OUT OF ZION 004 | OPPORTUNITY AND THE MAKING OF HISTORY

November 15, 2015          Volume 1, Issue 004

OPPORTUNITY AND THE MAKING OF HISTORY

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Ecc 9:10

… But time and chance happen to them all. Ecc 9:11

For those in relationship with God, the pursuit of the future is the pursuit of the plan of God. The bible discusses the plan in terms of the future. Jer 29:11. The plan is God’s thought towards you, not your initiative or choice (Jn 15:16); it is for your welfare, not for calamity; to give you a future and an expectation. When God reveals the future to you, he gives you an expectation of (cord for) it, to conjoin you with the future, so that you can look reliably forward to it (Pro 23:18)

To realise that future and hope you need to do more than reading history to making history. To make history, there are a few things you need to know:

  1. Treat your situation as a tunnel and not as a terminus, for life is a journey. You have to be on the move to avoid doing a grave injustice to the plan for your life. The victories recorded, which are just partial fulfillment of expectation, are the reason why some choose to rest. This shouldn’t be, as resting (unnecessarily) while there is a journey ahead leads to idleness, distraction and deflection from purpose (Num 25:1).
  2. Be the solution by living your vision now. It has to be real to you now for it to be realised. Solutions look beyond the problems by refusing to be a part of the trending problem. This is the notion behind the call for Christians to live a separated and not a segregated life. 1 Cor 5:9-10; 2 Cor 6:11-18. Without leaving the situation you can come out of the problem. Refuse to be part of the unrighteousness; mediocrity; self-seeking attitude; local-mindedness and acceptance of the status quo. Participating in the problem jeopardises a man’s potential to be a solution and history maker.
  3. Identify opportunities for in every problem is an opportunity and a key to success– Ecc 9:11.. Most people miss out on opportunity because they look for it a) as benefit – to receive and not to give; b) in a big form – despising the little offers of life; and c) in a very cheap way – someone to give it to them. The youth will blame the older generation for not giving them opportunities, whereas they have it all around them. Opportunities come in ways you least expected. You have to discern what many look for but only a few see to make history.
  4. Utillise opportunities for there is no better time for a recognised opportunity than now. Time and space will always respond with opportunities, especially to those who are solution conscious. The gifts of those who don’t wait for offers, but know to take right action and offer solutions, will cause others to stand aside for them. While some think more in terms of position, title, and office; trailblazers think in terms of action. Whatever their hands find to do, they do it (well). Their right actions recommend them later.
  5. Be God-centred and not self-centred. Self-centred people do not utilise opportunities simply because they often don’t hold direct or immediate benefits. With such opportunities, however are the connecting dots towards the future.

The awaited future of a nation and individuals become realistic when we take every opportunity seriously and within these opportunities lie the potentials for us to be history makers.