A young man met me years ago with a statement I had to correct; “I envy someone like you who is already obeying God in full time ministry. People like us are trusting God to leave business and be in ministry.” I simply told him; “Stop the comparison; be sure you are doing what God wants you to do. You don’t have to be in ministry full time like me.”
Friend, the journey of destiny is not about comparing yourself with other people. It also not about competing with others. It is about keeping focus on the program and schedule of God for you as you keep following Him. You must beware of the danger of comparison (John 21:21-22, 2 Corinthians 10:12). Until the devil succeeds in distracting you, he has no power to destroy you (1 Kings 20:40).
One of the characteristics of God’s end time army is that “…they shall march everyone on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks” (Joel 2:7). That Jesus gave an assignment to Peter did not make John redundant or useless. The seeming neglect of John caught the attention of Peter that he needed to ask; “Lord, what about this man?” Is that not what a lot of us still ask today; “What about this one?”
What about my friend – when it looks as though you are only dealing with me and I can’t see you engage my friend (2 Timothy 1:6)? What about this one – when I’m receiving a stirring to pray and fast while my friends feast all day? What about this man – when my pastor handles me in Church and puts me in strict training, development, and even corrections while he seemed not to do same for others (Jeremiah 3:15)?
What about this man – when the things you are restricting me from doing, other people are doing so freely without restriction (Daniel 1:8)? What about this one – when I seem to be going all the way with you and for you carrying out one assignment to the other for you, and my friends seem to be loafing about (Colossians 4:17)? What about this man – when I’m in a season of responsibility and destiny activities and others are not?
We can keep asking; “What about this one?” till Christ comes or we can simply resort to following Him while we rest assured that God has His unique plans for everyone. You would have thought that Jesus had no plan for John until you realize that John was being reserved for a special assignment, something whose timing and season was to be at a later date (John 19:26-27, Revelation 1:1). That you are age mate, roommate or classmate, does not mean that you are destiny mate.
© ‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria