Everyone has a story and most know how their story began but, more importantly, how many know how it will end?
In the last post I started a series addressing the first 3 phases your story is made up of. I wrote about The beginning, God!, Chaotic Situations, and Revelation/Learning. Please take time out to read this here before going on.
For your story to be well rounded, you also need separation, planning and collaboration.
4. SEPARATION!
Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” – Genesis 1:6 NKJV
The clear statement from God is “let it divide the waters from the waters”. This shows us that not all “waters” are the same; they must be separated. The road or path of your destiny is usually a lonely road that only you have seen, can walk down and be encouraged by yourself to take. You must consciously separate yourself in order to have a successful story.
Choose to be separate. Choose friends wisely. Your destiny is so big that the powers of darkness are scheming on how to stop you.
There are three types of friends you will encounter in life:
• Comrades: These people are not necessarily for you, rather, they are against what you are against. The driving force for the friendship is you both have a common enemy. Once the common enemy is dealt with, they move on.
• Constituents: They are not necessarily into you. They are into what you are for. They are there with you as long as their goals are achieved, the moment you are no longer relevant to meeting their goals, they leave.
• Confidants: You will have few of these types of friends. They are people who are into you and love you unconditionally whether you are up or down. They will tell you the truth in love. They will cover you and not expose your nakedness. If you have one or two of these people in your life, you are made.
Be deliberate in being different.
5. PLANNING/ORDER!
Separation also gives you time and space to plan. It is said that people don’t plan to fail, but they fail to plan. In all the endeavors you will ever engage in, I think this is one of the more critical steps to the success of what you are venturing into. Haphazard planning will bring about haphazard results. Detailed planning will bring about great results that can span generations.
Let’s look at how our Father did it and follow suit. When we follow His standard, we get the results that He got.
Genesis 1:9 (NKJV): Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
v 11: Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
v 14: Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
v 20: Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”
v 24: Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.
v 25: And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Every step God made above was detailed, followed an order, and did not conflict with another. He didn’t plan to have everything done in one day or wait till the last minute or stop due to lack of start-up capital, He knew His plan would command the resources to come.
Planning makes life orderly. Planning makes success predictable. Planning is life and life is planning.
6. COLLABORATION!
As you plan, you can’t do everything by yourself. Life is not a solo run or solo effort. There is no such thing as a ‘Superstar’ – this is a misnomer – and your goal should never be to become a superstar because you would have missed the point.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” – Genesis 1:29 NKJV
We see here that God has moved from “Let there be” to “Let Us”. In the journey of life, there are things you should be able to do alone to prepare you for the next stage, but you must also get to a point where you know that you need to collaborate and have men and women of like passion join you to actualize what you have conceived.
There are three stages in our lives:
• Dependence: When we were born, we depended on our parents or older ones to take good care of us. We followed their instructions and somehow accepted everything they told us hook, line and sinker. We had no say in the process leading to the decisions made by them.
• Independence: This is when we have the freedom to make decisions of our own. We own the decision now. Some would argue that this stage is really the legal age set by various Countries. I beg to defer! I would say this is the stage when the individual is able to face life and its challenges squarely. This is the stage we all love and would want to remain.
• Inter-dependence: This is the highest level God intends for us to get to, where you know that the concept of the universal law as propounded by Jesus that says “love your neighbor as yourself” is paramount. This is where great results are achieved.
Who will you collaborate with? What indicators are you looking at? It is imperative that you collaborate.
Dare to discover,
Paul Ugobor
Who Am I? 