In John 11, we read about Lazarus; the man whom Jesus raised from death.

Before the miracle took place, Lazarus had been dead for four days and Martha, Lazarus’s sister thought it was all too late. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” and Jesus replied, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). Despite all the obvious facts that it was too late to save Lazarus, Jesus raised the dead man and called him forth from the tomb.

God requires nothing but our belief even if it is as small as a mustard seed; the smallest seeds of all plants but Jesus said faith of that size is able to move mountains.

Don’t let doubts deplete all of your faith in God. To have faith means putting your belief and trust in something or somebody outside of yourself and it is very hard because there is no telling how things will turn out but let’s shift our perspective. Let’s stop seeing our trials as obstacles but instead, let’s see them as opportunities to witness the revelation of God’s glory in our lives so we will be able to share victorious testimonies to encourage and bless fellow believers in their faith journeys.

John 11:40
Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?

Do you feel different? Do you feel like you don’t measure up?

Each of us has unique gifts and skills. Some people are naturally likeable, some excel in their business effortlessly, some are brilliant homemakers and others are gifted in charity roles.

Just because everyone in your family is a doctor and you didn’t make it, does not make you a failure.

Other people may be an example to us but they should never set our standard. We are unique and created by God for different purposes. Just as the sun, the moon and the stars are created for different purposes, so are we.

Don’t compare yourself with other. Our identities should not be shaped by the expectation of others. Each of us is given gifts that we can do naturally whilst others may find difficult to do so cheer up, we are not different but unique.

1 Corinthians 15:41
The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

1 Corinthians 7:7
I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that failures can crush our hopes to pieces. Sometimes it is easier to give up; it’ll save the disappointments and heartaches from happening all over again.

A failure-free life feels safe but it may mean a defeated life as well.

The Devil loves to remind us of the painful details but have you ever noticed that he never reminds you of the valuable lessons you have learned? We ought to learn the lesson and then forget the details; at least that’s how I constantly remind myself when painful details creep to my mind.

Do you remember the first time you fell when you tried to walk? Do you remember the pain? Most of us will say no but we will agree that the pain was worth it.  The fact that we were too young to remember the details helped us to keep on trying till we succeed in taking that first few baby steps towards our proud parents.

Failing enables us to learn and most importantly it doesn’t make us a failure but quitting does. Don’t be conned by the Devil to live a defeated life but instead let’s forget the painful details and focus on the lessons we have learned.

2 Corinthians 4:9
Persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

We often desire someone else’s success but do we have any idea on how often they got it wrong before they got it right?

When Thomas Alfa Edison tried to invent the light bulb, it was recorded that he failed 1000 times. The remarkable thing about him was his ability to view his failure as a progressive success. “I have not failed 1000 times but I have successfully discovered 1000 ways to NOT make a light bulb,” claimed Edison.

Making mistakes is the unavoidable part in making progress. If we are unwilling to make mistakes, we will not be able to make any progress in anything we set our heart to.

A Christian motivational speaker, Dr John C Maxwell says that our performances depend on our determination to keep on trying as it sharpens our abilities.”

What Maxwell says pretty much sums up Edison’s secret to success. Despite the many mistakes Edison made, what made him succeed was his determination to never stop trying. Let’s strive for progress and not perfection.

Psalm 16:8
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion

“I don’t see any value in this project! Think of another one or your days are numbered!” said her boss. The employee walked away feeling unappreciated and disheartened. In tears, she poured all her sadness to a fellow colleague and her colleague nodded with sympathy sharing the same frustration.  “My hard work for months… all wasted,” she sobbed.

This depicts the reality of how frail human successes can be. What we built for months even years could disappear or be dismissed in a matter of second thus we are fools if we were to believe that we could rely on our wealth or retain our success with just hard work.

Job, a certain wealthy man in the bible understood that God is the one who gives and takes: HE is the one behind our increase. Despite Job’s severe lost, he chose to remain steadfast in praising God. Job understood everything comes from God and God blessed Job’s latter days more than his beginning (Job 42:12).

It is a humbling experience to acknowledge that God is the one who gives us wealth and success in life.  The nature of success in this world is frail and erratic; we ought to rely on the ROCK who is always the same yesterday today and tomorrow. HE is the ONE unshakable source to depend on.  When God gives wealth or success to you, HE adds no trouble to it. 

Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

Sometimes we think that the increase or success we have is the result of our own efforts and hard work. You think wrong; God is behind all of our increase. I’m not encouraging you to be lazy but do not be misled thinking all of them are of your own efforts.

We read about this truth in the book of Ruth; a young Moabite widow who worked in Boaz’s field as a gleaner. At the end of her first day at work, she collected substantial supplies of barleys worth 10 days of work. What she didn’t know was Boaz, the owner of the field had secretly told his reapers “to let bundles of grain fall purposely that Ruth may glean on it (Ruth 2:16).

It was because of Boaz’s favor that Ruth obtained such abundance. Like Boaz, our Heavenly Father does the same thing for us today. HE is able to cause other people to favor us and “let bundles of blessings fall purposely” on us because of HIS love to us but sometimes it happens so natural that we forget that it is GOD that has blessed us with the increases.

We need to constantly remind ourselves that it is God who gives us increase; He delights in blessing all of our hard work and multiplies it to abundance.  Praise HIM for HE is good.

1 Corinthians 3:7
 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

All of us need a friend. My little niece defined a friend as someone who knows all the bad things about you but still wants to play with you everyday. Another friend defined a friend as someone you can call but you need not explain how you are feeling or why you are calling.

In Proverbs 17:7, King Solomon wrote “ a friend loves at all times.” I think it says it all. To have someone who remains true to us in all seasons of our lives is one of life’s blessings but friendship works both ways and how we could develop such close bond requires effort.

Proverbs 18:24 makes an important point when it says “ A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” Friendliness must begin with us. I was naturally an unfriendly person but God had other plans. HE took me out of my comfort zone and placed a handful of strangers in my life. At that point I had to make a choice to be a friend and be there for people I barely know as most of them were in their toughest times. It was inconvenient and unnatural for me to reach out and take extra time to be a friend but God was patient with me during that particular journey.

Now, I can confidently say that God has blessed me when HE placed those strangers in my life as some of them are now my closest friends. Friendships are not found, they are made so whenever you are in a new town, a new workplace or even a new church, reach out and be a friend. 

Proverbs 18:24
A man who has friends must himself be friendly

We make life much more complicated when we think life is all about us. We will also live in constant frustration because the rest of the world does not revolve around us all the time.

To avoid that kind of frustration, I have been taught over the years to simplify my life because as life simplifies, satisfaction amplifies. How to simplify, you asked? It is not a rocket science really.

When we submit ourselves to God’s power, we will learn that life is all about HIM. We are created to please HIM and HIM alone. It is a simple understanding yet a powerful revelation that encourages us to simplify our lives and let HIM be God.

Through this revelation, we know that all the pain that we have gone through will achieve for us a greater purpose in the light of the eternity and at the same time enable us to approach our trials and tribulation in a Christ like understanding. It is all about HIM, it is not about us. 

Isaiah 46:9
I am God, and there is no other; 
I am God, and there is none like me.