The preparation of the heart belongs onto men but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. A man’s ways are pleasing to him but it is the Lord who weighs the Spirit. Alas the entirety of the ways of man and his desires are summed up by this powerful saying in Proverb 16:1. There is a divine strategy to help you become the total person you desired to be. Free from all the negatives of this wicked and painful world. There are only a few great ones who impact our world. This I believe is due to their adherence to the divine strategy of God for their lives.Walking according to the divine strategy of God will mean to go through God’s education to attain the fullness of God for your life. It is costly yet if you are able to pay the price, victory for yourself and your generation is what is assured. The painstaking question will be whether if you arise to the challenge. God is prepared to give the tools you need in order to pay the price. We make decisions and live by them. Any decision you take, will be costly good or bad. To take a risk is a risk and not to is also a risk. And you can do so when you are convinced of the prize of higher calling. If you want the cake, then learn how to mix the flour, eggs, sugar, and butter and finally how to regulate oven.
Jesus himself understood the purpose of having a divine strategy in place. He could not contend with God in the garden of Gethsemane about the cup of death. Several times he complained yet ended by giving into the divine strategy of God for his life. David understood divine strategy that is why he prayed in 1 Samuel30 with the exact words pursue, overtake and recover it all knowing that what you ask for, is what you will get. When you understand 1 Samuel 30 very well, to comprehend the value of being created for God onto the best of His doings is exhilarating. You will then muster patience to wait for Him to finish His good work in your life. There are three levels of the divine strategy which every believer should be familiar with- preservation, preparation and production.
Preservation
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp around me, my heart shall not fear: though war should arise against me, in this shall I be confident. One thing I have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.
Psalm 27:1-4
Preservation is the period where God shields you from the overtness of your gift or calling. He does this to prevent early death of the purpose He has chosen you for. Many at times we do run with the prophecy without understanding the directives. Due to this immaturity, many easily lose the gift as they are deceived by the enemy. When David boasted of the Lord being his shepherd, he was also taken through the valley of the shadow of death to be trained. The end result was that his head was anointed with oil and his cup run over for goodness and mercy to follow him. There he was alone in the Desert separated from his family because of a few sheep yet it was in keeping the “few” sheep that the Lord taught him administration, worship and warfare whilst preserving him. These skills were invaluable later on for the career God had destined him for.
As a little boy, God took upon Himself to preserve Jesus from harm’s way. He commanded them to take Jesus to Egypt until the set time when the adversary has been dealt with. Herod wanted the baby dead because He was going to be king of the Jews. At twelve years He challenged the teachers of the law which was a premature launching of His ministry. Again God used His parents to save him until He was ready to launch him out.
Allow God to preserve you and do not try and spread yourself everywhere. It is the silent yet the most beneficial period in a person’s life. On a personal basis, the preservation period I am experiencing has afforded me the privilege of ministering to my talents, skills, abilities and other areas of studies. I am quite careful not to waste so much time with the dogs and swine of this life. God’s preservation is the best times for anyone who believes in achieving their destiny. The whole purpose of preservation is to create the value of having confidence in the Lord alone in order not to be afraid of what is waiting for you outside.
Preparation
I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined onto me, and heard my cry. He bought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my going. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise onto our God; many shall see it, and fear and shall trust in the Lord.
Psalm 40:1-3
Preparation! Not the best of the periods for any believer if we will be honest. It is one of the most excruciating moments of a person’s life especially when the question of peer pressure and threat of living with failure comes to mind. Can you imagine Jesus had to remain silent for eighteen years before his ministry? The bible records that He went home with his parents and was obedient onto them. He learnt humility by the things he endured.
David when had slain Goliath and every saw a “king” in him had to run because it wasn’t his time. Interestingly, those were the times God used to bring the best out of him and gather ordinary men onto him. He could have killed Saul when he encountered the sleeping King in the cave but David knew what meant to wait and be prepared. He spared Saul because of the waiting spirit he had developed.
The anointing upon anyone is like the raw material. The factory of life and its encumbrances coupled with the word of God will be used to manufacture the best out of you. Character and attitude are the two most important components needed for the fulfilment of any vision an individual possesses. Until you begin to see as God wants you to, there will always be a delay in the manifestation of the vision. The anointing will take you there but your character will determine your longevity.
Moses, one of the greatest leaders histories will ever produce, had to go through forty years of preparation before being released. From a prince to being a fugitive of the Egyptian penal system for forty years, being called and used by God at eighty, changes were what he encountered. His preparation period had bred in him a divine level of maturity that when everyone around him had given up he could easily inquire on the Lord for his next move. Patience is such a powerful virtue that any one called onto greater works needs to pray for it. For preparation without patience only leads to a destruction and disgrace. Unfortunately we have too many impatient individuals in life who eschew the concept of preparation.
Production
But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty fold some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:8-9
What sort of impact do you want to make in the world with the skills, talents and abilities that you have? Many at times I do hear people talk about the great visions and dreams they have and how they plan to achieve it. You meet them the next time and they have already given up on a dream they are yet to start. There are certain principles and natural laws which one cannot ignore with regards to using the divine strategy.
When the sower was out sowing, he never envisaged that some of his precious seeds will fall on rocky, patchy and thorny ground. His intention was to sow all in a good ground in order to reap well. But life has a way to thwarting dreams. As long as we don’t control the elements, our dreams and aspirations are subject to their buffeting. Regardless, God still sees potential in that which life wants you to discard and is well prepared to turn things around.
It is a privileged to be chosen of God for an assignment. There is commandment to go forth and be productive. What most fail to realise is that as long as it was God that sent you, the purpose will be achieved. It is against the law of fruition for any individual with a seed not to be productive. Remember the story of the king and his three stewards? The one who complain bitterly of having only one talent was brutally dealt with when the King came back. What we are not told is that the king spent his time and effort to train them before handing over to them the talents. You can have the world’s greatest talent, skill or ability but if it’s not exposed to the right environment, you are doomed.
How much fruit do you want to bear? The concept behind fruit bearing is not about the now but that which will transcend into the next generation. They will be more blessed not about what we left them but what we leave inside them. You cannot leave the continuum of a vision to any successor if they don’t have a suitable inbuilt character to handle it. When the process is completed, the commandment that whatever you have should remain will do so. The Lord himself will give you the best successor, methodology and medium of expression in order for his name to be glorified. That is why I am encouraging you the reader to give it all to Christ and allow him to preserve, prepare and help you produce the best the world is yet to see.
Everyone who belongs to any association adheres to the rules and regulations of that union. You can’t be a member from a distance. A typical example is that of real supporters of any major football team. You don’t support by word of mouth but through paying membership dues and being present at football matches. Association is everything in our world. Even though vision is given individually, its pursuit and subsequent achievement stems from the people we relate to. The book of Proverbs is full of what association can do to an individual. 
