Life is like a long distance journey
on the sea. There are days of smooth sailing and there will be days of violent
storms. It is a complex combination of the two. They are not predictable nor
can one or the other be chosen or avoided. Both must be experienced.
While the smooth sailing is the more
pleasurable of the two, it has its dangers if wrongly handled. The turbulent
storm is the one dreaded and detested, yet has its uses if approached with
wisdom. The issue is not about traveling in a smooth condition or struggling
under the threatening destructiveness of the storm. The issue is, how will you handle
these conditions of life? Either you like it or not every success journey is traveled under these states of affairs.
The danger of smooth sailing is pride
and complacency. The invincibility of self. The absolute reliance on oneself
to the exclusion of the role of others in one’s life. The lack of desire to
improve and reach to higher and nobler goals. This condition of life is so
enjoyable that you are blinded to the truth of ‘cultivating’ every path of the
success journey, and the finite nature of every earthly resource.
While it is absolutely necessary to
use this period of life to refresh yourself from the weariness of the journey
and to rejoice in the good ‘fate’(?) that has brought you such pleasure, you
must see this period also as a time of maintaining the structure of your ship.
It must be a time of sowing into the lives of those ‘important others’ in your
journey, you must sow into your future and do something to add to your
environment without expecting anything in return but the joy of contributing to
the wellness of your world.
Don’t be deceived that the storm of
life will not show up. No matter how much smooth sailing you experience in
life, storms will show up. The storm might be such that will just rock your
boat and leave you unhurt or turbulent and life threatening. As long as you
dream and set new goals for yourself to achieve, new challenges will arise. New
opposition must be overcome. Some friends will refuse to go along with you on
this journey, and some will betray and disappoint you. There will be new skill
to acquire. There will be new friends to make. And new enemies to deal with.
Now, since storms are unavoidable,
what do we do with them? Go through. Go deeper. Go stronger. Go wiser. And
stand. Never allow the storm to stop you. Even if it means moving at the
snail’s speed, move! Never allow the storm to make you vain. Even if it means
straining yourself to discover a lesson, be more profound! Never allow the
storm to weaken you. Even if it means stretching beyond your limit, become
stronger! Never allow the storm to make you foolish. Even if it means studying
wide and hard, become wiser!
And stand. Whatever life throws at
you, stand strong, stand in faith and stand in love. Don’t allow the storm of
betrayal and disappointment of men make you bitter. Don’t allow the opposition
and challenges to the achievement of your goals make you lose heart. Don’t
allow the shame and taunting of failure make you stop trying. It is the wadding
through the storms to the other sides that brings the result, goals and the
achievement you’re looking for. Robert W. Mcquilkin said ‘it is suffering and
then glory. Not to have the suffering means not to have the glory’.
The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storm – Charles Caleb Colton
In your success journey you must anticipate
challenges, oppositions and unexpected setbacks. Make up your mind to face
them, learn from them and go through them and be stronger. Allow them to abrasively
smooth you and be more refined in strength, character and wisdom. Refuse to
be roughened in the negativity of bitterness, hatred, lack of forgiveness,
discouragement, frustration, weakness and despondency.
Sail through all storms that come
your way in the success journey and continue to live a life of success!
SAILING TIPS
1. Build a strong foundation. A ship that is
built to deal with anticipated storm is more likely to survive a storm. Prepare
your heart and mind for the possibility. Lay a foundation of spiritual strength
which will probably be the only saving grace when your wisdom, connections and
human strength fails you. Fill your heart and mind with the Word of God and
live by this Word. ‘And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which
I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and
heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He
is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream
beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded
upon a rock.’ Luke 6: 46 – 48.
2. Build a reservoir of hope. There is no hopeless
situation, there is hopeless man. Storms attack a man’s expectation. It
destroys the possibility of success and causes a thick darkness filled with
doom to surround the man. It brings a foreboding destruction of a man’s dream
and all he stands for. To overcome this gloom, a light of hope must be lit. The
soul must be warmed from the coldness of the storm. The soul must be kept
steady from the violent tossing by the storm. The only hope that is strong
enough to weather all storms is the hope laid before us by God in Christ Jesus.
The hope of God’s help through Christ, the hope of eternal life. ‘That by two immutable things, in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have
fled for refuge to lay hold upon the
hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;’ Hebrew 6: 18, 19.
3. Build and strengthen your faith. Faith sees
beyond the present conditions. It sees into what could be and appropriate it
for the present. In storm, there is little visibility and pervasive confusion.
In this state, your mental reasoning and ability is be handicapped. You need to
be able to see and reason with the eyes of faith. So that, you see beyond your
present condition and take hold of the desired condition, working towards it
with all enthusiasm and determination that the storm cannot break. ‘Now it came
to pass on certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and He
said unto them, let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they
launched forth. But as they sailed He fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake: and they were filled
with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying,
Master, master, we perish. Then he
arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and
there was a calm. And He said unto them, where is your faith?...’ Luke 8:
22 – 25.
