COUNSEL TO PIONEERS (IF YOU ARE STARTING A NEW THING) 5

I woke up that morning with a high spirit. There was joy on my inside. It manifested in singing. I kept singing from the house to the church office. I was the only one left at the time- the person working with the office had requested to go try other things. 

Then as I opened the door, my heart shook and the song momentarily disappeared. The entire place was flooded. It rained overnight. The devil began to play games on my mind with the matter. Questions like, “Do you think anything works in your hands?” “Don’t you see that even others are leaving for better things?” 

At that moment, I remembered these words: “You are not sad because things are bad. Things are bad because you are sad”. I had a great laugh. I sat in the middle of the flood and began to worship. I called those who could help out and we salvaged what we could. 

If you are a pioneer, you must know the power of joy: How do I operate with joy? How do I stay joyful when nothing else seems to be working? How do I maintain a flow of joyful inspiration in the middle of unexpected outcomes?

Once a pioneer is out of joy, the work will stagnate and things will begin to depreciate. Anywhere you see a new work thriving, you need to know that the spirit of joy is right there. Joy is not happiness. You get happiness from things. You can only get joy from the Lord. If the source of your joy is unshakeable, inspiration and creativity will keep flowing. 

The Prophet Joel showed that when things die, if we look closely, at a point someone who is a major stakeholder got attacked and he lost his joy. 

The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.  Joel 1:12 KJV

This is an agricultural business. The business collapsed. Everything failed. But when an autopsy was run, the result was all things collapsed because joy withered from the heart of men. 

Guard your heart! When circumstances cause things around you to shake, make sure your joy in the Lord stays intact. You can not go far doing anything for the Lord if you run out of joy. 

Prophet Habakkuk showed us the response of another businessman with an interest in agriculture covering both animal and crop farming. That is the response of everyone that has been summoned to pioneer: 

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. Habakkuk 3:17 – 19 KJV

Know how to sing in tough times. Know how to dance when it all looks crazy. Know how to laugh when it looks upside down. 

Be full of the Word of God. 

Be full of the Spirit. 

Be disciplined with quiet time

It will erupt in joy.