Prosperity is one theme that is often written and spoken about in the 21st century church. Whether during fund raising, church projects or even weekly Sunday sermons, the theme seems to always find its way out of the mouth of the presiding clergy. My approach to it may not be the popular thing you are used to hearing or reading, so you may want to relax and read through.
God is not cool with penury as some people think or even preach about. Some think the poorer you are the holier you'll be but I guess they've not read the wise saying in Proverbs.30:7-9. Poverty is one of the major causes of countless vices in the world. In fact, in case you don't know, prosperity is God's idea ( 3John.1:2). He is even the One that trains us on how to be wealthy (Deuteronomy 8:18).
That being said, I would like to focus on one of the most astonishing ways God uses to prosper His children. The wisdom God deploys when the issue of prosperity comes up is so profound and I am excited to share this with you.
In my little study, I found out that God's blessing cannot rest for long on what doesn't have continuity. You may be wondering what I mean by that. Our All-Loving God, who has the cattle so upon a thousand hills at His beck and call, cannot afford to pour out His blessings upon what/ who doesn't have the ability to multiply the blessing. This is actually a deep theme but not a discussion for today. I'll just wrap that point up with what God said about Abraham in Genesis 18:17-19;
“And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.””
Genesis 18:17-19 NKJV
I like how the next translation puts it. Permit me to say it nailed it big time! Hallelujah!
“Then GOD said, “Shall I keep back from Abraham what I’m about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I’ve settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe GOD ’s way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that GOD can complete in Abraham what he promised him.””
Genesis 18:17-19 MSG
Some people, whatever comes to their hands, whether material, cash or idea, never pass through to others. They hoard cash like they will need to pay gate fee or bills in heaven. If what God gives you cannot be a blessing to others, I'm sorry, you may be boycotted because no one is called to be a reservoir but a channel. Selah!
I would have loved to go further on that but I trust God to open your eyes of understanding,flooding it with insights by the help of the Sweet Spirit of Jesus.
So let me continue. There is a link between passion and prosperity. Anything you do that doesn't resonate with your passion will lead to frustration no matter how much out get from it. You can be rich doing what you don't have passion for but you can't be wealthy outside of your area of passion. With your passion comes ideas and innovations. With it comes wisdom for winning. That is what gives you the extra on top of your ordinary.
Let's check some case studies.
Jacob's prosperity was attached to his trade. He was a shepherd (Genesis.30:31-43). God gave him wisdom to prosper in the line of his passion.
Isaac was told to remain in the famine doing what he loves to do (Genesis.26). When you are in your area of passion you cannot he stopped! People will only try to discourage you but they can't stop you because they aren't the source of your passion.
Paul loves "talking" so he became a lawyer and that was why he was one of the most impactful apostles. In fact, he outshines others because of this.
Jesus met His disciples, he used their passion to explain the kind of assignment they will later handle. He didnt say he will make them traders of men. He said, "I will make you fishers of men".
What then is passion? How do we discover it? You would have come across myriads of texts on how to discover your passion, so I won't bore you with excerpts. But check these;
What do you love doing? What gives you joy when you are at it that you may never remember any imminent challenge in your life at that moment? It may not be the popular thing? It may not be the most prestigious activity or the most rewarding at the moment? In fact, your parent may be against it. Your best friends or spouse may not even understand you. Since you didn't wire yourself, I won't blame you if you cannot understand it all by yourself. You may not be able to give a tangible explanation as to why you do it. You just love it and find it so natural without struggling. It's like something coming out from an endless reserve. You write effortlessly. You sing passionately. You sew like your customers are heavenly beings. When any electrical appliance becomes faulty you fix it easily.
I heard a story of a petty trader selling in Oyingbo market, Lagos State, Nigeria, who sent her son to a school in Ireland with money saved from that same trade she has been doing for several years. That's huge. While some are saying there isn't profit, she stuck to what she love to do and she could afford what some people who do "better jobs" are struggling to achieve. The level of poverty we have is enough to show us that many are doing what they aren't cut out for. Sir, your needs can be satisfied when you are doing what you are called to do. I sometimes call it "being paid to have fun".
However, the clause here is, you must keep striving to be better at that thing which leads us to talking about getting trainings and possibly an educational backup in that area of passion. Whether music, fashion, speaking, acting, automobile repair, shoe cobbler, IT, etc, get a formal training. This may seem somehow to you now but think of it like this;
1. You are better exposed
2. You are able to connect with other people intellectually in your field
3. Passing it on to apprentices or subordinates will not be by crude training.
4. Your trained passion will help you be a better soul winner.
Ultimately, my friends, God wants to use your passion as a platform to reach out to souls in different strata. A roadside mechanic may not be able to preach to the board members of an Automobile company like a certified Mechanical engineer would. Paul could preach to King Agrippa where Peter doesn't stand a chance yet they were are both anointed apostles. Conversely, Peter will know how best to preach to fishermen than Paul would.
When God looks down and decides to release His blessing, be sure He wouldn't be looking for a Baker working in the bank. His blessing are waiting for him behind the oven not behind the counter. Some people should be in the farm supervising crop production but they dying in the office with piled up files yet to be attended to. Some are better with craft but they are stock in the business of shipping and clearing. God will not bless you while you help others fulfil their passion and leave yours lying dormant. Choose to be wise today and receive wisdom for prosperity in your area of passion and your greatness will know no bounds.
Bless you!
I am Gabriel.
Comments