Resourcefulness, the challenge of our time 1

Francis E. MADOJEMU The Challenge of Our Time

Heathrow has about 480,000 flights (departing and arriving) per year, and

there are 525,600 minutes in a year

So on average,

0.91 flights take off and

land per minute

However, during certain times at night there are very few flights,

while during peak hours, there can be almost 3 flights a minute, which

leads to MAJOR backups if there are any delays

Source(s):Frequent Flyer

In the United States, more than 5,000 airplanes take off and land every day; how

many times has anyone heard of plane crashes there in the last 10 years?

In Nigeria, it is an average of 28 planes every day, but, in the last few years, we have had six disastrous and scandalous

plane crashes.

Anthony RobbinsThey are a claim to

you missing resources, and they

may be accurate.

You may not have the money; you may not

have the Supreme Court; but that is not the defining factor.

The defining factor is never resources;

it's resourcefulness.

Anthony Robbins

Notice the Perception!

If you don't have the money, but you're

creative and determined enough,

you find the way.

So this is the ultimate resource

Nigeria's Problem is Peculiar

We have the resources

Human & Natural Resources including Oil,

Coal, Palm Oil etcWe have minerals and precious

stones

Yet we are Unproductive!

We have not Learnt that being resourceful is more valuable than we may have realized

Why?

When We Know, Something Happens!

when you buy a new car. You never noticed that car

before and suddenly you start to see it everywhere.

Now that this specific car has become of interest to you, all

your senses will pick it out of thousands of

cars you see every day.

The Secrets of the Rich

The difference between the Rich and the Poor can be summed up as

follows:

“The poor say I cannot afford it and the Rich say How can I afford

it.”

This Affects Our Prayers

Instead of always praying God give me, and when we do that

we tend to limit how God answers

We start to pray God show me or teach me how to be to get this

done. Then He can use every

circumstance in our lives to help us achieve purpose

Resourceful ( full of resources) is to be

empowered to access every resource you

may need to carry out an assignment.

Therefore:

John 15:7-8If ye abide in me, and my

words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall

be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear

much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

ResourcefulnessTo say God is resourceful is

something of an understatement.

After all, God not only owns all

resources, He made them----from nothing.

ResourcefulnessIn the beginning God created everything,

and then God did something else

incredible:

He made humanity in His

own image (Genesis 1:27).

ResourcefulnessResourcefulness has a purpose: to work, to get the

job done.

Essentially, resourcefulness boils down to the why and

how of our work:

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESOURCEFULNESSResourcefulness

leads to the increase of your net worth.

You must not seek more assets simply to heap up treasures for yourselves,

but rather to increase your ability to give to

others.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESOURCEFULNESS

“That ye, always having all sufficiency

in all things, may abound to every good work” (II Corinthians.

9:8).

When you give away assets in times of plenty, you will

have what you need in times of want. (See II

Corinthians 8:14.)

Luke 16:1-97 Then said he to another, And how much owest

thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and

write fourscore. 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their

generation wiser than the children of light.

For being resourceful!

God does not give man finished

products!

Why?

Mark 2:1-51 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and

he preached the word unto them. 3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

Mark 2:1-5 4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof

where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5 When Jesus saw

their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins

be forgiven thee.

The skill of resourcefulness is key to success

A severely disabled man couldn’t get

through the doorway.

The man’s friends cut an opening in the roof

and he was gently lowered into the

house, right in front of Jesus.

The skill of resourcefulness is key to success

These were folks who knew how to

creatively solve problems and make

something out of nothing

Faith inspires Resourcefulness

Have We Consciously Prayed about being resourceful in the Church and in the

Nation

Question

A GOD OF RESOURCEFULNESS:

“Resourcefulness is recognizing the value that others

overlook in people, objects,

and ideas”

We must go back to Joseph

Joseph in Canaan had been betrayed by his own brothers, and at the age of 17 was sold to

Midianite merchants, who in turn, sold him to Potiphar, a

captain of the Pharaoh's body guard.

In Egypt, Joseph escaped seduction and suffered

imprisonment innocently before he came to the attention of the Pharaoh who asked him

to interpret his dreams.


Joseph's interpretation resulted in the Pharaoh promoting him as "governor over all the land of

Egypt."

During seven rich harvest years, Joseph contrived a system which conserved the produce of the land,

enough to feed everybody who came to Joseph in

Egypt for grain, during the following seven years of

famine


Among the many people who came, were his own brothers. In

time, the Pharaoh met them, too.

In appreciation for Joseph's wise and

resourceful service to the nation, the Pharaoh commanded Joseph to bring his entire family

to reside in Egypt

Resourcefulness is using what you have to get the job

done!

Conclusion!

Ecclesiastes 9:10 (Living)

Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave,

there will be no work or planning or knowledge

or wisdom.

RESOURCEFULNESS OF NEHEMIAH

Nehemiah faced an overwhelming,

impossible task:

in a faraway land, he heard of the needs of

his homeland, the temple in ruins and God’s name being

defiled.


He was a displaced person, really a prisoner

of war, now living and serving in a foreign land.

What resources did he have that could have been easily

overlooked or discarded?


Prayer and fasting, (1:4-11): “Our prayers are crucial because our

best praying will move us into our best

action.” (Brother Andrew)

His character, 2:1,2: His conduct and character

prior to this time had been such that the king noticed

his sadness and asked why.


Relationships: his relationship with the king made the king’s

resources available to him. How often have we let a

relationship lapse and later it could have been the source of

great blessing?

In 2:9, that relationship also gave him the king’s authority. Nehemiah also made use of the

relationships among his workers by having them work

and guard as family units.


His own capabilities: he had no real tangible resources of his own that we know of or any large group of people at

his disposal, but his gifts allowed him to lay out a plan and rally people around him.

Time, 2:6: when the king asked Nehemiah how long the project would take, he “set a

time.” Time is a non-renewable resource.


Words: Nehemiah used words to inspire (2:17-18) be courageous (4:14), and when necessary reprimand (5:6-13, chapter 13). What effects did

his words bring about?

How many of these same resources do you have in your life to achieve God’s purposes for you that may

seem so overwhelming and impossible

Bible stories can be used to illustrate resourcefulness

Elisha and the Widow's Oil (II Kings 4: 1-7) (Key Verse: 2b-3)

Samson using foxes, torches and the jawbone of a donkey (Judges

15:3-5;14-16)

Ruth picking up the dropped grain after it had been harvested (Ruth 2)

Bible stories can be used to illustrate resourcefulness Joseph in Genesis 41 used the resources

of the good years to provide for the famine years.

The Prodigal Son did not demonstrate resourcefulness, but wasted his inheritance

(Luke 15:11-32).

The Foolish Servant buried his talent and ended up loosing even that (Matt. 25:14-30)

What is in you Hand (Exodus 4:2-7) &

What is your House (II Kings 4: 1-7)

What God Uses!

DefinitionsResourceful thinking is

fresh thinking that doesn’t capitulate to the

pressures of life. Sometimes it means

discarding some old rules

RUTH: a Resourceful Lady

GLEAN ALL YOU CAN:

In Leviticus 19:9-10, how did God instruct

landowners to provide for “welfare” to the

poor? Note that resourcefulness on the part of the needy was a

necessary part of the program.


GLEAN ALL YOU CAN:

Do we ever expect God or others to just provide our

needs (and wants) without our

resourcefulness?

What detrimental effects does this cause? What would be the effect of

God’s way?


GLEAN ALL YOU CAN:

Notice that the Law did not instruct the landowners to give the last of the grain to the needy

– they had to be resourceful in gleaning it themselves.

How has our affluent and throw-away society

affected our resourcefulness?

(birds looking for food in cracks despite not filling feeders)

1 Kings 3:5At Gibeon the Lord

appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What

shall I give you?”

1 Kings 3:7-8Now, O Lord my God, You have

made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your

servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be

numbered or counted.

"I do not know how to go out or come in."

I know not how to go out or come in; in the

administration of government, to execute his office as a king, in allusion to shepherds, as kings are sometimes called, going in and out before their sheep.

In other words that he was but a child as to his

intellectual powers and capacity for government.

1 Kings 3:9

Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to

judge Your people, that I may discern between good and

evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

Understanding?The word

‘understanding’ here means

‘knowing the deeper meaning

of something, instead of just

the façade’,

Discern?and the word ‘discern’ here

means ‘the ability to separate/

distinguish what is the right thing to do and what is

not’

2 Chronicles 1:10 (NKJV)

: “Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can

judge (i.e. rule) this great people of Yours?”

Wisdom?The word ‘wisdom’ here is

‘chokmah’ (pronounced ‘khok-maw’) in Hebrew,

which means ‘the ability to live life skillfully, or the ability to handle

a matter skillfully’.

Wisdom?Therefore, ‘God’s

wisdom given to you’ then means ‘His

ability for you to live your life

skillfully or His ability for you to handle a matter

skillfully’.

1 Kings 3:10-11The speech pleased the Lord,

that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your

enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to

discern justice,

1 Kings 3:12-1312 behold, I have done according

to your words; see, I have given you a wise and

understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone

like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.

2 Chronicles 1:11Then God said to Solomon: “Because this

was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of

your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that

you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—

2 Chronicles 1:12

wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the

kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have

the like.”

1 Kings 3:12-1313 And I have also

given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone

like you among the kings all your days.

Spiritual

Resourcefulness, the challenge of our time 1