You may have heard this before but indulge my repitition. Everything you CAN be in life has been deposited in you in seed form. However, you need to GROW into the person in your dream or life goal. Your growth will determine when and if you will achieve your dream. I hate to disappoint you but the truth is NO GROWTH, NO DREAM!

 

My favourite Bible story is the chronicle of Joseph’s life journey. He had a dream of becoming a prolific leader when he was 17. However, it took 13 years of unusual training and growth to become the person in that dream. Joseph’s growth arena was not your usual training regime, but it was very effective in making him the man in his dream. The dream without the matching person always lead to disaster. I will like to explore few possible training and growth arenas we may be avoiding in life. They may not be familiar, recognised training or growth tools you know but they are very effective in facilitating your personal growth

 

1. The Muddy Road of Betrayal

Growth is about developing character, capacity and discipline for your preferred future.  Top on my list is betrayal, (disappointment) from people that should have your back and protect you. This is only to teach you a life lesson: Do not look to ‘man’ to help you fulfil your dream. The earlier you understand this simple truth, the better you will be equipped to handle the pain of betrayal. There is no other way to say this; betrayal, especially from from close associates and family is very painful.

 

Betrayal is an act of selfishness, a reflection of insecurity and untrustworthiness. Betrayal is as deadly and bad as murder. It is saying out loud that you don’t care what you share with someone and it does not matter or mean anything to you anymore. It’s a reflection of the state of the heart. Trusting someone with our lives is a risk we all have to take at some point in our journey. Unfortunately the motivation for betrayal will not matter, mean nothing to the betrayer after the effect of their betrayal on the other person. Betrayal will never make you feel better about yourself but worse than before your selfish act.

 

After overcoming the pain of betrayal, you would have developed a bigger capacity to handle betrayal and unnecessary criticism from external source not closely linked to you. Until you develop the capacity, you will be dragged backwards in your pursuit. The route to your dream is not always smooth and glamorous. Expect to drive through the muddy road of betrayal. Afterwards, clean up yourself and continue the journey.

 

2. Unfavourable Seasons 

Every now and then, we all find ourselves in uncomfortable situations. Most times, our first reaction is not to do anything and wait till a better situation re-surfaces. Unfavourable seasons are not necessarily unfavourable, rather, they are opportunities to develop another skill or rediscover your energy and resilience to make the best of a bad situation. In the Biblical story of Joseph, he found himself as a slave but he considered it an opportunity to develop his leadership skills and sustainable character for his future. In no time, his skills were noticed and he was promoted as the team leader in the house. I believe that must have encouraged him to repeat the leadership performance when he found himself in a worse season (prison).

Every skill developed in such seasons is key to the future. You never know when it will come handy in your preferred future. Joseph’s dream interpretation and organisational skills (which he developed as a slave and prisoner) are what launched him to his preferred future.

 

3. When The Right Thing Is Not Convenient

This usual growth tool occurs in our daily routine whether we interact with people or not. It is doing the right things at all times, whether someone is looking or not. Everyday, you have to make a decision to do the right things or the wrong things. Sometimes, we justify doing the wrong things for the right reasons. I share your sentiment, but the truth is, it will not make it right.

 

Don’t be alarmed when you do the right things and you get stick for it; or find yourself in an unbelievable predicament. Joseph did not succumb to his master’s wife’s advancement (or better still sexual harassment) for weeks, which is the right thing to do considering everything. His integrity and character took a dent when she lied that Joseph tried to rape her, when in reality it was the other way round.

 

Doing the right thing got him into much trouble…temporarily. At the end, standing for the truth and the right things paid off huge dividends to him.

Tagged: BETRAYAL, dream, GROWTH, SEASONS