Remove the Stumbling Block

As I think about this topic my mind races back to a pathetic story in the Bible. It is the story of a man called Amasa who King David gave an assignment to get his troops ready for an emergency attack against a rebel. For some unknown reason, he delayed and King David delegated another officer to carry out the charge. On the way, they met Amasa, as he was coming to appear before the King.

Unfortunately for him, he was craftily killed by another officer called Joab. As the troops got to where the fallen officer was wallowing in his blood, they stood still. Their attention and sympathy was drawn towards this fallen hero and so they couldn’t move forward. They were on national assignment but couldn’t continue because their attention was arrested by the dead. To enable them move forward the officer on duty removed the dead body from the way and covered it. After this the troops were back on course, carried out their mission successfully and returned to the King. (See 2kings 20)

The road to success is full of stumbling blocks and obstacles. Some are designed to defocus us while others are designed to frustrate us. We are on destiny journey and have been equipped by God with all the requirements for achieving success. But if we don’t take care of obstacles and other distractions on the way we will never become all we were created to be. No one should ever think there wouldn’t be obstacles on the way to achieving success. The good news is the obstacles cannot stop you except you allow them.

There are roadblocks we must deal with if we want to achieve great results and become all that God created us to be. First is mental roadblock. Sometimes the greatest obstacle to success is the mind- how we think. If we are not thinking well, we can’t live well. This is because our thoughts determine our actions and inactions. Our actions and inactions invariably determine our destiny. Success belongs to the innovative and the creative. Our mind is the greatest asset we have and until we begin to deploy it we will remain stagnant.

It is sad to note that majority of people don’t think at all. They live their lives like zombies. A statistic has it that of all humans only 5% think, 15% think they are thinking but are not and 80% will rather die than think. Isn’t that revealing, particularly when you consider that about 95% of the world’s wealth is being controlled by about 5% of the world’s population? Only people who use their brains will be qualified to attain great heights in life.

Another roadblock is emotional immaturity. Our emotions are a precious gift from God. Without emotions, we are deprived of the energy and fortitude to attempt great things and undergo rigorous challenges. But emotional immaturity can hinder us and keep us stagnant. Impatience, outbursts of anger, bitterness and the like will impede on our success drive. We cannot harbour these dysfunctional traits and maximize our lives. We must let them off so as to go ahead.

Next is spiritual emptiness. Many are spiritually empty and that invariably accounts for most dysfunctional lives. We cannot succeed in life without divine input. Many live as if all that life has to offer is what they can see. They fail to realise that everything we can see is temporal. It is only what we don’t see that is permanent. God’s presence makes all the difference. With Him on your side victory is assured. Knowing God is the greatest thing that can happen to anyone. It is the key to lasting success.

As the year gradually winds up, it is important to ensure you make peace with God. This you do by allowing Him to direct and control your life. This is just a logical decision since He made you in the first place. It is only normal for you to allow Him have His property back to Himself. His presence will make the difference.

Slow Down A Little

As the year gradually wounds up, it will be important to sit back and think about our lives. Many people live like cars without break, no wonder there are so many casualties. Life was never made to be lived just on the fast lane. This is because you don't refuel on the fast lane. You don't make purchases on the fast lane either. Having been on the fast lane for many months, friend, it is important to slow down a little, refuel and have some needed rest and prepare for the journey ahead.

Life is not a sprint but a relay race. Oftentimes, we see very fast and sharp people fail. Success in life does not really depend on how fast you are because you can be travelling very fast on the wrong road. Draw your mind back a little, were there not your mates who were the brightest, smartest, most beautiful girls and most promising guys who today are not to be reckoned with? They have fizzled away into oblivion. Those were people who were on the fast lane for too long and could not slow down to reposition themselves. Their fuel and oil got finished in the middle of the road, and suddenly their engine knocked and they got stalked.

I encourage you to slow down and sit down to think and plan. Without proper thinking and planning life will never be meaningful. But for our thinking and planning to be effective, we need God's input. And that will come as we seek His face in prayer and study of His Word. The Scriptures say, "Commit your way to the Lord and your thoughts shall be established." As we seek His face, He will show us the way we are supposed to go and the thing we should do. One idea from God can change your life forever.

Daily Prayer for Leaders

God give us leaders, straight and narrow, kind and good.

Clay-footed men with hearts of gold, selfless, giving and godly;

Men whose needs are few but who desire to leave the world a better place than they met it;

Give us men who are not flattered by praise or flattened by pride.

Men whose presence gives hope to other men.

Dear Lord, great and exceptional nations don’t fall off the sky.

They are always product of great exceptional leadership under You.

So give us leaders whose minds, ideas and policies are rich in content and robust in implementation.

Deliver us oh Lord from weak-hearted, lily-livered and empty headed leaders who desperately seek and obtain power for self and not for service.

Give us oh God, good, godly and transformative leadership who ennobles, enables and inspires.

And deliver us from self-centred, ego-centric and ungodly leadership who oppress, limits potential and destroys those better than themselves.

Give us oh God, large hearted leadership with capacity to lift men from mediocrity to excellence.

Give us team players who do not see their team as competitive, tugging with them for influence

Give us leaders who do not monopolise and get all the credit that truly belongs to everyone on the team.

Give us leaders who extend the frontiers of opportunities to those around and beneath them.

Leaders who are an inspiration for progressive development;

Leaders who don’t just throw their weight around but instead put their weight behind the labour and efforts of their team.

Give us oh Lord we pray valiant men and virtuous women.

A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands.

Men and women whom the lusts of office will not kill; men and women whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men and women who possess opinions and will; men and women who love honour and who will not lie. Amen.