Discipline and Consistency
 What then shall we say? Shall we continue to live purposelessly because days seem inevitable? Of course not! Is goal setting and discipline bad? Nay! We had not known tasks involved in living healthy and spiritual lifestyles, personal and career development, starting-up and managing successful businesses etc., until the law of discipline and consistency told us. For we had not known that every time we eat or drink, we are either feeding disease or fighting it, except the law of discipline had said, âthou shalt not eat fufu or eba (morsels) in the morning nor eat late at nightâ. For we had not known that we can apply the 21/90 rule (commit to a personal or professional goal for 21 straight days and it becomes a habit, continuing for 90 days and it becomes a permanent lifestyle) until discipline challenged us. However, our indiscipline arouses all kinds of covetous desires within us. So, the issue is not with discipline, for it is good. The issue is with us, for we are all too human, and prone to indiscipline. We don’t really understand ourselves because some of us have lofty and well-thought-out and written plans but lack the will to execute them. While others have the ‘I gatâ the situation under control mentality,’  and at the end of the day, do record meaningful achievement. We want to do what is right, pen down our 2021 goals and beyond; obey traffic rules and higher authorities, be good husbands or wives, achieve good governance, diversify our income portfolio, start a business, practice healthy relationship, quit smoking and other obnoxious behaviours, but we don’t do them. Instead, we do what we hate. If we know that what we are doing is wrong, this shows that we agree that discipline is a virtue. Hence, we are not wilfully doing wrong, but the indiscipline in us that does it, such as stopping the alarm for early morning exercise, indiscriminate waste disposal, bad parenting, procrastination, laziness, unnecessary delays, unhealthy association etc. I have discovered this principle of life – that when we want to do what is right, we sometimes do the opposite. We love God’s law with all our hearts; we’ll want to start our day with the devotionals, have a scheduled time for evangelism, fasting and prayers, attend church services and connect group meetings, love our neighbours as we love ourselves, join a service unit, obey instructions of the church workers (volunteers), help the needy, join online prayer meetings, partner with the Church to achieve God’s purpose on earth, worship God with our body, soul, might and resources etc. But there is another power within us that is at war with our noble intentions. Oh, what a world we are in! Who can free us from this life that is dominated by indiscipline? How can we be disciplined to stay consistent in achieving our goals and living a godly lifestyle? Kindly consider the following: Develop a Disciplined Mindset Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve – Napoleon Hill. First, believe you can develop a disciplined mindset. Discipline is a bending and training of our wills and desires through doing things that arenât already second nature. Believe you can pass your next ICAN or scholarship exams, create a reading timetable and employ discipline to abide by it. Believe you can lose weight, then watch what you eat and exercise regularly. The little steps taken towards our goals matter the most. Ask the Holy Spirit for Help Being disciplined in our ever turbulent and unpredictable world is tough. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to maintain our sanity where indiscipline is almost a norm. However, first develop a disciplined mindset and the Holy Spirit will take it enable you sustain it. Asides the Holy Spirit, spend time with the right company, talk to someone about Jesus, join a service unit or partner with the Church to be a blessing to humanity. Remember this verse of the scripture, âI planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increaseâ. 1 Corinthians 3:6.  Be Accountable Accountability propels us to do the right thing always, hence, we need accountability partners to ensure we are living according to our set standards and correcting deviations. This will allow us to ignore distractions and focus our attention towards set goals and objectives. Distracting activities and other unproductive behaviour will be eliminated once we have the feeling of being watched and the desire to be role models. Conclusion: Discipline helps us focus on the right behaviours and goals. By repeatedly doing these, ensures consistency. Ask David how he killed Goliath asides the God factor; the answer is simple; David was consistent in developing his skills. 1 Samuel 17;34-36. We must employ discipline and change our nonchalant attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behaviours in schools, hospitals, marketplaces, church, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices (being faithful in little things). For Nigeria, Africa and the world at large to get better, we must be disciplined and consistent in well-doing. Written by Richard Agu
Waiting on God
âHow long will I have to wait?â Mike asked Joe frantically⊠He was too nervous to sit still. He had been waiting for a feedback about his presentation for over an hour and he was beginning to get impatient. Joe replied him with a smile on his face; âGuy, calm down, you didnât think you were going to get to this point in the first place, did you? Iâm sure they are just trying to ensure everything is in place and the contract is properly documented before you sign itâ. Mike turned around, he had a look of joy mixed with uncertainty on his face and without saying a word, he kept pacing. Michael had been bidding for a contract for almost 2 years at Joeâs company. If the contract goes through, it will be the breakthrough he had been waiting for all the while for his own business. He runs an interior decoration company and desperately needs this to work. He had been applying and gotten rejected over and over again. However, he didnât give up hope because he believed that all they needed was just to see his proposal and they will know the value heâs about to bring to the table. Luck shone on him on the day of his last rejection, when Joe, the PA to the companyâs MD who was in a rush for a meeting bumped into him spilling his cup of coffee and soiling a part of the portfolio of his designs for the contract proposal. You would have expected him to get furious because he had just been disappointed again; but Mike kept his cool. While he was trying to get himself together to save what was left of his proposal, Joe spotted one of the designs; collected his contact, apologized for his action and went away. Mike had totally forgotten about that incident until one morning when his phone rang and on the other line was Joe, who asked him a life changing question; âdo you still want the contract?â Apparently, Joe went ahead to do a research about Michael due to how composed he was even after the coffee situation. He realized the young man could be a good fit for their rebranding project after all. Joe mentioned Mike to the MD who caught a glimpse of the proposed design and agreed to meet him. So, here he (Mike) is, in the waiting room after an amazing presentation, totally nervous about the outcome and the time was moving slower than a pregnant snail. After what felt like eternity, he got the contract and the rest, they say, was history. Why the long story, you may ask? Well, let me ask you a question. Have you ever had to wait on something or someone and the uncertainty of the outcome of your waiting puts you in a place of despair? More so, it looks like you are waiting in vain as so much time has passed and a lot of people are mocking you for the hope you have in what you are waiting for. How about waiting on God? Has he given you a promise that is taking longer than usual to come to pass and you are wondering if it was truly a promise or a mind game or He was just messing with you or you didnât hear well? Youâre not alone, I’ve been there. Here is a thought; maybe, what the Bible refers to as waiting on God is a process of pruning, reforming and preparing you for the next phase or for that expectation. But I know this for sure that until you are ready, what you are waiting for might never come to pass. What does it mean to wait? To wait is an action of getting ready for something to happen; an action, in readiness for your expectation. It does not indicate a time frame or limit, which simply suggests that if you have an expectation, until it comes to pass; you are expected to wait on it. Waiting on God, therefore, is a process of believing God for a desire, trusting him to be able to perform it according to the promise from his word and rejoicing in hope until you see the fulfilment of that promise. Are you like Mike, pacing and unsettled because your expectation is taking longer than expected and you are beginning to get tired? Donât! Instead, activate your waiting process so that you can receive the desires of your heart and much more. The idea of waiting has little to do with time but a whole lot to do with readiness, growth and positioning; so, giving up is not an option. Giving up is not going to bring you your expectation but staying on with the right attitude will. âBut those who wait for the LORDâs help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eaglesâ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.â Isaiah 40:31 NET This tells us that when we wait on the Lord, we will return better than when we started. We will receive the strength required for that desire and we will be able to enjoy it at the level that is expected. If peradventure, it requires a lot of sacrifice and dedication on our part, because we have prepared during the waiting season, we will not get weary because we are certain that we are doing the right thing. How then do we wait? There is a process of waiting and it includes the following: Believe: What is the promise you are holding in your heart? Do you believe it? You must believe it so much so that you can literally paint a picture of it coming to pass in your mind. Just as Abraham âbelieved God and it was accounted to him for righteousnessâ. Galatians 3:6 NKJV  Trust: Sometimes the reason we cannot wait