Break out of the box!

When others saw giants in the Promised Land and wanted to return to Egypt, Caleb said, ‘The LORD…will bring us safely into that land and give it to us.’ At that point two things happened. ‘The whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb.  Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle’.

When the people around Caleb said No, God said Yes, and all you need is God’s approval!  When you have that, you can disregard the nay-sayers and move forward.  If you wait for everyone to approve, agree with you, and applaud you, you will get nowhere in life.

Here are some examples of why you should follow your convictions and not be constrained by people's views.

1. There was a time when people thought the earth was flat, and that man would never walk on the moon.
2. In 1899 the U.S. Patent Office almost closed because the commissioner, Charles H. Duell, said, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
3. Senator David Mark, as Minister of Communication said that "NITEL would disconnect the lines of its debtors as they could not claim that they were too poor to settle their bills. Poor people, he added, didn’t own telephones."
4. Dubai in the 1990s was just a dessert with a small cluster of settlements near the Dubai Creek.
5. In the late 80's many argued that ATM machines would not work in Nigeria, with Epileptic power and security of the money loaded in them.  

In retrospect these statements are ridiculous, but some of us have this same mindset.

We stop learning because we think we are too old.  We are afraid to change careers in case we jeopardise our pension or fear of rising unemployment.  We don’t pursue our dreams in case we fail or get ridiculed in the process.  We are so used to self-imposed limitations and telling ourselves, “I can’t do that,” we think we can’t do anything.

In essence, we have built a box, crawled inside, and now we are looking for something or someone to blame for our lack of faith.  God did not box you in – you did – and you need to take the initiative for breaking out.

Today, decide, and take steps to break out of the box. Change your THINKING. Try something different, away from your default comfort zone.