I’m not there yet but I have moved

Apostle Paul was saying, “I am not there yet but I have moved”. In some places, Apostle Paul looked at life as: (a) An adventure of faith with all the uncertainties and discoveries; with the frills and thrills and (b) A war consisting of many battles with victories and defeats. May your life not be […]

Apostle Paul was saying, “I am not there yet but I have moved”. In some places, Apostle Paul looked at life as: (a) An adventure of faith with all the uncertainties and discoveries; with the frills and thrills and (b) A war consisting of many battles with victories and defeats. May your life not be a continuous battle!

But in this scripture, he looks at life as: (a) A journey- not a sprint but a marathon and (b) A game. He was not a spectator but a player. Are you a spectator or a player? He was not just playing for the fun of it, he was playing to win. He was running for a medal.

Apostle Paul knew where he was coming from, where he was and where he was going. It was a mid-course assessment. He talked about the effort, the focus but something equally important: he made a mid-course assessment.

Whatever your view is, to win you must do the following and more:

(1) Determine your goal; your destination. Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission. Have a dream and a big one too. But beware of dream killers or dream takers. Let me tell you the most dangerous persons to have around you. People who have lost their dream: they tend to kill the dream of others through their negativity.

(2) Choose the right game. Some people don’t know which game they are good at. Sometimes you may play many games before you discover the one you play well. You can only excel doing what you are gifted for. When you discover you are on the wrong road, change!

(3) Develop your potentials. People don’t fail because of what they don’t have but because they neglect what they have. The Prophet Elisha drew the attention of the widow woman to the little pot of oil she had left and showed her what to do with it. At the LDI, we help people discover who they are and how to build on it. Listen, you are not empty. You may not always have something around you, but you always have something in you. May the Lord open your eyes to your instrument of recovery! May the Lord open your eyes to your instrument of greatness!

(4) Understand your resources – financial, material and human. God has surrounded you with a vast amount of resources which you must discover and use.

(5) Pray for openings – there are always fresh opportunities. The thing is most opportunities come disguised as danger. That is why only risk takers advance rapidly. Be ready to do what no one has ever done. Be willing to go where no one has ever gone. Be prepared to go the extra mile.

(6) Determine your direction. The song writer says “I am pressing up the upward way, new heights I am gaining everyday.” Make sure you are moving in the right direction. Make sure you are running towards the finish line; otherwise your efforts will be wasted. Without direction, you feel lost. You are not lost; you just need directions.

(7) Take baby steps. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. Inspiration without aspiration leads to frustration. You can never finish a journey you have not started. Many don’t take that first step because of fear. What is fear? “Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be.”

(8) Work hard and smart. Success comes to those who work for it. Success does not come to those who sit and wait for things to happen to them but those who go out and happen to things. God promised the children of Israel the land of Canaan but they had to fight for every square inch of the land. Work translates your dream into reality. If life was a game I will not like to be a spectator but a player. Both spend time and energy on the same game; one pays, the other is paid. Get in the game and play and play to win.

(9) Celebrate every step forward. After each match, celebrate your victory. Some people always postpone their celebration. Satisfying one need always brings another to the surface but we must learn how to celebrate each little step forward. Learn to reward yourself for every goal fulfilled.

(10) Harness your errors. When you lose, find out why and make adjustments. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. Failure is not in falling but in not getting back up. Understand that failure is a short step toward success. Most successful men have failed more times than you know. Make failure your teacher not your undertaker. In the book of Proverbs 24:16, the bible says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again… ”

(11) Have a winning mentality. Fill your mind with thoughts of your destination and what you want to become. You become what you think about. Do you really want to become what you think about? An eight-year-old English boy who wanted to be the Prime Minister and even had his picture taken as a schoolboy standing in front of Number 10 Downing Street. Becoming Prime Minister was not only his goal, but he could envision himself as Prime Minister of England—and yes, his name was Harold Wilson. You become what you think about. Understand that your thinking determines your actions, and your actions determine your rewards.

(12) Learn to show appreciation. Appreciate God, your team members, your customers and all those who contributed to your success. There is always the danger of thinking that we did it by our own strength.

(13) Stay put. Persistence is the greatest quality of winners and champions. Persistence destroys resistance. Winners never quit and quitters never win. Those who quit don’t know just how close they were to the finish line. Keep knocking at the door; it will soon open.

Rev. Dr.  Olowojoba is the Snr.  Pastor of Dayspring Bible Church, Sabon-Lugbe, Abuja and the President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int.