A VISION WILL NOT MANIFEST UNTIL A DECISION TO PURSUE IT IS MADE!

Posted on May 17, 2020 by Ngoni Cash, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

I don’t know what you are pursuing or running away from but there comes a time when you have to make that decision. Strategies are born out of a decision-making process i.e. your vision will never manifest until you decide to pursue it. In this article, I will reference the life of Jacob who prolonged his destiny and wealth accumulation for 21 years because of failure to make a decision. Always remember that “time is not in the success equation” Dr Mike Murdock.

It is in the moment of decisions that destiny is created – Tony Robbins

In Genesis 28:13 Jacob had an amazing encounter with the creator in his dreams to the extent that he not only acknowledged God’s presence in the place. When he woke up, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven.” Gen 1:17 NKJV. Even though what he did after is supposed to be perplexing, surprisingly it is not because that’s how the majority of people lead their lives. You get a blank cheque to write any amount but only write pennies, which won’t even cover the bank charges.

Let’s analyze the situation.

What did God do?

God presented His resume to establish trust and authenticity of “His Godness” by stating He was the God of his fathers. Which means this God was no stranger to him because Abraham had spent 15 years with Jacob and Esau before he died. In addition to your parents telling you stories and teaching you history, grandparents go even deeper and be reminded that Abraham’s stories were legendary. Just to mention one, he defeated five kings and their armies with only three hundred men he trained. These men could carry goods that five armies had looted. Therefore, God didn’t need a lengthy introduction to get Jacob’s attention. Allow me to pause and ask a question – as a leader who is training your team? or you as a parent, are you training your children? and to the team and children, are you listening? God’s promise to him was not only the land he was lying on but up to the four corners of the earth and through his seed all creation was to be blessed.

What did Jacob do?

Regardless of this encounter plus the countless stories from Abraham, Jacob just couldn’t stop to think about the offer before him? God had just told him to stay and deal with his Esau challenge because he said to him in verse 15, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you” It was entirely his decision to stay or run. Instead, he chose flight – a wrong decision altogether. I will explain later! Nonetheless, look at the response of an individual who has no self-worth. The first mistake, he became religious busy anointing the stone instead of making a decision. It doesn’t matter what you do in life! When it comes time to make a decision, no prayer, no consultation, no coach, no mentor will help. It’s all own you, take ownership and responsibility because twenty years later you will have no one to blame. Secondly, still stuck in his flight action he asked God for three things, to give him safe passage, bread to eat and clothing. God granted his request but at what cost? At least he was smart enough to ask for safe passage back home. He decided to send his breakthrough way into the future. I love this quote from Dr Mike Murdock,

Decisions decide wealth – Dr Mike Murdock.

As an organization, you can hire a consultant but the decision to implement is yours. If you ask a friend’s opinion on a potential spouse, you still have to decide to accept their hand in marriage since you are the one who will spend the rest of your life with that person. Intuition becomes a strategic tool in decision making.

What did he get?

God is forever faithful, he works with your decisions and choices. He will not impose His WILL on a human being. That said, he granted Jacob his requests. He got safe passage but without a guaranteed time frame of when he will come back since he was now in charge of his vision and strategy. God will always wait for you if you are called to destiny but the duration of your influence and impact is up to your decisions and choices. He got shelter and clothing at a huge cost. Laban constantly changes his wages because he realized the guy had no idea of his value. I wonder if you are working or married to Laban? Ask yourself how much you are worth? It might be time you start working on value addition. In the 15 Invaluable laws of growth by Dr John Maxwell, law three is the Law of the Mirror, which states “You must see value in yourself and add value to yourself.” If you don’t – people will take you for a ride, chew you and then spit you after you lose taste. God only came back into the picture after he finally decided to do something for his own house. This is an answer for those who are waiting on God, He is waiting for you to act. NOW is good! Surprisingly, he always knew Laban was been blessed because of him. I guess he was afraid to launch out or the alternative to go back to Esau was still haunting him? Who knows? We do know the opportunities he missed and the negative impact of the environment on his family. Environment matters, this is the reason Abraham had warned them never to go back to the land of his fathers. “Always seek an environment conducive for growth.- Law 6” Dr John Maxwell. He who has ears let him hear!

General lessons learnt!

Time is not in the success equation because the first thing Jacob had to deal with on his way back was Esau. Imagine now he has accumulated a portion of the greater wealth he could have appropriated in this land a long time ago but the only thing on his mind is Esau. It is stated regarding Esau in Genesis 27:40 that “It shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break Jacob’s yoke from your neck” NKJV. It is Jacob who needed Esau to break the yoke from his neck. Disobedience always changes the order of things. Even though Jacob was restored, the guy was never the same. He could have achieved much but twenty years in captivity sapped all his energy, wives always bickering at each other and sons not getting along. Instead of all the families of the earth been blessed through his seed, they wanted to kill their brother Joseph. The only one who managed to fulfil the vision by making the right decisions and became a symbol of hope for all Israel even in his death. Wrong decisions became part of Jacob’s life, he cursed some of his sons before he died which was against God’s will. God’s will was for his children to establish dominion to the ends of the earth, a vision that King David eventually fulfilled. Thank God for Moses who came in Deuteronomy to bless all the sons and restore God’s order. Jacob also did many things right, therefore, the baton is on us to learn from his successes and failures then make our own decisions. I pray we do not repeat the same mistakes.

Lessons to Leaders in the Corporate World!

The organization’s vision must be trans-generational
Be an authentic leader who can be trusted and can handle pressure in times of crisis.
Empower your people and they will serve you well.
Create an environment conducive for growth, teamwork and loyalty.
Appreciate accordingly those who are adding value to the organization.

Lessons to Every Individual!

Serve well, always know your value and your limits.
Be innovative and creative regardless of the circumstances.
Never compromise on quality and excellence. If your organization can’t see your value, the promotion will come from elsewhere.
Don’t be just about the paycheck, go the extra mile.
Don’t stop growing and upgrading yourself.