The Sunday Mail
Milton Kamwendo
It’s Christmas!
He arrived in the dark and silent night. Change had come, but everything looked the same. Silent and undisturbed. There was no room for him who would change history forever. So it always seems.
It is as if there is no room or space for you, your dream and your purpose. His faith-filled fighting parents had to make home and hospital in a manger. Home is a mindset. How you look at things depends more on you than what is happening or who seems to be happening.
Those filled with wisdom had the revelation to see many, many years ahead and saluted greatness while it was nested in swaddling clothes.
True greatness is not a large stage, but a quiet faith and potent vision that rests within despite what you are up against. So Christ came; change that matters has struck. He was celebrated by the few and ignored by many; at least for a time and a season.
Do not despair because no one seems to be noticing you. It is just a matter of time. Do not be disappointed by the present circumstances. Let your faith be anchored on the future and its bold promise. If you can believe in great things, and not lose heart, you will open the path to your own greatness.
And today, many, many years later Christ remains the wonder of the world, the marker of time and the hope of all creation. It does not matter how you read his story. It is too important to ignore and too bold to miss. His story, reads you while you read it. Many read his story with awe and are filled with wonder.
Hold forth your faith and live boldly for you came with a special purpose that this world cannot do without. You are where you are for a purpose. Salute your greatness, even if other people do not see it yet. You will inspire many with your story and courage. To claim greatness when there is no challenge is an easy chorus. To motivate others in your despair is true heroism. To keep holding on when you are hardest hit is the depth of character and consistency of desire.
Whatever you go through will shape, sharpen and shine you. Instead of growing bitter, you can get better; Christ improving you.
Appreciate your adversities, but never forget to count your blessings. Hardship and challenge sometimes show you things you would never have known and help you to become what you would never have been.
Christ’s words, life and sacrifice continues to stimulate minds, warm souls and anchor hearts. Will you not let him in? Whatever you go through is creating a path for others. Do not run away so soon when God is still in process. Take bold steps, make big moves for there is no glory in timid and escapist living.
Christmas continues to transform lives, regions and economies. It is Christmas! Not just another ordinary holiday or silly season.
In a Manger
The King of Kings was born in a stable and carefully laid in a manger. Yet, he never succumbed to animal instincts or lost sight of his worth. It is not where you are placed that matters but where you place your confidence. Your future is never determined by your past, unless you choose to hold so tightly on the past. The past, with its pains and pleasures, is now past. Do not park is the past – its history! The past is now bust, embrace new possibilities and paint new stories. Open you chapters in your life’s book.
Write your future as you like, not as situation or history dictates. The future is yours to have and to hold sturdily, with a never-say-day faith and an inspiring and beckoning vision.
As Jesus lay in that dung-smelling stable, the usual inhabitants with great glee were grateful to have appreciative company. For them, finally care and attention for the stable was now here; it was not a usual day!
In life always do your mathematics right. Where you were born does equal where you are going to. The circumstances of your birth should never weigh you down. The irony of your birth is no basis for your loss of confidence.
Your vision, passionate action and life-results will resolve the irony and mute some critics. While others complain, deliver. While others protest, produce results.
A few days ago I can across a video of 25-year-old Tongai Gwaze, who was born crippled.
At birth, his parents despaired and were disheartened. Friends and family thought the mother had given birth to death itself. Begrudging at first, his mother came to accept him. Out of an unyielding faith, they christened him “Greatman”. This was hoping against hope. There was no inkling that Greatman would ever sing or debut on any stage.
It was also unthinkable that he would in time do a collaboration with Sulumani Chimbetu. Yet, he did just that.
Every day his music has been making waves and receiving wild and appreciative rave views. He is singing himself beyond disability and living out his greatness. What does it take to stop you?
Refuse to park where you collided with life. You are not a victim: do not think, talk or behave like one. In your space, you are “Greatman!” You have worth and value. Do not get stuck and remain in your manger and swaddling clothes.
They were enough to have accommodated you then, but you cannot remain there. Where you were born is not as important as why you were born. It is what you make out of what you were given that matters more than what you have got.
Even if no one welcomes your gift and presence, allow your ears to hear the heavenly choir sing and salute you. It is what you choose to hear that matters. The song of fools or the song of saints on high? The voice of complainers or the affable voice of heaven’s choir. Allow the gifts in you to dance. Do the things that make your heart sing and elevate your soul.
Can’t Explain
Do not ask why, ask how and now what? There are many things that are hard to explain. Do not be stuck asking why. Do not get so hung up asking all the wrong questions and cracking your mind about things you cannot solve.
Your aim is not to be confused by philosophies, but to adopt an empowering personal philosophy of life that propels you forward.
Focus on the answers you see and move in the light that you have. Instead of being part of the question, choose to be part of the answer.
Instead of being stuck in confusion and letting yourself be defined by things and situations, choose and affirm your true royal identity as a Son of God. You are the way, show the way and be the way.
Instead of creating problems for others, be the bread — the solution to their hungers.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and executive coach. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. He can be reached at: [email protected] and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo or WhatsApp at: 0772422634. His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com
