Handling invisible success
Bible Reading: Acts 9:19-31
If you invested $100 last month and today, you have a return of $20, that’s a visible progress. However, there are many instances in life when it seems as though we are sowing so much seeds and not reaping any harvest; when our output is not commensurate to our input; when our desired result is not achieved despite our persistent effort. At such times, many of us give up on our deepest desires and dreams. Good or bad?
Every good success has an incubation period. If a hen is incubating its eggs, you may not see its chicks within the first 15 days. But that does not mean it is not progressing. Every success carries the pregnancy of another success just like the hen’s egg is a potential chicken. But if you do not give a good treatment to an unborn success, it may suffer from miscarriage. What do I mean? How do you treat an unborn success? Let’s learn from the examples below.
After apostle Paul got saved, he went about preaching the gospel but there was no record of salvation or miracle in his early days in ministry. In fact, the Jews tried to kill him and most believers refused to associate with him because they did not believe he was a Christian. Was he making progress? Yes. Was this progress visible? I don’t think so. But Paul pressed on. Perhaps if he had given up, we may not have had majority of the New Testament books of the Bible today.
Towards building the world’s first successful airplane, the Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur) had several attempts with no visible success. In fact, in 1901 they suffered major disappointments to the extent that while on a trip home, Wilbur remarked to Orville thatman would fly, but not in their lifetimes. But he was wrong; man flew before his very eyes. Their persistence made them discover an appropriate equation for airplane lift. Two years later, they were the first to invent aircraft controls that made commercial flight practical1.
In 1980, Bishop T.D Jakes was the pastor of a church of 10 members. In 1990, his congregation was about 100 members, but today, the Church he administers has a congregation of about 30,000 members2. That is, between 1980 and 1990, an average of 10 members was added to his congregation yearly. What if he had felt he wasn’t making progress and backed out of ministry in 1989, will he be affecting millions of lives like he is doing today?
We have great expectations. We have targets. We have a set time that we want to see our desired result. But if they do not materialize like we expected, it is not a time to give up. When progress appears invisible despite your consistent and right efforts, it is a time to keep pressing on. Persistence helps translates a success in your heart into a success on earth. By persistence, even the snail with its natural slow pace entered Noah’s ark (Charles Spurgeon).
References:
1 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Brothers : Accessed 1/8/07
2 – http://www.topblacks.com/religion/t-d-jakes.htm : Accessed 1/8/07
– tope aladenusi
