Isaac Boluwatise

Put aside procrastination and excuses for doing nothing at all.
There is a famous compound interest story about the Emperor of China who offered the inventor of the game of chess one wish. The inventor replied that he wanted one grain of rice on square one of the chessboard, two grains on the second square, four on the third and so on through square sixty-four. The unsuspecting emperor agreed to the seemingly humble request. Yet, two raised to the sixty-fourth power is eighteen million trillion grains of rice, more than all the rice in China! Do you think your actions might only be a tiny drop in your bucket? Have you ever placed a bucket under a dripping tap overnight?

Become God’s Friend (4)

“I have called you friends” – John 15:15 NKJV

Another step in developing your friendship with God is choosing to be honest with Him! God doesn’t expect you to be perfect, but He does expect you to be honest. If perfection was a requirement not one of us would qualify. In the Bible, God’s friends were honest about their feelings – sometimes even complaining and arguing with Him – yet He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, He encouraged it. God listened patiently to David’s accusations of unfairness, betrayal and abandonment. He didn’t zap Jeremiah for claiming God had tricked him. Job was allowed to vent his bitterness and God actually defended him for being honest. On the other hand, He rebuked Job’s friends for faking it: ‘… “You haven’t been honest either with me or about me – not the way my friend Job has… My friend Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer”‘ (Job 42:7 TM). To be God’s friend you must share your true feelings with Him, not what you think you ought to feel or say. Until you understand that God uses everything for good in our lives, you’ll harbour resentment towards Him over your looks, your nationality, your economic background, your unanswered prayers, your past hurts, and the things you’d change if you were God. Actually, revealing your feelings and releasing your resentments to Him are the first steps to becoming spiritually whole. Isn’t it encouraging to know that God’s closest friends felt just like we do, but instead of masking their feelings in pious clichés they voiced them openly? Why? Because expressing them leads to healing and a deeper level of intimacy with Him.

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Become God’s Friend

“I have called you friends” – John 15:15 NKJV

Friendship with God is maintained and strengthened through continual meditation. It’s impossible to be God’s friend apart from knowing what He says. You can’t love God unless you know Him, and that’s only possible through the Bible. ‘… He revealed himself to Samuel through his word’ (1 Samuel 3:21 NIV). Now you can’t spend all day studying the Bible, but you can think about it throughout the day, recalling verses you’ve read, mulling over them in your mind. Meditation isn’t some mysterious ritual, it’s simply focused thinking – a skill anybody can learn. When you think about a problem over and over, that’s called worry. When you think about God’s Word over and over, that’s called meditation. If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Just switch your attention from the problem to the solution! The more you meditate on God’s Word the less you’ll have to worry about. The more time you spend meditating on the Scriptures the more you’ll understand their secrets. The Psalmist said, ‘The Friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant’ (Psalm 25:14 ESV). After Jesus told His disciples, ‘… “I have called you friends”… ‘, He went on to say, ‘… “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you”‘ (John 15:16 NKJV). The benefits of friendship with God include abundant living and answered prayer. So if you want to become God’s friend, read, digest and meditate in His Word.

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A Better Tomorrow

“To bestow beauty instead of ashes” – Isaiah 61:3 NIV.

The Chinese have an interesting symbol for the word ‘crisis’; it indicates both danger and opportunity. When the stakes are high and the outcome in doubt, purpose can emerge from pain like beauty from ashes. But real healing can’t begin until you face the facts and express your pain. That means doing what David did: taking it to God. ‘How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?… ‘ (Psalm 13:2 NIV). Just as lancing a boil is a necessary first step to healing, facing the truth is the first step towards becoming whole. Those who grow through a crisis learn which hopes, dreams and expectations were violated by the event. They identify where the repair work is needed, then they develop a road map for the future. At first you will feel as if ‘nothing will ever be the same again’. That’s normal. You may have to make adjustments in how you work, where you spend your leisure time, and how you relate to your family and friends. It’s the nature of a crisis to destabilise your world. But it also forces you to reach deep within yourself and find hidden strength you didn’t know existed. You may not feel courageous or hopeful right now, but that doesn’t mean those things aren’t there waiting to be tapped. Even though you don’t feel strong today, you can draw strength from the One who is. ‘The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God… in Whom I will trust… ‘ (Psalm 18:2 AMP). Face it. Find God in it. Follow Him, and He will give you a better tomorrow.

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“God turned the curse into a blessing” – Deuteronomy 23:5 NCV

When Thomas Carlyle completed his manuscript on the French Revolution, he asked his neighbour John Stuart Mill to read it. Later, Mill came to Carlyle’s house, shaken and pale. His maid had inadvertently used it to light the fire! Carlyle despaired – two years lost! Writing it initially was daunting enough; rewriting it was unthinkable. Then one day, watching a stonemason build a wall, he observed it was going up one brick at a time. Inspired, he thought, ‘I’ll write a page today and one tomorrow. One at a time; that’s all I’ll think about.’ It was slow, tedious work, but he persevered and the result outshone his original. Jon Gordon writes, ‘If you’re concerned about the future… I know how you feel. I lost my job in 2001… the company sank faster than the Titanic… I thought it was the worst event of my life. I was two months away from bankruptcy. I’d a wife, two children, a mortgage, no health insurance, and very little savings. I was a payslip away from losing it all and… I had to make some important decisions. Eventually they led to the work I now do as a writer, consultant and speaker. I went from Fired to Fired-up! My lay-off led to my life’s mission… what I thought was the worst… led to the best… When the wave hits we have a choice… allow it to crush us, or learn from it and ride it to a positive future. We can move forward with determination and faith that our best days are ahead.’ Rejoice. Refocus. God can turn the curse into a blessing.

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