NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PRAY OR WHAT YOUR PASTOR SAYS, GOD DOES NOT REWARD MEDIOCRITY
Dele could still vividly remember standing and staring at the notice board in total disbelief. He just discovered that he had performed woefully in his exams again. Dele was confused and at the same time angry. With all his dedication to the work of God on campus, he couldn’t imagine himself having such a result.
Coming from a very religious home, where they literally sleep in the church building, Dele took that culture to the university. Upon arriving on campus, he made sure that he belonged to at least three departments in his students’ fellowship. As a result, Dele was everywhere in the place and working heartedly. Of course, he received a lot of praises and appreciation from the leadership of the fellowship for his commitment, but unknown to them; Dele was doing all that at the detriment of his studies.
Every day of the week, he was always at the fellowship, either for service or attending one departmental meeting or the other, so that he had little or no time for his studies. Sometimes, he even had to skip lectures just to attend such meetings especially when such lectures clash with the meetings. To him, he was acting in line with the ‘God first’ mantra, meaning that those fellowship meetings were more important than the actual reason he was in school.
So with such kind of dedication, Dele believed that God would take care of his studies, no matter what. He believed that his prayers and faith in God coupled with his commitments to the work of God will guarantee him academic success, irrespective of whether he studied enough or not. In other words, Dele was depending on miracles to pass his exams. But his last two consecutive results had proved that wrong and Dele could not fathom what has gone wrong.
It was a concerned lecturer in his department that brought Dele back to his senses. Being very close to the lecturer, the man asked Dele about his result and Dele was brave enough to open up totally to him. Upon further questioning on his study and campus activities, in the bid to finding out the cause of such an abysmal performance, the lecturer discovered that Dele had literally abandoned his studies to almost singlehandedly carry the school fellowship on his head. The lecturer talked senses into his head. As a result, Dele was forced to drastically reduce his merely religious activities and gave more time to his studies.
His next result was a ‘miracle.’ Nobody who had seen or heard of his previous results would agree that he actually sat and wrote the subsequent exams that produced that great result.
In whatever you do; either as a student or at your place of work, always remember that God never rewards mediocrity. It doesn’t matter what your pastor says or how much he prays for you, if you don’t work hard, you can’t be successful. As a matter of fact, if you go with contract documents and ask your pastor to help you solicit divine intervention for a project you aren’t qualified to get, the right thing is for him to do is encourage you to work hard and shore up your qualification. If you go for special exam prayers, he should pray for you, then send you back to the library. However, most pastors are reluctant to tell their members the truth, and as a result, they let them believe that even if they are mediocre; even if they lack merit; even if they are unqualified; as long as they prayed and asked for God’s mercy, he would reward them. Nothing could be farther from the truth! God doesn’t reward the mediocre. If you aren’t educated, no miracle can help you get the job of an educated person (except you forge a certificate). If you have a competitor with superior services and you believe you’ll get more customers, just because you are more prayerful, you’re deceiving yourself.
The big problem with encouraging this misconception is that it fosters a feeling of relaxation. These people no longer feel the need to put in any effort where their work or studies are concerned. They believe that “As long as the man of God spoke words of success into my life, as long as the pastor has prayed for me, nothing else matters, I would succeed.” Wrong!
This message of mediocrity that is coming out of our pulpits must stop. The misconception that God will reward those who pray the hardest (even if they do not work) is doing nothing but making Christian brothers and sisters complacent and indolent, be it in school or at their workplace. Let me tell you right now, any blessing that precludes hard work is a fraud, it is witchcraft. God only recognizes and rewards diligence. Don’t let anybody deceive you, don’t let them tell you that ten days of favour will yield more reward than ten years of hard work. If this were true, that would mean that God rewards the lazy; we know this isn’t true because the Bible affirms in Colossians 3:23-24 that in
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” (NIV)
This verse assures (and assumes that it is common knowledge; hence the since you know) that anyone who works with all their heart will receive a reward from God, an inheritance. This is not all; the Bible is fraught with verses that emphasize the need to work hard in order to succeed.
Proverbs 12:11 also says
“He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lack judgement.” (NIV)
If you think God will reward you even if you don’t work hard, you’re chasing fantasies. If you think your pastor’s prayer can replace diligence, you are dreaming; and as the verse in Proverbs said, you lack judgment.
If the Bible has already told you work is the way to get your reward from God, you have no reason of leaving your work in search of miracles. If you can accomplish something with hard work and diligence, why would you decide not to just because a pastor says so? Now, I’m not saying prayer is not good; you can work and at the same time, pray to God for guidance and favour. However, what most people are getting themselves involved in these days has gone beyond prayer. Church members will go to church to get special handkerchiefs and materials for their exams; prophets will tell them to wear special clothing (in some cases, special underwear) for a business meeting. Some will even get special phone numbers, special plate numbers, special stationery; all because they want God’s favour; all because they want success. Success, that the Bible says, ever so clearly, will be found in hard work. Stop putting yourself through all these fetish practices. God doesn’t and will never reward mediocrity. Cast all these aside, work hard and watch God do wonders with the work of your hand.
To be continued Tomorrow, don’t miss it.
Excerpts from the Book “WHAT MIRACLES WILL NOT DO FOR YOU”. #DSABOOKS
This book can be found on dsabooksplanet.com and Amazon.com
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
