Why we shouldn’t let excuses keep us from the life, God is calling us to live.
What is in your hands? A question God asked Moses in the book of Genesis, where he was giving God all the possible excuses as to why he couldn’t carry out the task God had assigned to him. My question to all of us today is also what is in your hands? There are times where people are frustrated with life, nothing seems like it is working out. You might have been rejected from job opportunity, after job opportunity, maybe it has gotten to a point where you don’t expect a call back from anyone because no one calls back anyway.
Image courtesy of Unsplash
You also tired of crying, and feeling like a failure; everyone around you seems to be succeeding at their ventures, you are tortured continuously by posts on social media, and you keep thinking; you have nothing to bring to the table, or so you think. Just before you throw in the towel, and give up on life, can you simply answer this question: What is in your hands? We all have unique gifts and abilities. Some can sing, some can write, some can draw, and some are great with numbers. No one was put on this planet by God without a means to make ends meet for themselves. Yes, even those in impoverished situations. I am reminded of Phiona Mutesi’s story, which was portrayed in the Disney movie: Queen of Katwe.
She lost her dad, and her family ended up in the slums of Katwe, looking for means of survival. She eventually piqued an interest in the game of chess, won many championships around the world and was able to bring her family and others out of poverty. So there is no excuse. If we can just deeply examine our lives, we can discover the gifts that are placed on the inside of us. The world is full of many grass to grace stories, yours can be one of them.
Instead of sitting at home each day, and wallowing in despair, take that time out to find out who God created you to be.
There is an assignment attached to everyone, and we must fulfill our lives purpose. Don’t wait for handouts from people, rise up and create your own opportunities. I read about a young man once in India, who wrote an entire book, that later became a bestseller, on his broken cell phone. I was left wondering; how did he do that? When everyone went to sleep at night in Queen of Katwe, Phiona stayed up studying about chess, with a candlelight, not knowing her story would be portrayed in a Disney movie one day. There was also a young African American man recently, who made it on the Steve Harvey show.
He was laid off from his job and was looking for another one desperately. He eventually got one with a moving company, and the night before his first day of work, his car went bad. He thought to himself; well it is my car that went bad and not my legs. So he decided to walk to the woman's house, where he was to meet up with his team to pack up her house. He left his home at 11:30pm and started his journey. Somewhere along the line, some cops found him and gave him a ride. He got to her house at 5:30am; an hour earlier than when he was supposed to get there. He explained to the woman, what happened, and she offered him a room to go sleep in until the rest of his team showed up.
He humbly declined her request and decided to start work early. She was moved by his story and started a go-fund-me account on his behalf, to raise $2000 to fix/get him a new car. They got $90,000 in the end. People were moved by a young man's determination to make a decent living for himself. His boss got wind of the story and gave the man his own car for free. So not only did he get $90,000 that was way above their target, but he also got a great car from his boss. He donated part of his proceeds to an organization that helped him growing up, and the organization, in turn, started a scholarship in his name. These ripple effects occurred, because he made a wise decision not to let anything stop him from getting to work.
“A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” Proverbs 18:16
I love this quote found in the book of Proverbs, we can replace gift here with what is in your hands. If you don’t discover it, you will miss out on countless opportunities. So I ask you again, what is in your hands? For that young man, it was his determination not to give an excuse for the first day of work and decided to do something extraordinary.
For Phiona Mutesi, it was her interest and zeal for the game of chess, for that Indian young man, it was his passion to get a story out there, regardless of the constraints he had. And for me, it was discovering my voice, through writing and a passion for effecting change with my conversations. If we don't step out and start doing something, what is meant for us, wouldn't come to us. We have to do the work to find it, and in turn, inspire others to do the same.
Hope you enjoyed this short wisdom weekly article, and are inspired to start doing, what you have been called to do. If you like these sorts of stories, check out our wisdom weekly page—letstalknationblog.com/wisdom-weekly. And for more stories about people making a difference, check out—letstalknationblog.com/spotlight. Remember to like, comment, share, and subscribe never to miss an update.