It is with delight and joy that I welcome you to the month of Re-positioning yourself …………. I deliberately did not complete that sentence. I want to give you a blank check of self- repositioning. You are the one that knows what you want to reposition yourself for. You may wish to position yourself to do exploits for the kingdom of God or to grow in your relationship with the King of kings. Or you want to position yourself for general success. Or you want to position yourself for blessing, financial growth, spiritual development, ministerial advancement, longevity of life or simply as they say for lack of clarity, reposition yourself for the next level! Whatever tickles your fancy or is good for you, I am sure you have heard the quotation "some people look for a beautiful place to stay while others build a beautiful place to stay".
I want to encourage you as well as pray with you that you will reposition yourself for the better and attain greater height in life. It was credited to David "Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle" Psalm 144:1. It was also credited to Habakkuk " I will take my post;I will position myself on the fortress.I will keep watch to see what the Lord says to me and how he will respond to my complaint. Hab 2:1 CEB. The whole concept this month is to ensure that you don't use the first (current) part of your life to destroy the last part of your life but to make it better.
It is also a great opportunity for me to wish our great nation Nigeria, Happy Independence Day. I pray that Nigeria and Nigerians will reposition themselves to be what God has destined us to be -a true giant of Africa and the world in all ramifications!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
What is repositioning? Before repositioning there must be positioning. To position is to put or arrange (someone or something) in a particular place or way. Therefore, repositioning presupposes that where that person or material is placed is not the best position. To reposition therefore is to place or put in a new position or place in a better position. To update or change the marketing of a product or service. To change the position. To put in a new position. Change place or direction. For example, a misplaced bone could be returned to its proper position through orthopaedic surgery. To reposition something such as a product or service means to try to get more people interested in that product for example by changing certain things about it or the way it is marketed. In our context this month we shall be looking at repositioning our lives to make us more marketable, comfortable, live a peaceable and prosperous life. To reposition yourself is to make yourself a better citizen, wife, husband, in-law, worker, Christian, pastor, mother, father, politician and professional. It is to rearrange yourself, your dreams, priorities, strategies and values to produce a new you. Whatever you do in the name of spirituality or SWOT analysis is good for you. It is in your interest and the society to reposition yourself. Repositioning is like upgrading ourselves. We all have areas where we need self-assessment and upgrade.
Examples of people who repositioned themselves or got repositioned by others and God
1. Abraham. Abraham would have died without being the father of faith if he had remained in Haran. The Scripture tells us that his wife was barren and he was already old and his father died there. He would have remained there, but thank God he did not. God repositioned him and his wife. He called them out of Ur of the Chaldees. Get thee out…. And I will bless thee and make thy name great… (Genesis 12:1-2). For Abraham to prosper and have the good things of life he repositioned himself. Call it for career prospect Abraham had to be separated from his family in order to be positioned for what God had planned and purposed to do in his life. I was complaining when God repositioned me from Nigeria to Canada. But when I was privileged to hold the International Gathering of Eagles conference in Malaysia in 2011, and my host said- "Dr Dada I can facilitate your hosting this conference in Singapore and Indonesia" I googled Canadian citizen visa condition for going to those nations, no visa is required! God knew ahead of time I shall be holding Strategic Leadership Conferences globally in over ten nations a year and visa issuance maybe a setback, he repositioned me. May the good Lord reposition you.
2. Jehoshaphat "It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle." 2Chr 20:1. In the case of Jehoshaphat he has to reposition himself to keep his life from enemies. From the scripture above we saw different armies getting together to dethrone him and terminate his reign and his life through the process of war. He repositioned himself by gathering the children, the choir, the prophets and engaging in passionate prayer.
3. David. David is an example of a serial and dynamic personality who knows how not only to position himself but how to reposition. In 1 Samuel 16 we saw how Samuel came to Jesse his father's house to ordain a king. All his brothers were at home drinking tea and only himself was out there in the field working and keeping the sheep and that gave him opportunity to be ordained as a king. We saw how he was being pursued by Saul to destroy him and by sheer understanding of non-violent approach to life, by determining 'not to touch the anointed' he was eventually crowned as king of Israel. How many today shamefully, deride, malign, disrespect, slander, mock genuine ministers and leaders of our nation yet expect to attain to those position! He was also an example of someone who committed adultery and murder but through genuine repentance he was able to reposition himself and moved his relationship with God forward., to the extent of God calling him 'a man after my own heart.'
4. Paul. Paul was another person that repositioned himself albeit through divine intervention. This was a popular area boy, being used as a political and religious thug by his masters to oppose Christianity. "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the prick." Acts 9:3-5. From that day he stopped persecuting Jesus and Christians, guess what he became, a missionary emeritus. A bible writer. An extra-ordinary ambassador for Jesus and ultimately a martyr. Stop being used as an instrument to rig election, becoming herdsman to kill innocent citizens, raping young girls engaging yourself in nefarious activities of terrorism, 'bokoharanism,' kidnapping, armed robbery, human trafficking, pen robbery and corruption of all shades. It is not just enough that you don't know Jesus today you can reposition yourself by becoming genuinely born again (not against) and become another D. L Moody, Billy Graham, Joseph Ayodele Babalola, Benson Idahosa, John G. Lake of your generation.
5. Hannah. The story of Hannah is a classic case of repositioning. For nth number of years, she was going to Shiloh (church) as many of us do. Praying for God to give her a child. She repositioned herself by making a vow. "And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." I Sam 1:11 Engage the power of prayer, vow and giving to reposition yourself.
6. Mephibosheth. In 2 Samuel 9:3-4, we read "And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar." Jonathan's son had been forgotten in Lodebar but his position was soon to change. And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 2 Sam 9:7. David repositioned Mephibosheth. I pray for you the Reader, your David, your Repositioner, your divine Helper shall surface this month in Jesus name. You will no more remain in Lodebar "Nothingville", 'ghetto' you shall move into the king's residence in Jerusalem-from Podunk to palace. From nobody to somebody in Jesus. From sinner to saint. Eating on Jesus table daily!
7. The Prodigal Son. "When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man."' Lk 15:19. Many of us are prodigal spiritually. We knew God and are blessed of God. Whether through over ambition or youthful exuberance, or sheer ignorance we have backslidden. Whether as a prodigal husband or wife, whether as a prodigal Father of Mother, maybe you are even a prodigal Minister all the Holy Spirit is saying is get back to God. Come back to your senses! That guy got knew pairs of shoes, a new set of designers' cloth and even an expensive ring! When you reposition yourself things just get better.
How do you reposition yourself?
1. Self-evaluation or re-evaluation. Someone has said 'When the premises of an argument is wrong the conclusion is also wrong" You cannot reposition yourself if you don't know how you are currently positioned and why you need to reposition. SWOT Analysis is a useful technique for understanding your status. S.W.O.T. is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. What good opportunities can you spot? What interesting trends are you aware of? A useful approach when looking at opportunities is to look at your strengths and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities. Alternatively, look at your weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating them.
2. Work on Your weakness. There are some of you reading this article today that need to depart from certain things that hinder you. Some of you need to give up certain habits. Some of you need to cut off from friends who are not enhancing your progress. There are places you go to that you need to stop going and there are people you hang around with that you need to stop hanging around with. Some need to go for anger management course. There are some of you who have to depart from tradition. You are going to church, but you are tied to family tradition. Many are in church just to increase membership. The sermons you are hearing, the movies you watch, the books you read, the counsels you hear are to help you overcome your weaknesses. You are not just to be hearers of the word but doers. You are wrongly positioned. You need to reposition yourself!
3. Work on your Opportunities. T.D. Jakes said ""Listen, God can't bless what you won't do. You haven't been taught correctly. Prosperity doesn't just come from giving an offering. It's good to be a giver. But you must also be a thinker, a planner, and a worker" One of the ways to advance your opportunity is through Education - learn new skills and techniques
To build this strength. As a Pastor I believe in spiritual factors in repositioning. However I am a Chemical Engineer by the grace of God. As a young graduate way back in 1981, I realised that a first degree will not make me marketable as I should. Immediately, after my NYSC in 1982, I went back for my Masters. Out of all of us that graduated I was the only one that went back immediately. In 1985 I was employed by a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, namely Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company. Again I proceeded to earn a doctorate. I remember applying for Scholarship from the Corporation, and the Head of Human Resource said this company has never sponsored anybody beyond Masters degree. I said there is always a first time and I was the first person to have that opportunity in NNPC and the first to earn that Doctorate in Department of Chemical Engineering in University of Benin. Time will not permit me to share the countless promotions and blessing that have come to me through those repositioning. I need to mention that I was pastoring throughout this time. Our Christian faith does not mean we should not be thinkers, planners and workers! Education is one way you can reposition yourself.
1. Discipline. It is said that 'the distance between your dream and your reality is your discipline.' Sometimes what makes us insecure and vulnerable becomes the fuel we need to be overachievers. The antidote for a snakebite is made from the poison, and the thing that made you go backward is the same force that will push you forward. Within each and every one of us is the power to achieve and attain. What we lack is the discipline. Someone is gaining excessive weight, he knows he has to hit the gym but refuses. Stop eating that junk food. Someone who has addiction problems knows he needs to discipline himself to go for rehab refuses. Someone has lust problem and refuses to discipline himself. Why not learn from Joseph? A young man loved by his father but hated by his siblings because of his dreams. Thrown to a pit, sold to slavery and left to rut as a houseboy. Has every reason to lust and take revenge on life that has treated him so badly. Rather when a woman made sexual advances he disciplined himself, which led him to prison and and eventually to palace. Today you see a lot of people praying for upliftment from prison to palace. The route is simple discipline. I was invited to a church to minister. A young boy came for counselling. He was an international student. While in his home country the parents caught him watching pornographic movies. They cautioned him and he promised to stop. When they brought him to school in Canada he started watching such movies again without control. He told me his grade are down now out of school. We prayed for him and he stopped. He is now a graduate! Discipline yourself to reposition yourself!
2. Other factors- Life is not solved by quadratic equation, rather by applying simple life principles. Integrity is the foundation upon which many other qualities are built, such as respect, dignity. Focus on things that make you feel strong, effective and unique. What do you need to do to make your marriage better? What do you need to do to get promotion in that office? What do you need to improve your business and ministry? Are you sleeping too much? Are you less engaging? Do you need to work smarter and harder? Identify the other peculiar factors of your life and treat them.
3. God factor. Only God's way is successful. "Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that builds it, except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain". (Psalm 127:1 KJV). What God is not building will not last. It is important therefore, that you come out from the ungodly things you do in secret. Come out from the things you have involved yourself in that is inimical to your progress. Increase your prayer and bible reading time. Write down your goals. Identify anything or anyone that attempts to block or take God's place in your life. Jesus says-Without me you can do nothing 1 John 15:5 - Focus on your spirituality. Life is more spiritual than physical. Allow God to guide you to where you need to be and follow through. Stop committing sin. Stop complaining about where you are- Think -Move. Act. Why should you waste away in Kadesh-barnea! In fact, think of the repositioning process as a form of promotion. Forgive yourself for allowing people to hurt you. Forgive those who have hurt you. You cannot say you are serving God and you are still going to an herbalist. You cannot do that! You must come out. When you obey God's word, live a godly life thing begin to happen for better for you. "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men's advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. 2 But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely.3 They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper." Psalm 1:1-3 LB
Conclusion. Bottomline, it is time to shift gears, time to step up to the next level, time to step to greatness and realize your true potential and star. There is no limit to how high you can climb in your life. You are the only one who will limit yourself. If you are not in the position you want to be in life in any area, then it is time to reposition yourself! There is no 'O' for opportunity in yesterday, there is only one 'O' in today but there are three 'O' for opportunity in tomorrow. Nigeria is not where it should be, it is time for us to collectively reposition our country. Remember when you and I reposition ourselves correctly and for better it is a function of time we shall have the home, the church, the community, the nation and the continent we so much desire.
