Destined for Greatness: Your Tuesday Morning Inspiration with Gerald Chinogara
In the past 12 months, there is hardly anyone of us who have not stayed indoors longer than you have ever done before in your life. With this staying indoors, life’s demands have increased in intensity making us find ourselves too busy. In a bid to adapt to the new normal we have filled up our lives with so many things in the same way a manufacturer load buttons on a remote control. Contrast to this is the simplicity modelled by the greatest leader who has ever lived which should inspire us to long for simplicity in life. Simplicity of less stuff and less busyness, of focus on what’s important, and of the freedom that follows. A key factor in pursuing and maintaining simplicity is to stay true to divine values and calling. Adherence to these virtues give more clarity in every area of life on what’s most important and what’s secondary.
Jesus, the undisputed leader of all time did this his entire time on earth. He could have done a gazillion things, but he focused on why he was here. Just like God called Abram and led him outside, into the fresh air of purpose and also instructed Abram to leave his kinsmen; Jesus is asking us to move away from the complexity of the world’s way of trying to get ahead and follow the God way of doing things. This entails embracing His view where everything looks different from this vantage point. Suddenly, what appeared as insurmountable problems are now reduced to manageable sizes. Worries and concerns melt away in God’s majestic presence. Weights and pressures dissipate as His faithfulness envelops us.
There are times the Lord must take us outside and separate us from what has become our routine, to look up instead of down. Like Abram, we must exit our tents and look up toward heaven, counting the innumerable stars. Abram would never have seen the stars if he was not called out at night. God intentionally chooses the dark to reveal His light. Amid the darkness of this covid-19 epidemic, endeavour to look for the stars. Have you tried looking at the stars in the daylight? It’s in the dark, that the Lord shines brightest and we see Him clearer. The stars are His promises and Joshua 21:45 state that “Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
One of the classic examples of a call to simplicity is demonstrated in the Bible account where Jesus visited Martha and Mary’s house. Martha was living the complicated life and doing all the work needed to serve the meal, and I admit we need to appreciate Martha. It would have been a miserable supper without her. But Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and focused in simple attention to what was most important. in Luke 10:42 Jesus said, “… only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better. And it will not be taken away from her”. With the excessive onslaught of information dissemination through various social media platforms, many things are good but not needed. Mary’s focused hunger for God put everything else in its proper secondary place in a life of blessed simplicity. This coming Easter holiday, I exhort you to reflect on what the death and resurrection of Jesus is worth to you and use this time to move from the complex to the simple and surer thing in life.
Gerald is an astute business leader,strategic marketer by profession and a motivator by calling. Currently he is Head of Marketing & Alternative Distribution Channels for Old Mutual Zimbabwe. He has over 15 years diverse business experience at senior and executive management in leading corporate companies in Zimbabwe.
