LEAP OF FAITH
For we walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 4 VS. 7
I mentioned at the beginning of this book that I love treasure seeking adventures. In this genre, Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones movies are way up the rank. I think my best of the lot is Indiana Jones and the last crusade. One of the indelible moments of this movie for me was when he got to a yawning chasm and was directed by the treasure map to take a leap of faith. Indy decided to take his chances and when he did, a stone bridge appeared out of nowhere. He was able to cross to the other side via this.
One of the greatest foes that confront us on the road to maximizing our potentials is fear. Fear cripples like spinal disease, paralyzes like curare and steals initiative like a Mexican bandit, thus burying our potentials under tons of mundane earth. In this state our treasures might never see the light of day where human accolades and appreciation await. Fear could be that giant preventing you from partaking of the milk and honey of your Canaan land. The Israelites will tell you this for sure. My favourite wrestler Jeff Hardy wears a tank top that says “immune to fear” and you should see some of his irrepressible feats of daring-do. They are absolutely eyes popping! You should see this guy showing off his talents. He is so colourful; the rainbow seems dull by comparison. This stems from the fact that he is fearless.
At one of the worst points of the great American depression in 1993, President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address said “the only thing to fear is fear itself”.
The bible is flooded with “fear not” passages because God knows how debilitating fear can be.
The question is what is it that makes fear creep into our lives like a slippery snake slinking into a chicken’s coop to swallow the eggs of the future?
One reason is that we might feel our talent is not good enough and cannot hold its own beside that of our contemporaries. That is such a terrible lie.
I have followed football as long as I can remember that I think I qualify as an aficionado. There is a buzz-saw through cream cheese effect of an attacker dissecting a defense that appeals to my innermost being. Its similitude to the poetic movements of an artist’s brush on a canvas just makes me love attacking midfielders. I have seen attackers come and go; from the gazelle-like speed of Brian Laudrup, the dressage horse panache of Clarence Seedorf, the flair of Jay Jay (so good they named him twice) Okocha, the brilliance of Kanu, the genius of Messi, the majestic presence of Fernando Redondo, the cool headed finishing of Dennis “the menace” Bergkamp,
I could go on and on. The world has also had more impressive strikers than a rainforest has blooming mushrooms: Angel Gabriel Batistuta, Gary Lineker, Hugo Sanchez, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Patrick Kluivert, Fernando Torres, the list is never ending with new ones emerging everyday. The emphasis here is that we have more beautiful footballers than there are schools of fish in the ocean but there is still room for more. You know why? Like vocal prints and fingerprints, we all have our unique flavour {see “ICE CREAM AND FLAVOURS”, www.ekpoeze.wordpress.com}.
Nobody else can do what you do the way you do it. No one else comes close. I am sure you will agree with me that if you give the same ingredients in the same quantities to two different cooks to make egusi soup1, the two pots of soup will never taste the same. The psalmist said that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and one of the reasons for this statement is that no else is made like you and I. We are distinct, different and it is when we fail to differentiate by flaunting our peculiarities that we die. In our distinction lies our ace, in our dissimilarity is our joker. Have you noticed that none of the greatest boxers of all time fight in the same way? In all their similarity, Sugar Ray Leonard was very distinct from the great Ali and both of them are in the boxing hall of fame.
No two musicians ever sing the same way even if they are in the same genre. Kim Walker, Chris Quilala, Fred Hammond, Tye Tribbet and Isaac Houghton are some of my favourite gospel artistes of all time; you will agree with me that their flavour and style are different. Bouqui and Frank Edwards are as similar as chalk and cheese but to me both of them are world class in the gospel genre.
There is enough playing field for you in the world no matter where your area of gifting lies. There was a time the rave in the fashion world were Chanel, Armani, Givenchy, but now there are the Paul Smiths, Kenneth Coles, Jimmy Choos, and Oswald Boatengs. In the movie industry it used to be Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Harrison Ford but now we have Robert Downey Junior, Kate Winslet, Gerald Butler, Sam Worthington and Jamie Fox. In that field of yours, YOU ARE THE NEXT CELEBRITY!!!
Life could be likened to a pot of soup with different ingredients added to make it tasty; without any of the ingredients it can never taste quite right especially if it is being made from a secret recipe. The soup of life will not be the same without your sapidity. Do not deprive the world the opportunity to savour the gastronomical experience of their lives by holding back on what you have got. When you offer your Filet mignon and Foie gras with baked Alaska, the world will feel like it had been eating Kokoro sticks2 before your advent.
Jesus said that you are the salt of the earth, and if you lose your taste men would trample on you. One of the reasons you come back from work hurting all over because your boss trampled on your feelings might be that your flavor is still dormant and hasn’t been tasted yet. You might be caught in a dead end vocation manifesting only one type of hue instead of displaying all the colours of the rainbow. Your piquancy is trapped in the cauldron of the ordinary. Jesus said such a person is a colossal waste to his generation.
It is time for you to take that life changing leap. Walk away from that job that is limiting your zest, start that business, paint that picture, go for that course, have that exhibition, write the proposal, write that bestseller, go for that auditioning, prepare that demo, bake that cake, give that speech, go for that screening, draw those designs. Come out of the plane of your comfort zone, take the leap with the parachute of faith and go sky surfing. Experience heights you have never attained before. Feel the heady rush of a whole new level of living.
Believe in yourself and in what you have. Mohammed Ali kept on saying he was the greatest and he turned out to be the greatest. Jesus went about telling people who He was even when people didn’t believe him. He said He and His father were one, that he was the resurrection and the life and lots more. It is not about people believing you; it’s about you believing in yourself. When people believe in you, it’s not a guarantee that anything will happen. But if you believe in yourself even if you are as featherless as a chick that has been dipped in a tub of depilatory cream, you will grow the wings of an eagle and soar. This is not asking you to be proud. No one was ever as humble as Jesus but he knew who he was. Know who you are.
The widow of Zarephath took a risk of faith when she placed her almost non existent resources on the line to feed someone else and she got a windfall from it4. No matter how little you feel your gift is, release it to bless your world and you will be amazed at what will come back to you. The harvest will blow your mind; it will become an endless stream of life sustaining provision and empowerment.
Take a leap of faith. The message version of the bible said that the woman with the issue of blood took a risk of faith. In the beginning of that tale, the term used for her was a certain woman (nameless, just one of the milling crowd) but after she put her fear aside and took the risk of faith, the Lord called her daughter. The offspring of divinity is divinity. She shot herself out of the rickety truck of humanity into the supersonic Concorde of divinity. She became equal with God because of her faith. The Lord told her that her faith had made her whole5.
Are you still a part of the nameless, faceless crowd and haven’t distinguished yourself because you are still playing in the pits of ordinary living? Why haven’t you taken the jump? Make your move, become a god. Muscle your way into the fraternity of the pantheon in the field of your endeavor. Your belief could bring the wholeness you have been seeking in the deprived areas of your life.
The scriptures say that whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world but this victory can only come through our faith6. The talents we have are born of God because they were instilled into us by Him; therefore if we can believe in them we automatically are on our way to overcoming our limitations and overwhelming victory.
Take the leap of faith; BECOME A SON OF GOD!!!