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Pastor Tinashe Zinyemba
DECEMBER is an exciting month for many reasons. I know that the times in Zimbabwe are tough. I would like to encourage you that it will get better soon – God is in control.
In Genesis 13 there is an old man who is still young in the things of God. In Genesis 13:14-15 God speaks to Abram when he was about 80-or-so-years-old.
He had started his walk of faith with God at 70. The keys phrases in these verses are God says to Abram look to the north, east, west and south and whatever you see is yours.
That is amazing! Can you imagine God saying something like that to you? Guess what? That principle is true even today. Whatever you see you can have, or assimilate into you.
Sometimes we do not move or progress in life because we lack exposure.
For some of us all we know is Harare, or Nkulumane, or Mbare. All we know is Zimbabwe. We have not exposed ourselves to new experiences and hence we do not go very far in life. You could have been born in the rural areas or in the low density suburbs or in a small town but you need to know that there is more out there than the little world you grew up in.
Some of us limit ourselves to a small group of people or even to a routine lifestyle, where we do not stretch ourselves or grow in any way.
Here are a few pointers? Do you have a drivers licence? Do you have a passport? How many places or towns or cities have you visited this year? How many languages can you speak? How many books did you read this year? Have you been to any new place or been challenged to grow this year?
You will find someone with a flashy cell phone or tablet yet they have no passport or have never travelled across the border just to experience something new. You will find someone with flashy clothes yet they do not have a drivers licence or have never left their location to experience something new.
Abram had left a very comfortable life in Mesopotamia. He had left his family and friends to experience something totally different. In fact he had never worshipped God before his first encounter with the Almighty came when he was 70-years-old.
He literally started a new life at that age. It was this element of being willing to stretch himself and allowing himself to be stretched that made Abraham so unique.
We tend to shun challenges and run towards the comfort zones in our lives. Today I want to challenge you to objectively look back at the year and be honest with yourself.
Did you learn anything new this year? Have you met any new people this year? Have you grown this year? Emotionally and mentally have you grown or are you still at the same level.
Some of these things do not require money at all (I know some of you were saying you have no money). All you require is a willingness to grow.
Imagine if Abram had chosen to stay in his comfort zone? He would have never gone into the land of Canaan, and we would have never had so many faith stories from the Bible.
Through Abraham – renamed from Abram – we know that God can do anything (if God can get a 91-year-old woman to get pregnant and give birth without modern medicine then you know He is powerful).
Probably you are where you are because all you have seen is lack, fear, limitations, bad news and challenges. As the year comes to an end this is the best time for you to begin to plan for next year.
Challenge yourself to grow in areas of stagnation.
If you are in school set the bar higher for your grades. Add more clout and exposure to your carrier profile. I know you have it in you.
Challenge yourself, grow yourself and I know that when you begin to experience or see new things then you will be able to possess them and you too will become a testimony just like Abraham.
Tinashe Zinyemba is a pastor with New Life Covenant Church. Feedback at [email protected]
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