THE POWER OF POSITIVE EXAMPLES

A few weeks to the birth of Olive, we went to the clinic for routine ante-natal care. While the nurse was attending to Irewamiri, a pregnant woman from the Northern part of our nation came to ask the nurse some questions. The nurse attended to her and asked if she had come to the hospital with her baby’s things.

When she left, the nurse mentioned that she was already in labour and about seven centimetres gone. We were shocked. She was speaking normally, and no one would have guessed that she was in labour.

To make the picture more vivid, as we left the clinic, we saw her talking with some other women normally. We were amazed.

That day, Irewamiri settled it mentally that delivery does not have to be hard. The picture we saw helped. It happened just like that. We were playing while she carried on her normal morning routine, as the labour progressed. She was seven centimetres gone by the time we got to the hospital. We saw a picture.

Some of my dear ones told me after a joint trip to another ministry that, “Pastor, we have seen what you have been trying to explain to us for months. You don’t have to explain again”. Pictures are powerful.

This is the reason why God loves to give us references in our walk of faith with Him. When Abraham was struggling with doubt, God brought him out and asked him to see the stars. He then said to Father Abram:

“Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” Genesis 15:5 NLT

He gave Mary a picture that would help her faith. Mary had questions. For instance, she wanted to know how a virgin would give birth.

She got an answer: The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:35 NLT

She also got a faith-stirring picture: What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.

Luke 1:36 NLT

Your faith is helped when you have a picture and reference of it. Abraham had a picture that Isaac would “resurrect”. He told the servants that they both would return.

concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Hebrews 11:19 NKJV

If you are surrounded by what looks like impossibility right now, ask the Lord to lead you to a picture of possibility. Be warned- if the Lord has called you to a journey of the impossible, do not go seek the opinion of those who have not done it before. Do not allow anyone who does not know where you are going to tell you how to get there.

Get a picture of faith. Your journey becomes faster.

© temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa