PERSECUTION – A PRICE FOR EXCELLENCE
…When I was sure that the 6 hours were over, when I looked at my wristwatch I realized that I had spent only 2 hours. But that is the only way you build stamina. After doing this for about 6 years, I eventually graduated as the best graduating student with first class honors from that university. There is no excellence without stamina. Excellence demands endurance. You need to persevere before you can have the testimony of excellence.
“Excellence is not a success but a persistent pursuit of perfection.” ― Debasish Mridha
When we started our church, I soon discovered that the same quality is equally needed in building a mega church. At that time, I was determined to pray 6 hours every day. My experience brought me back to the years in the library as a student. Each time I thought I had prayed for about 2 hours, my wristwatch would inform me that I had only prayed for about 20 minutes. But once I passed the exams of perseverance, excellence began to work for me. We ended up building the largest and one of the most powerful evangelical churches in Europe, when I was only in my early thirties.
“You must succeed! Not by accident, but deliberately! You are able to succeed – now you must be willing to succeed and this must reflect in the way you spend your life.” ― Archibald Marwizi
Another very trying aspect of excellence is that in most cases, excellence will take you through the path of trials and tribulations. People of excellence are often misunderstood. They often go through a lot of trials, attacks and tribulations. My own story in the Ukraine attests to this truth. As a black man pastoring a church of 99% white Europeans, I have had to endure a lot of misunderstanding and trials. It is one thing for you to do that in your own country or a country where you are a citizen. It is an entirely different thing for you to do the same thing when you hold a Nigerian Passport.
It is worse still, if you are a black man from Africa. For example over the last 20 years of our ministry, I have had to endure over 20 criminal charges. I have endured countless amounts of deportation attempts, hundreds of lawsuits and the list goes on and on. The beautiful thing about excellence is that despite the trials and the tribulations, excellence has a way of distinguishing you.
To be continued tomorrow with the following points:
- My Russia ban
- Failing and falling
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
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