This time shall pass away                      

Bible Reading: Philippians 3:12-13

Looking around me and seeing the lives of so many people filled with abandoned projects, I became disturbed that if I do not act fast, I could end up like them. So I visited Pastor Gabriel Ajibade (Head of Christ Lifeline eCounseling unit) some years ago to seek his counsel on how to maintain consistency and improvement in every good thing I do. Although he said many things, there was one story he shared with me which I will never forget …

Once upon a time, a man sat down to think about all his life experiences. He realized that sometimes terrible things happen to him and the pain he experienced made him feel as though he cannot continue with life. But after some time, the pain disappears. Other times, after achieving success in a particular area of his life, he feels so happy and wishes he can just remain in that mood forever – celebrating his success. But in a short time, that success seems outdated and he needs to make improvement. So he asked himself – what can I do that will always remind me that pain or success most times gets outdated? After thinking for some time, he inscribed this lettering on the walls of his house … “THIS TIME SHALL PASS AWAY”.

Hmm … May be if the manufacturers of typewriters knew this, they would have known that the time of computers will come and make a nonsense of their business if they don’t update their products. Perhaps the photographer I saw his advert some months ago that read “get your passport in one hour” would have updated his camera and change his advert to “get your passport in one minute”. The changes taking place in the world is so rapid that your present success may be seen as a huge failure whenthis time passes away.  In 5 to 10 years from now, will the success you are celebrating today still be very significant?

It is good to give your best to your last performance and ensure it is your best at that moment, but after the successful result, remember the popular saying – ‘the greatest enemy of tomorrow’s success is today’s success’. When you have a feeling that you have arrived and you keep celebrating today’s success, you may not see the opportunities of improvement that tomorrow will present. Peter Drucker once said “no one has ever made a significant impact after they won the Nobel Prize”.

Thank God for Pastor Gabriel’s counsel. Right now, after every latest success, I use my invisible marker to write this lettering on the closest wall: “This Time Shall Pass Away”.

tope aladenusi

Is the way you rate your success getting you into trouble?

Bible Reading: Philippians 3

How do you rate your performance in your career, ministry, marriage, business or any life endeavour? Let me remind you of what we do. A 100m athlete may tell you that his best timing was 9.8 seconds; most times this timing was achieved some months ago. An employee will remind you of a very challenging assignment he finished well before the deadline. Some pastors will tell you about their most fulfilling moment – how they preached a powerful message many years ago and several people became believers. In short, most people rate themselves based on the best thing they have done in the past.

Good! You have wonderful ratings if we are to scroll through your past. But the last time you did that same thing, how well did you do it? Is your best performance still dated far into the past?

In an Olympic competition, if an athlete came first during the preliminary selection but on the day of the final selection, he was last, he will not even be opportune to contest for a medal. Whether we choose to accept it or not, that’s the way life responds to us.  Most times, our last performance has the greatest significance and may even rubbish all the other good performances of the past. Therefore, it is better to rate your last performance as your best performance.

I mean in your marriage, your best show of love is not what you did during honeymoon; it is what you displayed today. Your relevance to your employer is not too much of how well you used to deliver, but how you are handling your current assignment. Mr. Pilot, you may have a good flying record, but your passengers onboard are concerned about reaching their destination safely. Thou minister of God, rejoiceth thou over thy past exploits? As I write this piece, I am not focused on how well my writings have blessed many in the past. This is my last (best) performance and I want you to be motivated to take a step in the right direction after reading this piece.

Once you rate yourself based on your last performance, it helps you to give your best to the present and sends a positive errand to all that is in you, saying … “Do it better this time”.

Oh my God! I believe Apostle Paul got it clear like no one else. He said in Philippians 3:13 (GNB) – “I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead”. The present connects the past to the future. Therefore, he is doing his best today. Imagine like Paul that you do not have any memories of the past; that means your best is NOW!

Beloved, forget the best performance of the past, give your best to today’s performance … better than the past, rated as the best.

– tope aladenusi

Know the price of success?

Bible Reading: Luke 14:25-34

Most times when I see people abandon good projects, I am eager to know the reasons. In many cases, the reason reminds me of Jesus’ question in Luke 14:28 (MSG) – “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it?”

In other words, from the start of a good course, as much as possible we should have thought through the entire process, known the cost and estimated the challenges. By so doing we will know if we can release the power to stay long, remain strong and finish well.

You will agree most of us do not do that. We have relegated planning and thinking under the guise of faith. Our watchword is “when I get to the bridge, I will cross it”. Most times we say this out of mental laziness. We are implying indirectly that we have not estimated the size of the bridge; we do not even know where it is or what it takes to cross it. All we know is that the Bible says ‘I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me’.

Yes! I agree. But if you are persuaded you can do all things, then let that mentality start working from the start of anything you want to do and not only when you are in the middle of nowhere. Ability to do all things means you should be able to estimate the price of any venture. Every success has a price tag and before you even commence a journey, you should know the price and be prepared to settle it. Faith is not ‘failing to know the price’ but a conviction to pay the known price and cross the bridge when you encounter it.

Do you want to stay long and remain strong in your career, company, ministry and marriage? Do you want to experience steady success in your projects? Have you estimated the price? Do you have an idea of what you require to remain on top of it?

Let’s stop rushing into things because everyone is doing so. Even when you go to the Church and your Pastor has been able to charge you with the word, don’t just dive immediately into a project. When someone proposes something nice to you, it is not a sign of weakness to say “let me think about it”.

If you really want to stay long and remain strong in every good thing you do, then you should cultivate the habit of estimating the cost of an endeavor  and deciding if you are wiling to make the sacrifice before executing it.

tope aladenusi

Bible Reading: Proverbs 4:10-18

During courtship and the early years of marriage, they kept holding hands and painting the streets with love, but today, the couples who once imagined that they could never stay without each other cannot imagine continuing life with each other.

They start out their career and companies with the zeal and zest to reach the zenith, but after some time, they end up in the empire of mediocrity.

When they first got born-again, they were passionate about reading the bible, praying and reaching the unsaved, but the passion seemed to have a short expiry date. Today, their best experiences with God are always dated far into the past. No wonder they always say … ‘the good old days’.

At the start of their university education, I never saw any of them aiming at a third class grade, but many later settle for it against their desire and console themselves with the stories of some minorities who arrived well despite their grade.

They were known for serving God and ministering to others when they were in school; they planned to impact the outer world when they leave. But today, the outer world has taught them to be servants of money. Money dictates where they should be, what they should do, the number of hours to sleep etc. They alternate from one highest bidder to another. The dream to impact their generation is suddenly becoming a nightmare.

Most of these people are Christians and we see them everyday. I hope you are not one of them?

Is your life branded with abandoned projects?

Are you weak in areas where you used to be strong?

Did you start out well, but right now things don’t seem to be going well?

Are you concerned about ensuring consistency in every good thing you do?

Do you know others who are facing similar challenges?

Then rejoice, again I say rejoice because … in the next few weeks we will be teaching the series titled ‘Staying Power’. It will help you to be at par with the benchmark of God in Proverbs 4:18 “The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine” (MSG).

– tope aladenusi