He claimed that God led him to start the business. But the journey has been tough. He resorted to backing out of it; he could not cope again. My counsel for him was to go back to how it all started and reevaluate his leading and strategy.

Friend, hearing God about matters of destiny is not an end in itself; it is only a means to an end. This is another misconception that people have regarding divine leading. They think that once God has led them, everything would automatically turn out well. You need to know what to do to make God’s will to work.

There are about seven components of the will of God. A lot of people are only familiar with purpose without realizing that, time, place, people, strategy, generation and measure are equally important components. You can get the purpose or direction right, but if you miss the timing or strategy, you would still fail (Ecclesiastes 9:11, Ephesians 5:15-17).

When God led Samuel to go anoint the next king in the house of Jesse, he asked God for strategy (1 Samuel 16:1-3). If he had gone only on the basis of being led, Saul might have chopped off his head and he would think he died for God. Listen, not every death or suffering is in the will of God. Some are just due to sheer ignorance of the total counsel of the will of God.

God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19). But you can make Him look like a liar if you don’t follow Him well. That you were led to that lady does not mean that she would say “Yes” to you if you don’t get your timing and strategy right. That your marriage is founded on divine leading does not mean that it would work if you don’t know how to make it work. You need to balance faith with wisdom.

When God leads you on a matter, take time to pray about it before executing it. God shows us things ahead for the purpose of prayers and preparations. Divine purposes are thwarted when enough prayer energy is not generated (Galatians 1:15-16, James 5:17-18). Take time to pray about that marital leading. Commit that business direction to God in prayers. Wage war in prayers if you want your ministry vision to see the light of the day (1 Timothy 1:18).

Always remember that while God supplies the calling, you would need to supply the diligence (2 Peter 1:10). Most times, the manifestation of a divine vision is always different from or lesser than its revelation due to failure on the part of man (2 Peter 1:5-8). There are things to do to make divine leading to work. There are details to understand. There are strategies to deploy. There are counsels to heed. You need to play your own part.

‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria