No one experiences oppositions if he does nothing.
I have been to seminars where during questions and answers session people raise concerns about the antagonistic environment they operate in and how it stifles their working life. While many have lost hope in ever making it in Ghana, few have braced through odds to succeed. I am young in my working life, but one thing is abundantly clear to that: Challenges, difficulties, and hardships are part of the journey to a glorious future. Anyone who moves towards destiny comes against a tide. You can’t avoid what happens to you but you can control how you react towards them. In this write-up, we will look at five challenges Jesus Christ, the son of God, faced which I believe can help anyone to condition his or her mind for the task ahead.
HATRED. The size of the dream you carry determines your haters. King Herod and the teachers of the Law hated Jesus because of His claims of being the king of the Son of God and the savior of the world. Just like Jesus, everyone with a dream will experience hatred form people (Herod) and the teachers of the Law (the system.) Our hates emanate from increasing unemployment for job seekers and inaccessibility of financial support to push an idea through. All these, amongst others kill dreams. Hatred is any person or challenge that obstructs achieving your dreams. Where haters abound, hailers abound even more. In Matthew 2, when King Herod was busily scheming to kill Him, wise men were worshipping and supporting Him financially. Don’t focus on your haters, identify where you are celebrated.
TEMPTED. Nobody is immune from temptations. What temptation does to us is to make us loose focus of the big picture of life and fall for petty things. Matthew 4:1 says that, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Temptation is a test. Once you pass it, you move on to the next stage of your career or ministry. Great people have fallen because they could not stand temptations. It is no respecter of anybody whether big or small. The cure for temptation is to watch and pray as Jesus stated in Matthew 26:41. Prayer awakens your spirit and watching makes you aware of the devises of your tempters. You must be sensitive to temptations in order to pass the test.
REJECTED. The third challenge Jesus faced in His earthly work was rejection. When He went to his own, they rejected Him. Matthew 13:58 says that, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Never allow rejection to enter into your heart. Don’t be emotional about it. I understand rejection because it’s been part of my work as sales and marketing person for a couple of years now. Rejection toughens you. Every successful sales person has mastered his emotions. Jesus taught His disciples how to deal with rejections. In Matthew 10:14, He said, “Whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.” In other words, any individual who rejects your product must be forgotten about instantly. For any group of people who reject you, there are others waiting to accept you. Rejection does not cancel potential.
BETRAYED. Another challenge close to rejection is betrayal. The painful thing about betrayal is the people involved. Betrayal is when someone close to you disappoints you after you repose confidence in him or her. They give you their word but act otherwise. Judas betrayed Jesus for just pittance. The Bible says in Matthew 26:14-16 that, “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.”At each level of life you are going to meet such people. For any person who betrays you, there are eleven other disciples who will forever be loyal to your cause or dream.
CRUCIFIED. The last onslaught to Jesus’ life was a painful death on the cross. This landed Him in the grave but resurrected in three days. Most profitable companies have experienced hard times which nearly brought them to filling for bankruptcy. Nelson Mandela went to prison for good 27 years. The Bible says in Matthew 27:35 that, “Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.” You will go down but there is always a third day of resurrection. What’s the cure for deadly hard hit? In Matthew 28:6, an angel of the Lord said to the women who visited the tomb after Jesus was buried that “HE IS RISEN.” No condition or hardship is permanent. What does not kill great people in difficult moments makes them strong.
One powerful lesson I learnt about Jesus’ attitude towards challenges is what He often said: “to fulfill scripture”. That means challenges are part of the pathway to a desirable future. God allows us to go through all these to build our character. It also signifies that we are walking in the right path. No one experiences oppositions if he does nothing.
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