HARD TIMES CAN BE SPRINGBOARDS

In our secondary school days, we used a Mathematics textbook called the New General Mathematics. It was full of exercises. The unique thing was it had answers on the last pages of the book. The reason for the answers was to confirm if the solution was right or wrong after the student must have practised.

But we had a different reason for it- we would always check it out once the exercise was difficult. Then we try all we can to align the calculation to the solution. At a point, my friend’s dad sealed that part of the book. They were forced to work it out. They became better mathematics students. For those of us who keep checking the back of the book for answers, we were average mathematics students.

To make it more interesting, our teacher always knows the student who skipped the process. Why? The teacher does not just grade the answers, he grades the process.

Get this straight: God is not just interested in results, He is interested in the process that got the results. Moses got a result when he struck the rock and water flowed. Men must have hailed him but God failed him. Why? He used the wrong method. What made it the wrong method? It was not according to the instruction of God.

You must also understand this- Men who skip the process will never become exceptional. One of the terrible things that can happen to a man is to enter a new season and realise that there are lessons, training and resources needed in the new lesson but should have been picked in a previous season. That is why most people get stranded.

Do not cheat. It is better to fail honourably while you keep a good name than you succeed without a sense of value or integrity. King Solomon said that a good name is better than gold or silver.

There is a time for everything. Life responds to principles. If you keep breaking principles, you will be out of shape in destiny. A lot of character deficiencies that the church gets to address are always failures of life lessons not picked or learnt in a domestic family.

If you do not learn self-control as a single person, you are an apprentice adulterer. A fornicating single will become an adulterous married man or woman. Discipline is not learnt in a hurry. Do not jump process in life.

Go through the moments that humble you. Learn the lessons. Failure can be a springboard or a grave point. It depends on how you respond to it. If you respond well, it can launch you to a new level with greater accuracy and better insight. If you respond poorly, life has a way of making you repeat the classes you failed. Life will not promote you on trial. Work your sums. Do not cheat. Honour process.