30. Hold Your Ground!

30. Hold Your Ground!

Friends, welcome to Intervention, an outreach of VISION BUILDERS designed to help undergraduates contact divine intervention for academic victories. Intervention brings you inspirational messages and Study Tips to enable you be your best academically! Through this message, we believe that God is set to bless you by removing every barrier against your academic success and fulfillment.

In 1879, Procter and Gamble's best seller was candles. But the company was in trouble. Thomas Edison had invented the light bulb, and it looked as if candles would become obsolete. Their fears became reality when the market for candles plummeted since they were now sold only for special occasions.

The outlook appeared to be bleak for Procter and Gamble. However, at this time, it seemed that destiny played a dramatic part in pulling the struggling company from the clutches of bankruptcy. A forgetful employee at a small factory in Cincinnati forgot to turn off his machine when he went to lunch. What was the result? A frothing mass of lather filled with air bubbles. He almost threw the stuff away but instead decided to make it into soap. The soap floated. Thus, Ivory Soap was born and became the mainstay of the Procter and Gamble Company.

Why was soap that floats such a hot item at that time? In Cincinnati, during that period, some people bathed in the Ohio River. Floating soap would never sink and consequently never got lost. So, Ivory soap became a best seller in Ohio and eventually across the country also.

Like Procter and Gamble, never give up when things go wrong or when seemingly unsurmountable problems arise. Creativity put to work can change a problem and turn it into a gold mine.

Today I want to challenge you to Hold Your Ground. What are you facing right now? Are there any academic giants staring you down, trying to intimidate you? Hold your ground. Victory is available and very possible. What do you need to do to achieve victory over those giants? That’s what we’ll be discussing on today’s broadcast.

David Livingstone, the great missionary, was a man who refused to be discouraged by the opposition he suffered from natives on his missionary journeys. He once said, “I will go anywhere—provided it be forward.”  There are times in a student’s life when all you feel like doing is throwing in the towel and getting out of school. Discouragement seems so real and so strong. You try to lift your head up and the answers you seem to be getting are not providing any solutions. There’s just one thing to do. Hold your ground! Don’t fall for that temptation to give up. It has been said that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. It was Robert Schuller who said that, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

I came to tell you today that you are a winner. You were born a winner. Biology teaches us that so many millions of sperms had the same opportunity as you, but you are the only one who made it to conception. Don’t let any challenge in school change your mind about the champion’s complex you were born with. You were a winner from birth. That is why I tell you today to hold your ground. Things are about to turn around to your advantage.

Many years ago I was travelling down to the eastern part of the country by bus. Just a few hours before Benin City our bus starting acting up and eventually parked up by the roadside. We were in the middle of nowhere. The driver and conductor seemed at a loss for what to do. After a while, passengers started getting frantic. Off course, they would not get any part of their bus fare back.

Those who had money decided to hope on luck and flag down any vehicle going in our direction. All the while, I prayed in my heart for God to show me what to do. My funds were limited. Even if I decided to hike it with the other passengers I would not be able to complete my journey with what cash I had left. As I prayed I felt the Lord urging to wait. That didn’t make much sense, but I couldn’t argue much. Then He said to me that this same bus would complete its originally planned trip. I found that quite amazing. I thought to myself, “At least the driver and conductor have to leave this spot somehow. Whatever idea they come up with would be my line of action as well.”

After what seemed like days, there were very few passengers left behind. All of a sudden the driver jumped into the bus, started it up and said, “Get on, let’s go!” We found that a tough pill to swallow. Nothing had been done to the bus and we wondered how come it was suddenly fit to travel again. They explained that the bus was overloaded with luggage and since quite a number had gotten off with their luggage, the bus had become light enough for a safer drive. While some accused them of being cheats and other things, I remembered what God had told me - that this same bus would complete the trip. And it did!

In essence, God was telling me that day, “Hold your ground. Don’t leave in a panic!” Had I disobeyed that day, I would have gotten stuck on my journey. God knows what you don’t, and He can achieve what you can’t. You just have to trust Him. But I want you to notice the principles at work here.

It would have been impossible to hold my ground in view of other passengers who were leaving that day. The day was already wearing on, and we were in the middle of nowhere. What gave me a reason and the courage to wait?

First I prayed.

Second God gave me a word or direction. He told me to wait. He told me that the same bus would complete the trip.

Third, All I had to do was trust what God had told me and act on it in faith.

What is your situation today? Regardless of whatever has happened, is about to happen, you must not panic along with your classmates or any other group of persons. You must keep your cool. Instead, you must also pray for God’s intervention and direction. God knows what you need but He also wants you to ask. Why don’t we together, right now, ask Him for His intervention in your situation? He wants to help you and bless you.

The Lord Jesus promised in Luke 11:9-10, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

I want you to believe this scripture. That means every single person who asks. And He did not limit the situation. That means yours is included. Now that we have asked, hold your ground in faith. Don’t waver, don’t doubt, don’t shake, don’t prepare for anything that the devil has threatened. God will come through for you. Hold your ground. Something good is about to happen in your academics.

But before I sign off today, I want to give you an opportunity to give your heart to the Lord today. He is waiting. He cares about how well your academic life moves, and knows that getting born again is the real key to a victorious life in the university and beyond. If you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and personal savior why not do it today. Do it right now! To receive Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour, please say this simple prayer with me right now as I lead you: Heavenly Father I ask you to please come into my life today. I believe that your son Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead. Forgive all my sins today and make me your child. Fill me with your Holy Spirit right now and bring stability into my academics and life. Thank you for coming. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer with me then know that you have begun a new relationship with God. He has come into your life and will begin working in your life. Please write to me at buildyourvisions@gmail.com or send an SMS to 0817 2239 319 to tell me that you just start a relationship with God.

Till I come your way again with the next Intervention message, continue to expect the best from yourself and continue to maintain a great attitude regardless of whatever happens.

I hope to hear from you soon. Send your testimonies, questions and prayer requests to buildyourvisions@gmail.com. I’ll be glad to hear from you. Kindly send your testimonies, questions and prayer requests as responses on this blog. To ensure your friends, class mates and room-mates are also equipped by Intervention Messages and Study Tips, kindly share this message with them.

Thank you for listening. God bless you richly.

You will succeed. You will make it!

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