I was counselling with a young man sometime ago. He seemed to have tried so many things that never worked. He would always have one excuse or the other to give. I encouraged him; “Stop jumping here and there, focus on one thing, and follow it through with commitment. Success is not for those who give excuses.”
Friend, you either live a life of success or you continue to give excuses. Excuses are what people with no vision and passion use to keep themselves in mediocrity. The first sign that a man is on his way to failure and defeat is giving good excuses. Some excuses are good, but they would still rob you of your destiny (John 5:7).
If you are looking for reasons to fail, there are plenty of them. The same reason someone committed a crime is the very same reason another started a thriving business. Your problem is not always the problem; your perspective is (Numbers 14:9). Even if God partners with some people, they would still fail because of excuses (John 5:5-7).
Excuses are comfortable with the flesh, but they are dangerous to destiny (Numbers 13:33, 2 Kings 7:3-5). God will never leave you stranded. One of the marks of stewardship is the will and drive to produce results irrespective of what you are given (Matthew 25:24-30). Excellence is achieving the best possible with what you have and where you are.
What are your excuses? People often give the excuse of their background (Judges 6:15). Some give excuse of their location (Matthew 3:1-6, Luke 1:80). A lot of people give excuse of lack of money (John 6:5-12). Appreciating and maximising where God has placed you is the key to living a life of success; be it in the backside of the desert like John or in the palace like Solomon.
People perish, enterprises fail, organizations struggle, not for lack of money, but for lack of vision and commitment (Proverbs 29:18). If money was all that was needed to create stuff, then God would have been stranded in Genesis. God started with nothing but vision, faith, and commitment (Genesis 1:1-3, Hebrews 11:3). What are your excuses?
Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria