“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” is a common line in the Hebraic literature with its ancestral origins from the mouth of King David, an ancient Oriental sage.
These words have transcended the tables of time and have sired remarkable testimonies and greatness in the history of humanity across the entire human race platforms. This is so because of the inspiration behind the words, they pump energy and audacity to overcome adversity and achieve greatness in the heart of the reader.
They are the kind that imputes a mental eye that spots opportunity during moments of severe crises and compel the host to commit to action, obtain a name and hog glory in the timeline of history.
This psalm stirs an insatiable hunger in the guts of imagination, bringing with itself a formidable understanding that history can only be made if we are deliberate with making it. Greatness can only be nurtured through adversity and it is when we triumph over resistance that we are tagged history-makers.
It emboldens this reality in our souls; “hardship happens to everyone, it’s our response to it that shape our destiny.”This way we choose to become the best out of our suffering. We join the band wagon of greatness that has its confluence at the horizons of both the living and the dead understanding that adversity without triumph isn’t inspiring.
By following what it prescribes we immortalize ourselves by means of starting ripples of grapevine that will in the process of time turn to waves of influence. Generations that emerge after us will echo our writings, poems, songs and names. They will recite them as long as humans will live.
Today the world speaks of ordinary people who understood that they were created for a purpose and took up the noble cause to challenge their limitations and they made history. People like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela chose to be concerned with national issues when they should have taken a back seat, Albert Einstein was inspired by a Chinese proverb , “It is better light a candle than to curse the darkness” and thus was led to invent a light bulb, my black brother, George Washington Carver was inspired by a cotton weevil that had destroyed the hope the poor peasants, convinced them to grow peanuts and went on discover hundreds of products that a mere peanut would produce .
Among the discoveries were cosmetics, oils and stock feeds. From his Laboratory, Carver managed to inspire industrialists to produce the products he had discovered. Martin Luther became a revivalist when it was revealed to him that justification is by faith not by works and thus was used to pioneer a vibrant and lively way of worshiping but at the risk of putting his life on the line by radical Catholics of his time.
What made these people extra-ordinary was not in their phenomenal births or peculiar upbringings but it was the realization that there is no table of choice food that can be arrayed before us without triumphing over adversity. Enemies are an opportunity for glory, the secret to overcome them is harbored in the vaults of learning. Learning prepares us for the opportunities ahead and by the time an opportunity called enemy pops up before us, it will be too late to prepare.
Prepare yourself by means of self development every opportunity you find. Make it a law to forbid the sun to go down into the western horizons without making an addition to your worth. Paul of Tarsus was on spot when he penned this timeless advice to his young mentee Timothy; “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that cannot be ashamed…”
History doesn’t discriminate people; it can be made by anyone despite their age, background or class. The choice to make it remains personal; you cannot delegate it to another! I am inspired by an awakening story of Louis Braille who was born on January 4 1809 in Coupvray, a small town near Paris. When he was three years old, deep in his father’s workshop, he tried to be like his dad but it went very wrong. He grabbed an awl, a sharp tool for making holes which slid into his eye.
The wound got infected which led to blindness in both his eyes. He had trouble getting an education as he would fail to capture everything by hearing. At twelve years of age his disability gave him a lead to develop dots and bumps which eventually changed the world of reading and writing forever for the blind and it was named Braille after him. Now every country in the world uses Braille to give an education to its blind folk.
Louis Braille had an enemy of blindness, yes for the first few years the regarded it as a handicap but eventually he saw it as an opportunity to help other people within his creed who never had regarded blindness as an opportunity to demonstrate glory.
Great people use adversity as a reason to demonstrate bravery whereas the ordinary use it as an excuse not to move ahead. Brothers and sisters, we can either make progress or excuses but we cannot make both at the same time.
Liberty Mwariwangu Sr. is an Author, Columnist, Transformational-Motivational speaker, Consultant, Purpose expert and Senior pastor with Spirit Culture Churches Worldwide a non-denominational movement headquartered in Harare Zimbabwe. He is the founder of the Global Success Institute; an institution targeted at developing and enabling young people to make impact in their various spheres of influence so they can dominate in life. He makes appearances on television and radio speaking on purpose and motivation for a profitable and fulfilling life. He can be reached at +263774357394 or libsmwariwangu@gmail.com
