The ManicaPost
Arthur Marara:Motivation for Succes
“In the period of God’s abundant provision, do not be wasteful.” These are profound words which were uttered by a colleague of mine Ms Lorraine Mazula, when she paid me a visit at our offices on Thursday, 24th November 2016. As we were talking she suddenly drew my attention to a certain story which inspired her nugget she shared.I must acknowledge her for being the inspiration for the present article, and I am most indebted to her for allowing me to develop the principle into a fully fledged article.
Feeding of the 5 000
The Gospel writer Saint John in Chapter 6:9-13, shares an interesting story about a multitude that was following Jesus when he crossed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Moved by compassion, Jesus thought of feeding the people. In 6:5 Jesus asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” (NLT). Philip knew that he and the other disciples were financially incapacitated to feed the 5 000 people; not only for just that day, but even if they were to work for months.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, came into the picture and spoke to Jesus; “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?
“Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered 5 000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people.
Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves. (6:9-13 NLT) (My underlining for emphasis)
Five barley loaves and two fish: a perfect starting point
You are not broke, you have a starting point. The mistake that people make is to always think that they have nothing; alternatively what they have is not enough. A young boy was in possession of two fish and five loaves, yet there was a crowd of 5 000 people which needed food.
Don’t we find ourselves sometimes looking at what is in our hands vis the task ahead, and we think what we have is not enough. The reality is that what you have is a seed, which with a bit of faith can grow. Never belittle what you have. God always looks what you have and not what you do not have. You have a perfect starting point! What do you have in your hands?
A sudden breakthrough
We might not all have the millionaire dollar opportunity, but life presents us with opportunities. As an individual there are instances you might have been given even smaller amounts like $5, $10, or even $20 unexpectedly without even doing anything. The same with the 5 000 people, they did not do anything, they were just there with Jesus.
The moments of breakthrough are the right moments for responsible decisions.
I want you to think through your experiences this year, how many people have just given you seemingly small amounts, or even significant amounts. What did you do with the money? This explains why I was challenging you to the 52 week money challenge.
In times of abundance do not be wasteful
When food came to the 5 000, they ate in such a way that they could not even finish the food available. They ate and became so wasteful that the remainders amounted to 12 baskets. This is what many people are doing, when we have a breakthrough either personally as a corporate body, we tend to be so wasteful. Have you ever heard of people who once had money, but are now paupers? I think I am might be speaking to people who might know this. Have you ever heard about the term “gweja” or “gwejeline”.
Some people woke up with huge loads of cash, from diamond panning in Chiadzwa area. Some people went to the extent of buying cars without licences; others would even book an entire floor in a hotel just for them be alone, some people would buy beer for all the patrons in the beer hall without even knowing anyone of them. I even interacted with one person who confessed to possessing US$18 000 and lost all of it in just two weeks whilst staying with a commercial sex worker whom he had termed his “wife” for that period. Do you know why this happened?
The first reason is of course poverty mindset and second reason, a mindset that the abundance would always prevail. We all know what happened, Government moved in and sanitised the situation, and what seemed to be “abundance” came to and end.
When there was abundance, others decided to be wasteful. This is the tragedy of our generation and of my fellow citizens in Zimbabwe, we are wasteful.
We put surplus cash in trying to impress people, we buy cars we do not need, we buy clothes we never wear, we invest in “small/smell houses” at the expense of our marriages, we seek to impress people who do not even like us, we buy food we never eat, we are always partying as if we are celebrating something, we buy takeaways for the sake of showing people we have money. We are just wasteful in nature!
The secret for financial success is letting nothing go to waste, and making the most of the resources that God gives you, and remember that it will not always be there. The interesting thing in this story is that the instruction not to be wasteful was coming from Jesus the person who had multiplied the fish and the bread. He could have simply said I will multiply further as and when the need arises, but he chose to teach a principle on not wasting.
Your Success is up to you
We are all blessed in many ways, whether you see this or not. Some of us are also so wasteful in so many ways. You can become a better person — the choice is up to you as an individual. Invest in wisdom and knowledge to become a better you.
I will terminate the article with the immortal wisdom from King Solomon, in Proverbs 24:3-4 — “A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables. (NLT) So when you get precious jewels and valuables do not be wasteful!
Arthur Marara is an Attorney, Author and Speaker. He is also the author of the “Personal Development Toolkit”, “Keys to Financial Freedom”, and “Keys to Effective Time Management”. Send your feedback to [email protected] or like his page on Facebook, or Follow him on Twitter @ArthurMarara or Whatsapp: +263772467255
