It was 2 days after my big day, and my husband and I were ‘pumped’ and excited about what lay ahead of us. One of the things we did in those first two days was to unwrap our wedding gifts. Right there in my parents’ living room, my siblings, husband and I carefully unwrapped them one after the other. Our wedding was held in Edo State, Nigeria, and we had to sort out the presents before packing up and returning to Lagos to start our new life.
There were lots of gifts, ranging from cash to household items. However, with a the gifts we got, I was glad that we didn’t find a kerosene stove among them. (Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a kerosene stove. It’s just that long before the wedding, I had strongly resolved that I wouldn’t use one in my home when I got married.
Growing up, we prepared meals with a gas cooker and fell back to the kerosene stove when option ‘A’ failed and caught us unawares. It was always so convenient to fall back to the stove and I vividly remember that we would get comfortable with it and 3 weeks later we will still be doing the kerosene stove thing! Not because the money wasn’t there but because we had become comfortable with the other OPTION.
Today marks my 11th year in marriage, and I’ve never used a kerosene stove in my home. Since I had made a conscious choice not to have an option, the gas cylinder has to be refilled somehow.
Many times in our life’s journey, we wind up creating options on the road to success and it hinders us from experiencing the very best. How we miss the thrill of what could have been had we not said things like, “well, if my dream to start up my business doesn’t work out, I’ll stick to a paid job no matter how small the pay is.”
“Well, if I can’t get married to a Christian man, then I’ll marry just any man and try to change him.”
“If I can’t live in a flat, I’ll just stick with the face-me-I-face-you kind of house.”
There is no denying the place of little beginnings, but what is wrong is settling when you are actually capable of so much more!
It’s your choice to push yourself against all odds and stick with getting ‘that very audacious goal.’
Plus, when you create convenient OPTIONS for yourself in life, you fail to depend on the sovereignty of God, the monarch of the universe, the one who calls the things that be not as though they were!
When men cast aside convenient options, then and then alone does God step in and prove Himself strong on their behalf.
When faced with the red sea, there was no OPTION. However, God did not see the red sea as a barrier! The only OPTION they had was to go through on dry ground!
Jesus got to the sea, and the boats were gone. What did he do? Find a convenient option? No way! He kept walking and walked on water as on dry land – (Matthew 14:23- 33).
Look around you, I’m sure you can count so many convenient options tugging at you to embrace them. Doing so always feels good and safe, but it robs you of the wonder that lies on the other side of stepping out of our boats. When goals are too small, we miss seeing the hand of God, and are tempted to work it out with our might. But fail is all the arm of flesh can do.
Cast aside those convenient OPTIONS, insist on that dream that seem too lofty, and surely God will prove himself STRONG on your behalf.
Written by Meekaywrites
