You know what you have and use it! There are some things you do not have, but nobody knows except you tell them. You have talked too much about what you lack, now start talking about what you have.

I want to motivate you to a life of progress. I want you to see the power in your mind and choose to move forward at all cost. Take ‘dangerous’ steps that will intimidate the devil and catapult you to the top. Start by seeing it in your mind. See yourself making progress. See your self getting to the top in your career, ministry and family, because what you imagine will not be restrained from you.

You cannot be helped, by God, the society or nature, if you hold onto excuses. Until the man at the pool of Bethesda dropped his excuses he remained in his infirmity for 38 years. When Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be made whole”? the man started celebrating his circumstance.

He said, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is troubled by the angel.” But Jesus ignored his excuse and said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” The man dropped his excuses for the first time and as he rose up (without the help of any man) he was made whole (John 5:2-9). He was waiting all those years for some one to put him into the pool, but when he took a step, he found that he did not need any man, he only needed the help of God.

I read the story of a lady who was born without hands, yet she has become a very famous artist and is highly recognized on the international scene. She draws with her pencil between her toes. Yet, there are able-bodied men and women who are sill saying, “I can not make it”.

This extraordinary artist is the same person that said, “Blind eyes are better than blind minds”. The man called Benjamin Franklin is another example. He is one of the founding fathers of America. He had only two years of formal education, after which he went to work with a bookbinder and as he worked among the books, he found his destiny. As part of his achievements in life, he built a very famous hospital, became an unparalleled diplomat to America and is one of the greatest philosophers the world has ever produced, all because he gave no room to excuses.

I also read the account of a man who was paralysed from the neck down and the only part of him that could move was his head. In his lying position, he began to think of how he could move around from one place to the other. His mind was filled so much with this thought that he initiated the invention of the wheel chair. He did not make that invention a myself, but he was instrumental to that invention. He also fought for the social recognition of this means of transporting the disabled, to the extent that in many countries today, reservations are made for wheel chairs in parking lots.

Some other people are paralysed only in one hand and they have taken to begging on the streets, because they have also paralysed their minds with excuses. There are others who have some parts of their bodies cut off yet you see them in first class places, since they have what it takes to be there. Their limbs may be cut off, but not their minds.

In 1973, I got to know a specialist in the medical field, called Professor Bitrus Gani of Hope for the Blind Center, in Zaria, Nigeria. He is a blind man, but an expert physiotherapist. He preaches the Word of God with sound understanding, and also plays the keyboard well.

True, disability is that of the mind, not of the physical body. There are people who are physically fit, with two hands hanging beside them and weighing 100kg, yet their minds are ‘lighter than paper’. They are slow minded, redundant, lazy, scared of everything in life and not ready to take steps. Every opportunity that comes their way slips through their hands, because of excuses.

Such a person may have been jobless and sitting at home for years doing nothing, but when you tell him to try tailoring, he says, “I can not cut straight. I do not want to spoil people’s clothes”.

“What of carpentry”?

“Ah, you see, I don’t know how to handle wood at all” .

“So, what do you want to do”?

“I am still thinking about it”.

And as he is trying to think, he soon begins to stink, because he has become a liability to everybody. Let me illustrate this point with the testimony of a brother in our congregation who used what he had to overcome stagnation and put his life back on the track of progress.

I want to testify the goodness of God in my life. I was doing business in Jos, but in 1994 everything went down. It was so bad that I had to go back to the village. While in the village, I was doing nothing, so I decided to come to Kaduna where I have a friend. I borrowed 1,500 naira to transport myself to Kaduna. After 2 weeks, my friend ejected me from his house and I had to be sleeping on a borrowed bench in somebody’s store. 

One day I came across a member of this Church who informed me of the wonders that God is doing in the lives of people here and he invited. When I came, 1 liked what I saw so I started worshipping here.

In one of his teachings, the Bishop shared the testimony of a man who was retrenched at his place of work and since he had a car, the Presiding Bishop advised him to start carrying passengers from Kaduna to Kano with his car. The man heeded the advice and months later, when asked whether he was still looking for a job, he replied that he was no longer interested. I keyed into that testimony because I had a motorcycle.

I started using it to carry passengers. Within a month I was able to raise enough money to get myself accommodation. In the first quarter of 1995, I was able to buy another motorbike. By December of the same year, I bought another one! In January 1996, I bought yet another one! This month too, I have bought another one! I thank God!

Then, one of the men who was helping me with the transport business ran away with one of the motorbikes. I reported the case to the police, but they did nothing.

So, I reported it to my cell fellowship members. They declared that we shall not labour and another eat, and we all prayed. To the glory of God, two weeks later, same man brought the motorbike to my house! 

I give God all the glory!”

  • Bro. B, I.

This text is an extract from the book “OVERCOMING STAGNATION” written by Bishop David Olatunji Abioye
We invite you to read the following article “WAITING TO NOT WASTING“.

USE WHAT YOU HAVE. USE WHAT YOU HAVE. USE WHAT YOU HAVE.

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