Growing To Full Stature (1)

Greatness thugs at all of our hearts and at some point we feel its strong urge. We must respond. We call it the ‘come up higher’ moment in Christian circles. I refer to that moment(s) when we come to know that it is time for a ‘configuration upgrade’ so that we can become better fits for the purpose or life work we are called to. We may need to acquire a new vision, mindset and passion in other to see things better and then produce better results, say at work, in your relationships, in things spiritual and everything else for that matter. For greatness is an accumulation of little things done well.

I am at such a place in my personal journey right now. That place when you just know that you have to deliver on your potential; when you know that you must learn more, do more and be more. I am navigating a path that I have never travelled and some of the things I encounter are novel and I have to stretch to and rise to the occassion. I know that it’s tough and I know that I am not the only one going through periods of change hence I write this series for myself as much as I do for you, the reader.

I write about the intensely personal struggle that we may face while stretching to full stature and the ‘huge’ price that we may have to pay when we respond to the call to fulfill destiny. It may require us to take a totally different course from what we are accustomed to like it was in Abraham’s case, when he was asked to leave home for the promise of a country which he did not know at the time or transition from one phase to another to fulfill purpose like it was in the case of Moses when he was asked to lead the children of Israel to battle against Egypt, the kingdom he grew up in even as member of the royal house but his real homestead, Isreal, needed deliverance from slavery. He trusted in what he heard.

Such a demand was also placed on the young shoulders of Gideon in the Bible when an angel appeared to him and told him to destroy the idols in his father’s house. You will agree with me that it was a tall order especially since most young men grow up with deep reverence for their fathers but Gideon responded to the call.

He had to test if it was truly God that was putting him to task by asking for the sign of the Fleece and we also may have to do same or whatever else will bring us to a place of full persuasion that it is the voice of Lord we are hearing, but when the demand is made of us, we must respond.

We may be scared to death like Gideon was, so much so that he took 32, 000 people to fight the war when the Lord needed, and eventually pruned the number down to just 300. Also, he destroyed the altar of Baal as he was asked to but he did it in the middle of the night. He could have done it during the day and nothing would have happened to him but his humanity came through and that may be the case for you and I too sometimes but respond we must.

The Lord even recognized and told him at a point to take Purah, his servant with him if he was afraid to go down alone to the Midianites’ camp. This demonstrates that help is already available and all we need to do is take the leap of faith and let the Lord take care of the rest.

Moreover, it is my considered view that we will all be required to respond to the call of greatness upon our lives at some point and we must respond with action even when we do not know the full detail of the journey but we know enough to know that it is the Lord leading us to take the step. We either respond and grow or refuse and stay stagnant.

That was the choice I faced when I got the offer to work in my current company. I accepted the challenge. It has not been all rosy but in spite of my fears, doubts and the occasional mistake, I am pushing on. It’s early days yet but through it all I have come to realize that if I just dare to move, the Lord will help me the rest of the way.

Finally, if only we can challenge the limits we have placed on ourselves and accept new Godly challenges, we could end up reaping huge material and immaterial rewards. For Gideon, having taken the initiative to allow the Lord work through him to deliver Israel from the hands of Midian was then asked by the men of Israel – same men who asked his father to produce him to be killed after he destroyed the altar of baal as he was mandated – to rule over them.