Good morning Friend,
The four wise colonies have been a huge blessing to us in the last couple of weeks. Giving us the trade secrets and recipes for unprecedented success. Letting us realise that the magnitude of our success in the year 2018 will not be traceable to our size, abilities or even connections. The Ant made us see the importance of saving, investing, developing and reserving that which we have been blessed with while we still have it, so that it can sustain us when harsh realities beckon. The Cony made us realise that we don’t have to possess all the strengths and abilities in the world to take on bigger projects, have bigger visions and goals, and achieve greater success. He made us understand that God is already waiting for us at the deep end of the waters where the big games can be caught. God wants us to believe Him according to His capacity to perform and not according to our capacity to understand His methods.
Today by God’s Grace we will be considering valuable lessons from the stable of the Locust Colony. Generally, the Locust is seen as a very destructive insect with devastating effects on agricultural fields. The Bible however has a different perspective on the Locust which I think will be very beneficial to our effectiveness and success in new year.
Proverbs 30:24-28 (KJV)
24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.
The Bible says here that the Locusts have no King, yet they go forth all of them by bands. This is perhaps one of the most important lessons to glean from this series of articles, because on it rests the effective application of other lessons. Such a profound trait in these little creatures! That singular value is SELF LEADERSHIP, or SELF DISCIPLINE. The Bible says the Locusts have no one telling what to do or not do. Nobody develops a time table for them, nobody rings the bell for the next activity on their to-do list, they have no class teacher, school master, principal, instructor or coach, yet they do what they are supposed to do and they do it effectively. No matter how motivated you are after reading these series of articles and you perhaps feel like climbing mount Everest already, I’ll like to tell you to relax, calm down and not burn out. The journey is not a dash but a marathon and you must understand the unique requirements of this trip before you begin. Many people have already developed long and intimidating goals and to-dos for the year 2018 fueled by an emotional high. They have received some inspiration from the Cony and are ready to take on their world, however they haven’t learned how to lead themselves in little things. They have no self-leadership. Without self-leadership, none of those goals will be achieved. If you haven’t learned to decide to do something and do it without supervision or incessant reminders, then you may be singing the same song come December 2019 like you’re singing now. I believe that won’t happen to you.
The Locusts wake up every day with a goal in mind and they swiftly go for it without any form of external motivation. It is only through this self-imposed standards and disciplines that you will achieve the mind-blowing success you have dreamed of. A lazy man has lots of lofty dreams, but he only sees them with his eyes closed. He never sees them with his eyes open because he cannot lead himself to go to the field of work in order to achieve them. He keeps giving himself excuses day after day… “oh there is a lion in the field, oh the price of petrol is too high, it will kill my business before it starts, I don’t know anyone in media and entertainment who is a practicing Christian, how will I survive? I had a Pass in School, who will employ me?” As long as you seek excuses, you will find them in abundance, but you only need one reason to believe in your ability to achieve your goals. Paul found himself putting his body under and buffeting it because his desire to succeed at The Father’s business far outweighed His cravings for comfort.
As much as God is waiting for you at the deep end of the water and at the zenith of the rocks, you must understand that swimming that deep and soaring that high requires some level of discipline and determination. It is not cheap to find Eagles, because they soar to the highest altitudes. When they glide and soar on the wings of the storms, it looks so easy and admirable, but check them out when they beat themselves against the rocks for reinforcement, when they bleed through their beaks to sharpen its cutting edge or when they pluck out all their feathers for restoration. Success will demand a price from you, are you willing to pay it? Self-discipline is what you need to achieve those God ordained goals in the year 2018. Determine not to be micro managed by someone else, if a Locust can take initiative to do what needs to be done at the time it needs to be done without supervision, then so can YOU.
The second lesson to glean from the Locust is their ABILITY TO COLLABORATE. Many businesses have died because they refuse to collaborate with someone else with superior intelligence or resource that will better the enterprise, just because of the greed of gain. They would rather have 100% ownership and control of a N100,000 business than own 4% of a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. There is a lot of power in collaboration. The notorious reputation of the Locusts is a direct function of their ability to move in swarms. When about to embark on a major project like invading Egypt, hey only move in bands. Isolate them and they become powerless. Peter went back to his company, Daniel had a company, Paul needed partners on his missionary trips, Jesus had disciples, even the God-head is a 3-being unit… You will need a company in 2018. Stop moving alone like you have done in previous years. Carefully choose your comrades and move in bands. You all may not be involved in the same things but you must possess the same spirit. You must pray together and receive answers by agreement. Don’t be isolated in 2018, the devil is doing everything he can to stop you, you will sometimes need the corporate strength of a group of people to secure you. Uriah was alive until the troops were withdrawn from him. Be accountable to them and they can be responsible for you in difficult times.
2018 promises to be a massive year. I perceive in my spirit that the harvest of 10 ordinary years has been released into 2018 alone, don’t be left out. There is enough success and greatness to go around. Like the Locusts have taught us, Take initiatives, Lead yourself, Collaborate and be on your way to the best year of your life yet.
Thank you so much for being part of my 2017.
May My God bless you and keep you
May He cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you
May My God lift up His countenance upon you and
May He give you peace.
I love you. Have a super abundantly blessed 2018.