COUNSEL TO PIONEERS (IF YOU ARE STARTING A NEW THING) 1
I asked my grandfather in the faith about 8 years ago, “Sir, if you are to start this great work afresh, what will be your priority?” He looked at me and asked, “Son, do you want to buy a car now?” I replied “No”. “Son, do you want to build a house now?” I replied in the negative. He then said to me, “Son, if I would start all over again, my first three priorities will be to build the people, build the people and build the people”.
If you have been anointed, called, graced and privileged to pioneer anything at all, please settle on what your priority is. If your priorities are not clear, your decisions will be poor. When your priorities are clear, you will make quality decisions and attract quality resources.
If it is a business, you must be clear on your priorities. If it is a call to ministry, you must be clear on your priorities. Do not become a jack of all trades and a traveller to all locations.
Two things can kill a new work- Lack of Priorities or poor priorities and “Overcompensation”. Do not be in a hurry to start compensating yourself. Do not use the little income in ministry to buy yourself the latest phone! That’s absurd. Do not use your first profit to take a vacation or “blow” it all up in a restaurant.
A pioneer must be a visionary. Nehemiah knew his priorities clearly:
First, he knew what he wanted to do. He had internalized the vision.
Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favour in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Nehemiah 2:4 – 5 NKJV
Second, he had an idea about timing:
Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.
Nehemiah 2:6 NKJV
Third, he knew the resources he needed and leveraged on the moment that he had the king’s attention and favour. He asked for permits and provisions:
Furthermore, I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Nehemiah 2:7 – 8 NKJV
If the Lord brings you before the kings of your sector and men who carry what you need, would you be able to articulate the vision? Would you be able to state your priorities clearly? If you cannot, go and reassess your journey because your season of favour must meet you prepared.