Shine like the Black Stars

Two weeks ago, at the peak of the anxiety and tension over African teams performance and qualification to the second round of the World Cup football competition, my opinion on the chances of the Black Stars’ qualification to the second round was sought by a Ghanaian newspaper .
For emphasis and consistency purposes, I produce my unedited comment as published by the Mirror newspaper on Saturday, 19th June, 2010. Certainly, Ghana is going to defeat Australia in today’s encounter. I see Ghana as the proverbial child who will bring honour to the continent in the ongoing World Cup in South Africa.
God has ordained the Black Stars as the David of Africa and that explains why so far, the team is the only Africa side that has won its opening match. South Africa drew, Algeria, Nigeria and Cameroon all lost their opening group matches but Ghana remains the pathfinder and defender of the African representatives.
Surely, Ghana will progress to the second round of the competition. I feel happy for the Ghanaian team because they aren’t proud and immodest like some of the others in Europe and elsewhere because of their wealth. The Black Stars are modest and that explains why they are doing wonderfully well.
Additionally, the day the Black Stars played their first match, most of the churches prayed for the team and that also added to the excellent result. Ghanaians should keep on praying because with God all things are possible. Africa will surely not be disgraced and the Black Stars will lift high the flag of Ghana and that of Africa. It is my wish that the team does not lose focus and remains as a team. They must be careful not to adopt any individualistic approach in today’s game The players must listen to their technical instructors and with determination and commitment they will prevail.
Yes that was my comment, and I still stand by it with even greater conviction. The defeat of the American team last Saturday, by the Black Stars has clearly confirmed my position that the Black Stars are the DAVID OF AFRICA who has got what it takes to confront the GOLIATHS OF THE WORLD. Now let us consider the spiritual lessons we can learn from the Black Stars performance.
A. Spiritual mandate: Everyone created by God has been given specific mandate to fulfil, accomplish, and attain in life. These acts of excellence and accomplishments which are God’s given goals don’t just happen, they are to be, indentified early in life through spiritual insight and revelation, and it must be pursued with tenacity, resilience, determination, selflessness and having faith in God for grace to maximize the potential and latent skills which have been deposited in us.
The bible states in Ephesians chapter one verse three: Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. This biblical reference confirms that God did not create us empty. We were loaded with abundant gifts, skills, abilities, and enablement sufficient enough to sustain us in life. The Divine provisions were made for our comfort and pleasure, but the participation in these divine arrangements is not automatic. Our willingness, determination, and commitment must be displayed, because they are the basic and essential ingredients needed to fulfill our mandate.
Human criteria such as education, wealth, race, and position play minor role in the fulfillment of the mandate. However, this is not meant to downplay the importance and relevance of education in our socio-economic development. Education helps in bringing out the best potential in us, and also brightens and sharpens our scope of understanding and application of the latent skills in us for maximum result.
Let us consider the case of David, the shepherd boy, who later became the king of Judah. He had the divine mandate to reign over the Israelites, and he indentified this role right from his youth, especially as a shepherd boy. He was able to handle dangerous moments when he defended his father’s flock from being devoured by wild animals.
David fought and killed wild animals with the dexterity of a great warrior. He identified and valued the potential inside him, and also realized that he had a divine mandate to defend the Israelites. He demonstrated this in his encounter with the dreadful Goliath who challenged the Israelites into battle with impunity. When David walked into the battle field and saw the fear and apprehension which surrounded the entire city including the king, elders and his brothers, he switched on the real man in him, invoked the power of God, and went straight into action as the defender of God’s people. The great and powerful GOLIATH was killed by a little boy who indentified his mandate and pursued it unabated. Through this exploit, God’s ultimate plan for him came to pass as he was later anointed by the servant of God, Prophet Samuel as king of Israel.
Mathew 5 verse 14 says “You are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl, but they put it on the stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.
In summary, I urge you brethren; don’t abandon your mandate by trying to be someone else. You’ve unique qualities and abilities in you and you must utilize them to the maximum. Switch on the light in you and shine. God bless you.
If you are blessed by this message and you want to partner Pastor Peter Kayode in his awakening operations, please send your donation to Peter Kayode Ministry Account No: 6020103799 Zenith Bank, Ghana, or call o276133379. God bless you.