Encouragement

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The Endangered Species
Companies these days are looking for the young. Many in their early forties suddenly wake up one day and discover they have been laid off. Some are forced to take early retirement, even though they are not tired. Those who were once the cream of the crop are now an endangered species. They have seen others being retired, and may be they have even been involved in deciding whether some people in their establishment should be retired or not, but now it is their turn to bite the dust. They thought this day will never come; ‘It will never happen to me, ’they thought. But alas, here it comes.
Certainly job for life is now a thing of the past. In some establishments experience no longer counts. You must be productive to remain in your post. You must deliver the goods to remain good enough to keep.

What do you do when faced with compulsory redundancy, when you know deep within you that you have a lot to offer? Do you lie down and cry wolf? Do you open the door to depression? Do you go to the pub and drown your sorrows? Do you play the ‘Blame Game’, witch-hunt, become nasty, cantankerous, take it out on your wife or husband, children or pet? Or go to the extreme, drive your self into a river or hang yourself?

Those into sports know it all too well. If you’re 35 and a footballer, your days are numbered as a professional footballer. Very few make it into their early forties. The same is the case with athletics and many other sports.



This is the reality of life. You can be dumped on the scrap heap of life when you have life within you.

What do you do?
Do not panic. Sit down and take stock of your life. Write down your assets – your experience, qualification if any, your health, your soundness of mind, your family. These are often ignored in crisis to our detriment. Above all, you have the years ahead of you. You can still make good use of what is left of your life.

Don’t rush into another venture or enterprise. Give yourself time to reflect as to make quality decisions. Don’t make decisions based on temporary occurrence. You may need to retrain and hone certain skills you already have. You may need to acquire other skills. In this age of the computers and the internet you can enrol on many Make the most of every available opportunity.

Be flexible. Don’t be set in your ways. You’re probably saying “At my age I am set in my ways and I just can’t change. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks “
You just need to make up your mind that you are going to make the rest of your count.

If you have any redundancy money, bank most of it and think through your problem. Often problems become opportunities in disguise. Colonel Saunder was retired before he discovered the recipe for Kentucky fried chicken centuries later (check), we’re still finger licking from a legacy that came after he was retired. He was not tired when he fired but that disappointment became the womb in which his inspiration was incubated.

Many of us because of our education, upbringing, people’s opinion, end up in doing jobs that may not have been fulfilling. For such people a retirement is a blessing in disguise. Rather than fighting it and feeling melancholic, we should thank God and get into the purpose of our life. You might be saying, ‘But it is too late to get into that field although I know I have a gift in that area.’ Well now that you are fired, get to grips with it. If you discover your calling in life you can still make an impact with the rest of your life before the curtains are drawn. Some people start early in life; they quickly find their calling and begin to bear fruit in that area. Such people are ever in demand especially when they have adjusted to the changing times and retrained themselves. There are others who are late bloomers. They start late in life and still make an impact. May be you are a late bloomer. It’s time for you to bloom. Bid bye to the gloom. It is not your Dooms Day, but a time for a New Beginning for YOU.
It is often said, “If you stop learning you start dying; It is learning - not yearning, that determines your earning.â€

God is the Prime Mover.
God is your Maker. You need to consult Him to reveal your purpose to you. You were made by Him and for Him, and without Him you are nothing. You may achieve in the eyes of the world but it will all be dross before Him in the end. Listen to an atheist:‘
Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.’
Bertrand Russell.

It is not over until it’s over.
Determine to rise out of the rubbish dump of life and make something of your life. You have the rest of your years ahead of you. You don’t know how many they are. But you can make the most of each moment from now on. You may have wasted many precious years but never mind; you can still make the years ahead count for good more than the count of your years. You can still leave an enviable legacy, be a blessing to your generation, leave a testimony that will stand the test of time. Many have made it when people said they were past it- past their sell by date. Many have made it after they got jilted or even divorced. Others have made it when the business they started failed. But they retreated, reflected, redoubled and ‘refired’ themselves into another venture that brought success. Some people thought they were going mental ‘trying new tricks’ at old age. Some wrote them of saying, it midlife crisis.

