THE POWER OF REINVENTION…Psalms 138: 7
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me:
thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies,
and thy right hand shall save me”.
Grounds have been lost to carelessness, to too much sleep, to too much play, to too much procrastination, to excessive social networking. There is danger of capitulation. The dangers of this ‘lostness’ are grave. Trouble is in the air! They include but not limited to distress, missed opportunities, emotional breakdowns, and disconnect from the source of life!
The cure to all of these is REINVENTION! Reinvention? Yes! Reinvention! What does it mean? It means to produce something new from an already existing one, to change from one state of doing to another, to act differently, to make major changes and improvement. To reinvent is to pick up and join the pieces together as whole again.
There are moments of life that make reinvention quite imperative! Birthdays, failures, loss of loved ones, divorce, accidents, tragedies etc. afford timely seasons to stop, think and reinvent.
There are a handful of men in the scripture who translated their moments of grief, disappointments, frustrations and pain to a positive repositioning. They reinvented their lives! Anyone can!
Jephta was a leader in this class! Judges 11: 1- 11. He was thought to be surplus to requirement by his brethren who drove him away from his inheritance. It was an awful situation that could keep some under for life. However, he would not be stopped. Like a man having a date with destiny, he picked up his life again! The road was not particularly interesting but he was determined. Vain men are not people you need around at such times, yet the vain men were the ones he got. With strength of character and a sense of mission, I believe, he turned the vain men to valiant men. They became mighty instruments of power in his hands. The occasion arose later for him to realize his vision. Trouble was in the land, and guess who Israel came calling; Jephta of course, the self-reinvented man. The outcast of yester years could become the saviour of today! This is the power of Reinvention!
What about Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob? He was cast into pit, sold into slavery by his own blood brothers whom he should later rescue. Lied upon, sent into jail for a cooked up offence, forgotten in prison for two whole years! But he learnt from them all! His opportunity came at the fullness of time and like a man who had always known his destiny, he grabbed it with gusto! None of the past sordid experiences could do him in. He reinvented himself and became a prime minister in a strange land. Please, read more about him in Genesis 37, 39, 40 and 41.
I love the story of the prodigal son. Luke. 15: 11- 24. I was there before! Say all you may against that guy, but he was a smart, cocky and highly engraced chap! He with weirdly audacity went unto his father and collected his own will while the father lived and walked away. That alone has put paid to his destiny for all I care! Expectedly, he became riotous with the wealth! He did not sweat to get it in the first place! Then, financial drought and famine came and he was trapped! In the hour of his anguish, the smartness in him that would not die resurfaced, and he returned to his father and obtained his unqualified pardon. The process of pain made him to reinvent himself and got back his lost estate!
One recurring denominator in the foregoing stories is of the in- built ability in man to convert his ugly experiences into his equivalent or greater beauty! This is reinvention! This is God’s expectation from His children! His children are not to capitulate! They are not to resign to fate! They are expected to rise from their fall no matter how many times! That is, to take up the gauntlet and fight again! They must learn to allow God’s timing and favour to collide.
- Are you working and feeling tired?
- Are you feeling like the future is bleak?
- Are you feeling dissatisfied with the course of existence?
- Are you feeling you have come to your wits end?
- Are you feeling caged and done in?
- Are you feeling there are grounds yet to conquer but lacking strength?
- Are you feeling too old to make any impact?
- Are you feeling all hope is lost?
- Are you tired of telling stories?
Friend, what you must do is to reinvent! Life is not as hard to ride for those who are in the business of continuous reinvention. Just like a seasoned athlete constantly trains to keep in shape, everyone with a dream to excel must constantly and consciously reinvent! It keeps you alive, vibrant and updated!
Permit me to add quite briskly that the process of reinvention is a long, lonely and demanding journey! It will require boldness and sheer grit to come through! The good news is, it is achievable!
How?
Deep reflections. This is a call to self- examination, self- assessment, self- judgment. You must know what junction you are in the race of life. You must know your destination. You must know what it takes to arrive safely. You must know what you have invested. You must know what is still expected of you to get there. In any case, there can be no arrival point in the race to excellence for the man who understands the logic of reinvention! It is a life- long exercise! The more you engage in it the better you become and the more you desire to keep growing through it!
All this will cost you sitting down to think! There is no limit to the stretch of greatness to the man who can stretch the muscles of his mind. So, reflect again on how far you want to go and how you like to go! This is the route the prodigal son took. It paid off for him as it would do any other person.
Positive Action. Any thought system that will not provoke positive action is a waste of time! You must rise up to ACT and now! What you do after your reflection is what reveals your desire for change. You need to push for it! You need to move towards the mark. There will be obstacles no doubt, but you must be focused on the goal! You cannot allow the insults of men deter your resolve. It is at this point that many have missed it. They chicken out at the point of action. To succumb at this junction is not just a blunder but a calamity! Jephta acted positively and see what became of him!
Personal Restoration. Here, you have a duty to self to allow the fruit produced by your reflection to feed you. Make a demand on life for your restoration! Make sure life pays back for the efforts committed into your reinvention.
Committed repositioning. Break off the clutches of limitation! Stretch for higher heights! Attempt the impossible! Become more creative! Keep evolving! Dream bigger dreams! Learn harder! Study deeper! Be ready to compete! It is a Knowledge economy! Never get boxed in! Figure out new things! Accept new challenges! Like C. S. Lewis says, “You’re never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” It is Committed repositioning that guarantees steady climb to the next level. Reinvention is the trick!
IT IS Well……..