adminTackling the controVerse Pastor Sam Manyika
SOME years back while standing at the window of my apartment in Harare, I saw an old lady walking through the gate of the complex that I lived in, I thought she looked familiar then I realised it was my grandmother on my mother’s side. She had a bag which appeared to be quite heavy so I rushed out to welcome her. I later realised that there was a big pumpkin, some freshly dug peanuts and round nuts in the bag which she had brought for me.
Old but never too old to be generous, considerate or too poor to find something to give, that was my grandmother. Her nickname was “VaMadhoiri” because of her doily making skills. Besides managing her rural home in Chikwaka, just outside Harare where she did some subsistence farming, she had also managed to buy a stand in Glen View township in Harare and built a three-bedroomed house there just from selling her doilies in South Africa. This was then when she was already a widow and in her sixties.
The descent into poverty, destitution and a total paralysis in terms of productivity in life begins when one embraces the notion that they have nothing. This is a very dangerous confession which converts into self-pity and propels one into an “I cannot do anything about my situation” mode.
I will make a bold statement and say an absolutely “have nothing” state is not possible to attain while one is still breathing and walking. It is a matter of perception, comparing or juxtaposing one’s situation against that of others. Everything in life which is related to productivity is always at one point or level of a three stage process. Either at seed, growth or fruition level. A seed always looks insignificant, weak and lonely, but has an amazing capacity to replicate and multiply. You cannot say you have nothing simply because you are holding a small bag of maize seed and you are comparing yourself with someone who has just harvested a hundred bags of maize meal. You may not have the bags but you will be holding the capacity.
I was always moved by my grandmother’s never say die positive attitude. After this visit I took her to the shops, bought her some groceries, gave her some money and drove her back to her rural home. She went back with more than she had brought.
As they say no one applies to be born where they are born, at the time they are born or in the family they are born in. Political, social and economic conditions are not ours to control or manipulate, so we have to be proactive, innovative and creative so as to survive. The question is “what is that in your hand?” or “what do you have?” has to be answered honestly.
The Lord Jesus always made radical, profound but enlightening statements. The following passage of scripture illustrates that those who perceive themselves as “have nots,” may end up amounting to nothing.
Matthew 13:12: “For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
There is a need in life to recognise what you have so as to find a starting point. Life will certainly not be throwing bags of cash and opportunities at you. Most of the time, we have to make things happen. This becomes possible when we begin to appreciate what we have which God has given as a talent, an ability whatever it maybe. We also need to realise that always looking inside into our situation, our affairs and our needs can be counterproductive. When we begin to see and act on what we can do for others no matter how small we activate a principle which sees to it that others also begin to give back into our bosom.
Luke 6:38: Give and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.”
Sometimes you can just give your time to someone who needs attention, it maybe a service, it does not have to be a material thing, without a doubt there will always be something.
A simple act of kindness, just a stepping out from your shell of self-pity, mourning, hopelessness and complaining can totally revolutionise your life and open doors of opportunity. Every person created in the image of God is gifted in some way, and every person has something that someone else does not have and needs.
The bible carries several stories of people who were used to do much through the little which they had, recognised and gave. When Jesus fed the five thousand people it was through a few loaves of bread and fish that somebody had and gave. The widow who fed Elijah with the last little flour that she had ended up being given more than enough and paying off her debts.
2 Kings 4:1-7 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
Verse 3, Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbours — empty vessels; do not gather just a few.
Verse 4, and when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
Verse 5, so she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Verse 6, now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Verse 7, then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
So never never say you have nothing, it is a dangerous confession and you might end up having what you do not have taken away from you. This would put you at zero minus. There is always something, you just need to find it or acknowledge it, then use it.
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