Do not lie down and die. Do not cry wolf or foul. Do not take it out on your husband or wife. Don’t hit the children to vent out your frustration. Certainly don’t go to the extreme of taking your life. Your life is precious. Your were ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Ps 139). There is a purpose to your life. God does not create junk. You are unique with a unique gift. You can discover that gift, develop it and deploy it to the benefit of those around you. You can still make it if you don’t give up. Where there is the will there is a way. There is someone somewhere who needs what you have. Go to some established help agencies. Get good counselling. In the multitude of counsel there is safety (protection, covering, shelter). Let the warrior in you come out go to the glory of your Maker, if you are a believer. Your destiny may be beckoning.

Moses must have thought it was over for him after he was banished into the wilderness of Median for 40 years, looking after sheep and smelling like sheep and may be talking sheepishly. But at 80 God showed up and said, Hey! Mo, it’s time. Moses must have said: ‘Time for what? Die?’ And the Lord must have replied: ‘It’s time for you to truly live.’ He hesitated initially but finally he agreed with God and God used him to deliver over 3 million Israelites from Egypt - the house of bondage. That was Moses’ destiny. He started late but he fulfilled it. And that’s what matters. Would it not be a tragedy if you were to die and discovered that you could have written a bestseller after your forced retirement, and you squandered the years following the retirement or mishap in self pity, calling pity party here and there.

Abraham had waited for a son and was tempted to help God fulfil His promise. Ishmael was born in the process. God had to wait until every seed in Abraham was dead, when he was 100 years of age before the long awaited promise was fulfilled. At the appointed time (Kairos), Isaac came at the appointed time (in the fullness of time) Jesus came. At the appointed time Samuel came. You may have to pray and fast, so be it. Daniel knew about the promises of God concerning the Jews and had to fast after the 70 years of Babylonian captivity was over. Even then there was war in the heavens. Daniel kept interceding until he got the breakthrough. Similarly in some cases our promised breakthroughs can be delayed by principalities and we need to persevere in prayer and fasting until we breakthrough. Some Goliaths who stand year in year out taunting us, challenging us, preventing us from entering our inheritance must be slain; their heads cut off like David did before we can possess our possession. However this is a secret available to the believers who are passionate for the will of God, albeit prevented from entering their destiny, and know that there is a spiritual dimension to the fulfilment of destiny.

So it is not over until it’s over. Sit down and reflect. Pray if you know your God. Then get up and go!. Refuse to give in and die.
“..the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits(Dan.11:32b.)NKJV

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him." (Ps92:12-15)NKJV

†Don’t let the dole (welfare handouts) entice you to forfeit your future. There is a winner in you. Let it come out. They say necessity is the mother of invention. There are inventors and innovators today who were fired to discover their destiny because they were fired, retired, when they were not tired. You may have been involved in a venture that failed; but that does not make you a failure. Failure is an event – not a person. Those who have not failed at anything, have failed to try anything. The fear of failure can cripple you. you can die many times before your death. You can learn from your failures. When Edison was asked how come he failed almost 1000 times, said he did not fail 999 times; he only found out 999 ways not to do it. That is the right attitude you and I need to develop especially when face with sudden premature retirement. ‘Your attitude - not aptitude determines your altitude.’ Norman Vincent Pearl, the author of the best seller: Power of positive thinking, was rejected by publishers too many times.. He was almost despairing when his wife encouraged him to have another trial. The breakthrough came and the rest is history. Who knows? Your breakthrough may just be round the corner.

Let Us Pray!
May you rise up from apparent defeat or failure into finding fulfilment in God May you suddenly discover a new zest for life, a new idea, a new vision and direction for your life. May you rise out of the dung hill of life and fulfil your destiny. Failure is not your portion.

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