One of my usual practice is to carry out my roadwork every morning as the day breaks. I get into my exercise outfit and sneakers and I hit the road for my exercise.
A few months ago as I ran along, I began to encounter a woman perhaps in her mid-fifties, standing by her parked van and offering handbill invitation of her church program to passersby. She performed this duty very passionately and in order not to miss anyone, she’d hastily move from one passerby to another, even those of us running, and she’d mutter a very passionate “God bless you as you attend”.
For about a week I’ll collect the handbill and just keep running but one day I stopped. When I stopped she looked at me intently and smiled and wanted to start sharing details of their church but I cut her short and asked her firmly what she does for a living.
She said she was a caterer and she’d been a caterer for about 15 years. I looked at her and her tattered van and I said to her, “if you want me to keep receiving these handbills of your church from you, and you want me to eventually attend any of your church programs, the next time I run by, I want to see you hand me also, a handbill about your catering business.
She looked at me a bit surprised, then she smiled and thanked me and I went my way.
Two days afterwards as I ran past her and her old, tattered van, she rushed towards me and hastily handed me the handbill of her church program and that of her catering business – beaming with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes. I collected the handbills and signaled her a thumbs up and kept running along.
About a week after that encounter, I noticed she’d disappeared from that location and wondered what happened to her. About six weeks afterwards, as I drove into the estate via the main gate, I noticed a woman blaring her horn and flashing her headlights trying to get my attention. She appeared excited and I was wondering who she was. I slowed down and she caught up with me and pleaded I parked.
As I did, she also came off the main road and parked about a meter ahead of me. As she alighted from her new van, I immediately recognized her as the women who used to hand me her church handbill regularly. She looked quite better and happier.
She rushed towards me and couldn’t wait to tell her story. About a week after I asked that she shared the handbill of her catering business alongside the church program handbill, one of the people she encountered was the owner of a very big private school within the estate, who subsequently engaged her to become a supplier of cooked meals for her pupils and students at lunch hour. This school owner introduced her to two other schools within the estate and with these businesses, things turned around big time for this woman.
Apart from that she’s been offered so many jobs to carter at different events and parties within and outside the estate as a result of sharing her handbills every morning, she’s had to turn some down as she eventually lacked the capacity and manpower to cope with all the jobs. She’s had to recruit about 15 new people, bought more cooking utensils, leased two new vans and she has become very busy making good money.
She’s no longer on the road giving out her church program’s handbills in the morning, she’s now giving out the church handbills at schools and various events she’s been engaged to carter.
Her story changed and her prosperity showed up simply because she added common sense to her religious routines.
Ladies and gentlemen, it amazes me how I’ll encourage many job seekers to take on sales for a start and begin to supply basic needed items on behalf of producers or sellers to potential buyers within an estate or location and they’ll tell me they can’t sell, they don’t want to sell, selling is stressful, yet these same people, in the sun or rain, morning, noon or night wouldn’t mind walking miles to go give out handbills and sell religious programs and events on behalf of their religious centers for free.
Some would stand in street corners or even board buses passionately selling the message of their religion, they at times win converts and afterwards go home broke and hungry and start offering desperate prayers to God to bless them with a job.
Ladies and gentlemen, you need to also take responsibility for yourself and your life beyond religious routines. Make sure there is something in your hand, something you are doing that your God can bless. A blessing is simply expanding, growing, multiplying or increasing something that’s already existing. No matter how hard you increase nothing, it remains nothing.
It’s good to be religious, it’s good to spread the good news of your religion but its wisdom for your life to be attractive and compelling enough for me to easily want to accept your faith without you talking too much because your faith looks good on you.
For example, I believe your religion appears more attractive and compelling if you’re offering me handbills to attend you program standing next to your parked latest Mercedes Benz SUV or BMW X6 instead of a 25 year old, panel beaten, cracked windshield, worn tires, smoking space bus.
You can’t successfully play the victim with your maker, “suffering” for God will not bring automatic riches if you suspend your creativity, necessary skills, intelligence, knowledge, hard work, commitment, diligence and determination.
Lazy and laid back religious people are usually broke. And this unfortunately, puts a question mark on the love and generosity of their maker. Learn to provide something useful, relevant and valuable to your society. Offer your product, project your competencies and spread the good news of what you can do as well. Let the world see your skills, meet people’s needs and offer solutions in the market place.
Let the glory of your God be seen upon you clearly. Make your life attractive, make your gospel attractive and spread the good news of what you do too.
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