situation the children of Israel found themselves many years ago:
Here they were, the Red Sea was ahead of them and the vicious, cruel Egyptian Army was raging behind them. They got to their wits end; and what they resorted to was to blame others for their failures and predicaments – and try to shift blames to explain away their failures. Does this remind you of what you do most of the times?
God had a clear charge for them, ‘move forward’. This was the most ridiculous of instructions coming from God! How dare He commands us to get ourselves drown in this horrendous water? What kind of a God will see death and tell us to walk straight into it? How wicked can this God be? If He cared so much about us, why would He take us from Egypt to kill us in this wilderness? God was undeterred about their complaints, murmurings and whining. God was firm about His instructions, ‘quit whining and mourning over what did not happen; and go make things happen!’
Of course, the rest is history. God saw an opportunity in their adversity. He saw victory in their challenge.
Friend, this is the time to reach for what is ahead of you. No matter what you are surrounded with or by, there is a great treasure ahead of you that is yet to be unwrapped! The present may be so bleak and blurred, the future is surely bright. Don’t give up your future because of the present challenge(s) of today. Don’t allow your courage be swallowed up by the meaningless cacophony of noise around you, lying to you that you cannot make it in life. Don’t give up and don’t give in! The future is bright...and your tomorrow is great!
Remember the story of the four leprous men by the gate of the city in Second Kings chapter 7? They reached out and faced their future with determination and conviction, and in a matter of 24hours they became the deliverers of the nation, in spite of their ‘short coming’.
God is still in the business of changing men’s stories - yours can be the next story and testimony of success to be written. Whatever you do, keep moving! Move forward!
Read more articles by Emmanuel Obu or search for articles on the same topic or others.
Dear Emmanuel.
I found this article very uplifting, joyous, and the last two paragraphs were extremely encouraging. i have noted down several positives in my notebook, to keep me challenged, eager and fulfilled.
Thank you.
Phoebe
