Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14).
The exuberant fans watching the game of soccer seem like they can play the game more than the professional players on the field. You will hear people exclaim, “‘Turn right, turn left, why did you play like that? What are you paid to do?” The reality is, the game seems easier when you are watching through your TV. Everything seems easier when you are just talking about it.
People might assume that your life seems easier when they look at you from afar. They do not actually know the things you have to grapple with every single day. Some folks will even try to lend you some advice based on their opinion of the things going on in your life, about your journey, about the things God has called you to do. It is easier to criticize other people when you don’t know their story.
On the other hand, there are those who will envy your blessings without putting into factor what you had to go through to arrive at that point of blessing and favor. They might look at your house and wonder how lucky you must be. People can look at your life from a distance and make easy assumptions without knowing your pain, your story, they don’t know your situation, they don’t know where you’re coming from, they don’t know the prayers that you had to pray. They don’t know the hours you stayed up at night and they’re not going to understand why God is blessing you the way God is blessing you. Somebody halfway around the world might look at your life and probably think you have it easier because you live in certain countries. They might even say to themselves, “If I also live in Canada or the United States, I’d be able to make more money than you.” Little do they know the overwhelming bills that people in North America have to grapple with everyday. Other people’s lives seem easier when you are looking at it from a distance. A young pretty girl once looked at an older lady and asked her, “You seem very beautiful, why are you not married?” the older lady replied, “”keep coming this way”
As you walk through the journey of faith certain truths become apparent to you;
Do not compete, just run your race.
People’s lives seem easier when you are looking from a distance. The moment you get into the picture of the reality, you realize that it’s not as easy as it looks; that everybody is going through something; that you are not the only one is dealing with something, that you’re not the only one that cries sometimes; and that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
Everybody needs to face their own journey. That’s the number one secret I want to give you now. You have to face your own assignment. The call of God is so strong in your life to succeed. The Lord has called you to be a winner. The Lord says, ‘I’ve called you to succeed.’ This is the year the Lord is calling His people to be exceptionally successful. He is calling you to thrive.
“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.” (Genesis 26:12-14).
Whenever you are talking about walking in increase, when your increase reaches the level that God wants it to reach, it will attract envy. Can you deal with envy? I know you want God’s blessings on your life but can you deal with people talking about you? As our ministry continues to grow with new campuses being opened in different countries, one day I noticed that everybody that is operating in the dimension of ministry that God is bringing us into are heavily criticized.
There might be some measure of adversity but you have to completely set your eyes on the call of God in your life and make sure you accomplish it. We need to know what we are not called to do and avoid them. We are not called to fail, to loiter or to meander. We are not called to form a pity party; to get opinionated or to double guess. We are called to make it. If there is any year we must hit the runway and take off, it is this year. I just feel in my spirit that the heavens are opened and there is something for everyone that knows their calling and gets on the lane. God says He is going to accelerate them this year. This is the year of your life.
The specific assignment you are given becomes complicated and difficult when you get occupied doing what we are not called to do. Do not lose sight of what you are called to do. You have to bury every prejudice and every stronghold that the devil will use to take your focus away from your number one assignment; which is to succeed in your assignment; to win souls for Christ and expand God’’ Kingdom on earth. When you know your calling, get in your race and run with the vision.
What God is telling you to do is not going to happen under the wings of your own power. It’s not going to happen just because you are hard working. God will bless you because you are connected to the revelation of the Word of God. Soak yourself in the Word of God, get in the Word of God. You are not called to listen to the words of man, you are called to listen to the Word of God. Your dreams are fired up in the Word of God. In other words without the Word there is no success in the Kingdom. You are not of the world, you have to know the formula of the Kingdom. You cannot even pray without the Word of God. Your prayer will have authority when you’re praying out the Word of God. When the Word of God comes out of your mouth, it empowers you and propels your deliverance. The Bible says, He sent forth His Word and His Word runneth swiftly and healed them and delivered them from destruction (Psalm 147:15). Make a resolution to succeed. Don’t live your life to please people this year, live your life to glorify God.
