Gladly Overlook

Isaiah 43:^{16 &18} “I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea… “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.”

What lies ahead of you will make what you think you have today like nothing, like absolutely nothing. Therefore, you and I need to bury complacency. During the question-and-answer session of the Financial Dominance Course on the GFH Academy, one of the questions raised was, what is the difference between contentment and complacency? A lot of Christians want to be content but what a lot of people call contentment is actually complacency and not contentment as God would have it. If you look at the concept of work, the attitude of contentment is totally different from the attitude of complacency. What does this mean?

Contentment says, ‘I am happy to work therefore I must be better’. Complacency says, ‘I am okay with work, no need to be better’. Huge difference. While contentment is born out of gratitude, complacency is born out of a false sense of security. You cannot be content without being grateful and you cannot be grateful without being happy. You can be unhappy and be complacent, but you cannot be content and be unhappy. For example, a lot of Nigerians are unhappy with how things are, but not doing anything about it. You must not get to a place where there is something wrong in your life, there is something that is not okay in your finances, there is something that is not okay in your relationships, and you are not willing to do anything about it. If there is something wrong, you must give it all it takes to break the back.

There is a classic story in Luke 12:16-21 [please read it], this man had such a huge harvest that he had to tear down his old barn to build one, big enough to store his harvest. And he said to himself, ‘you have done well, rest my soul’. You have taken three businesses public, you have made millions of dollars, rest my soul. In Luke 12:²⁰ “…God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’” Contentment points you to God in gratitude, complacency points you to stuff. So, where is your security? If it is in stuff, you are complacent. If it is in God, you are content. If your security is in God, He will keep driving you further, He will keep showing you higher grounds. You must bury complacency.

#2. The Barrier Of Loss. Loss or the unwillingness to bear loss is the second thing that prevents people from taking bold steps and prevents people from doing all that God has called them to do. This is huge. To take bold steps you must be able to bear loss. Cut your losses, let some things go in your life, in your finances, and in your business, and take bold steps. Paul says in Phil.3:¹³ “Brothers and sisters, …one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind…” (NIV, emphasis added). While it is great to pray for restoration, but the truth is, it is not everything that you have lost that God should restore to you. Some things belong in the past, and not in your future. They are good but they should be lost so that you can make room for what God is bringing.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to stay grateful and keep pushing, in Jesus Name. Amen!