Staying Power – 8

How Setting Deadlines can Change Your Life …

Bible Reading: Mark 8:26-31

Once I was working as a consultant to a company and I needed some documents to perform my work. The client staff did not provide the documents two days after I had made my requests. So angrily, I went to one of my client’s contact to inquire about the documents. He said – “please sir I’m very sorry, I have been busy doing other things but can you please give me a deadline on when you want to get them”. I replied … “okay, I want those documents by 1pm today”. Guess what? Before 1pm they were all ready.

This event really helped me make a discovery. I realized that most of our employers get results and remain in business by setting deadlines for their staff. Every day, week, month and year, there is a specific target we must hit at a specific time. In fact, deadline is the name of the game for some jobs. On the contrary, we rarely set time limit when we must deliver results in our lives. So in the process, we are busy doing other less important things and we slack out from our goal. Sometimes we even forget about it.

For so many years I have been saying … someday, I will know how to play the bass guitar. I had one or two coaching and that is all I can remember. Up till now, I can only organize noise with a guitar. But I know someone who said I want to be able to play like Bro. A. in one year time. Today, he receives many invitations to play in musical concerts. Sometimes assigning a timeframe to when you want to see a result can make all the difference.

When Jesus Christ was going to die, he gave himself a timeframe for resurrection. He said affirmatively that … ‘on the third day, I will rise’. I do not know how you see his statement but I see it as a deadline. He did not tell his disciples that … ‘guys, I am going to die and I assure you that one day, I will rise again’. He gave them a time limit for them to expect him to perform. And all power on heaven and earth were working together to meet the deadline. In like manner, when you set a deadline with the help of God’s spirit to achieve a target, all that is in you are concentrated to help you deliver the required results within that time.

Friends, don’t hate deadlines because they command performance. They help give focus and they constantly tell the mind that … “hey, you’ve got work to do and you have limited time”. If you say you want to produce a certain result someday, your mind rates it as “not urgent” and focuses on other things. But if you assign a time limit to it, your mind starts working tirelessly to get the result. This is because your mind has been configured for success and may interpret ‘inability to meet the deadline’ as a failure.

What time do you want to see the manifestations of those desires and goals? Is it …. One day? … OR … at a set time?

– tope aladenusi