PERMISSION FOR GREATNESS: A PREVIEW

(Darby)  But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea.

People often tell me that motivation doesn't last, and I tell them that bathing doesn't either. That's why I recommend it daily. —Zig Ziglar

This is an excerpt from my book, 'Permission For Greatness', Coming up in July.  A question here. How many people were mentored by their parents for Greatness,Success, Wealth, and significance? Can you acknowledge that by your show of hands? I really would like to know.

An announcement was made in a church service: “Born to Mr. and Mrs. X, a bouncing Baby boy Y, weighing 3.5 Kg of God’s blessings. The mother and child AND DAD are all in good condition!”

It is sometimes heart-breaking when the child that a mother has carried for nine months, brought to this world successfully, that that same child turns away from the mother and mistreats her. The fact is, that child just doesn’t know, she or he just doesn’t understand. They don’t know the anguish and the pain of childbirth. Childbirth is another mystery of God’s creation. These days, husbands are encouraged to be with their wives in the delivery room through the process. How days have changed! One such a man, am told, from that moment on treated his wife like a queen. He used secret emissaries to ask his wife of her wildest dreams, and systematically went on a mission to fulfill each and every one of them! That is how much respect he accorded his lady after experiencing the pain in the birth process of his child.

But can you imagine the tragedy? Can you imagine a mother after all those 9 months of faithfully expecting, coming to that crucial stage of transition and lacking the power to ‘push?’ Can you imagine there being no facilities around her to help her with this process? A new life is just about to come on earth, and there is no strength, no help and support in this process? Wouldn’t you call that a tragedy?

Childbirth is a transition, both for the mother, and the new born. You will however agree that that is not the only transition that both will go through. In fact, childbirth is the beginning of several transitions in the lives of parents and children. Each transition needs a midwife, a support, and strength to ‘Push’. Frankly at both the conscious and subconscious level, your child needs you whether in a transition or not.

They all crave for it. They all want that validation. It occurred to me twice. Once was when I had sat for my final high school exams that would inevitably decide my fate in life. I was shaken; I was terrified, I was afraid. I remember as I was back in the village, I could gaze at my Dad and Mum’s joint photo hanging on the wall. I remember so vividly weeping and telling dad (the photo that is), “You made it, you made it, and I envy you. I wish I could make it like you!” I was going through a thorough shake up in my young age. I was only 17, and facing the prospect of failure. At that time, mum had been taken ill and needed an urgent operation in Nairobi. The rest of the family was in Nairobi, I was the only boy in the village. As long as I live, I will never forget that potentially defining moment. Can you imagine the chance? Can you imagine the opportunity to shape that young life for significance, greatness, wealth and success?

Let me emphasize once more what permission for greatness is all about. It is about children receiving a daily dose of ‘the blessing’ from the people in authority in their lives. It is this daily dose of blessing that will help form specific paradigms for success, greatness, wealth and significance. This, I have to tell you is important to the children because for the most part in this day and age, it is a forgotten principle. I read T.D. Jake’s devotional titled, “So You Call Yourself A Man?” He gives the following account.

“One Sunday in our church, I called all the young boys who had no fathers to come forward so that I might lay hands on them and prophesy over them and tell them who they are in the Lord. I looked up and found that a thirty year old man had come forward and fallen at my feet. He said, “Pastor, I know am not a boy, but nobody told me who I am. Will you lay your hands on me and tell me who I am? I am hurting because nobody has ever blessed me like that.” Call your sons and your grand sons to you today. Lay your hands upon them and tell them that you love them and that God loves them and has a purpose for their lives. Give them an identity.”

It kind of reminds me of the story of creation. After God had made all there is to make, he fashioned Adam and gave him the authority to rule over everything. It says in the Bible that whatever name Adam gave to a thing, that became its name. So a giraffe is a giraffe, but it could have been an elephant. A lion is a lion but it really could have been a mouse. What was the difference maker? The power of words. The authority of a man. That same power and authority I believe are the most under-utilized tools in forming great men and women of today. The chance to give the blessing is still here with us…will we embrace it?

Have a great weekend, wont you?