As we come to the end of the year, I want to remind you that you are destined for greatness. It doesn’t matter how your year has turned out so far, good or bad; God wants to increase our greatness. God will never put on us more than we can bear. Whatever we are going through has been allowed because God has weighed our capacities and strengths and knows that we can handle it.
“The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.
“- 1 Samuel 2:6 (NKJV)“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” – John 15:2 (NKJV)
In 1 Samuel 2:6, Hannah praised God and said of God, “He brings low and lifts up”. Also, in John 15:2 it says, those that the Lord loves, He prunes. Pruning will take a lot out of you but the goal is to lift you up. If this is your season of increase, there will be sacrifices to be made. God wants to bring us into His classroom to reveal new dimensions of His being that we have no idea about. When God calls you to do something, you no longer stand on the pedestal of man but on the pedestal of God.
Don’t get used to your situation or give up on God. Believe He wants to increase your greatness. In addition, don’t be too familiar with people especially when God has called them. Familiarity will never allow us to get to where we are going. Whatever you can’t honor, you can’t receive. This is not the season to get familiar with God, it can lead to presumptuous, prideful attitudes.
” In You, O Lord, I put my trust;
Let me never be put to shame.” – Psalm 71:1 (NKJV)” By You I have been upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.” – Psalm 71:6 (NKJV)
“You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.” – Psalm 71:21 (NKJV)
In Psalm 71:2, David said God would increase his greatness. He was not depending on his talent or intellect or the influence he had.
Increase is anything that will move upward in size, quality and quantity. Increase is anything that will be better than what it used to be. 
Greatness is something that is impressively large, someone who is exceptionally talented, something important and useful. Greatness is to be powerful and to be influential.
Trust in God was very critical to David’s greatness. Some trusted in chariots, horses, wealth and talent but David decided to put his trust in the Lord. In Psalm 71:6, David understood that greatness was embedded in him right from the point of birth.
In Matthew 2, God was going to bring His Son to the world, so he sent his messengers to make known to shepherds that His Son was born. He identified Jesus as a star. A star is born. When I researched what a star was, I found that the earth is tiny when compared to a star.
Your circumstances should never define you. Everyone on this earth will go through issues because that’s the way God can take you from one level to another level. That’s why it is important that when you are on your mountain, you should make decisions that will help you when you are in your valley. Your valley season will come. It’s not a curse, it must come.
David was the 8th son of Jesse. He was rejected by his family but he never internalized that rejection and understood that the reject will ultimately become the elect.
“For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.” – Mark 9:49 (NKJV)
Mark 9:49 means we are seasoned with fire and so must attract fire. This means that within you, the things you go through must be fire-related. Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego were not consumed by fire because they had fire on the inside of them. 
Fire cannot consume fire. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den but was not consumed because he understood that The Lion of the Tribe of Judah was on the inside of him and a lion cannot eat a lion that is bigger than it.
Do you feel neglected and feel like you do not have a purpose? Can you categorically say Lord increase my greatness? It is difficult sometimes to walk with God. David went through issues but in the midst of it, David connected with one source. God is your only source to greatness. Anytime you feel like you don’t belong here, know that you belong here. David connected with God and sought God wholeheartedly.
A walk with God requires you to die to self and get to a point that it is no longer about you but all about Him. You cannot determine your past but you can determine your future. The future is not in the hands of anyone but in the hands of The One who says I am the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the only one that you can go to because the future you are looking for is in Him.
As you go to Him, make sure you discern His voice from noise. The voice of the Lord is powerful and would bring peace to your spirit. It won’t bring confusion but clear instructions. A voice is anything that will give you clarity and direction. It is anything that can discipline you, that you can walk with and fulfill destiny. A flood is anything that will come against you, that will speak negatively to you, something that is externally motivated to destroy your internal configuration.
A while ago, I called my daughters to get me water and they went to get water. I asked them why they went and they said because I told them to. I called them again, this time saying gibberish but they didn’t understand what I was telling them to do. That’s a noise. A noise has no power and cannot take you anywhere. Are you listening to His voice or noise? Reflect on this while connecting with God.
What is your purpose? Why do you want God to increase your greatness? No matter what you’ve been through or what you see around you, don’t despise who you are. Resist the mindset that it is too late to attain greatness – David attained greatness at 17 while Moses attained greatness at 80. People (even those closest to you in your wilderness) will use their might to downgrade you in order to destroy your confidence. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord is powerful. He is preparing you for greatness and I pray that God will let you know of His greatness in your heart.
Dare to discover,
Paul Ugobor
Who Am I? 