On The Path Of Winners BY BAYO OGUNMUPE How Persistence Triggers Success

On The Path Of Winners

BY BAYO OGUNMUPE

How Persistence Triggers Success

WE are treating the secrets of success. In the pursuit of your desires, purpose precedes persistence. You can only persist in the pursuit of a life purpose. Purpose is the greatest ingredient of success. God is a God of purpose. Martin Luther King said, “If a  man has no purpose for living, he is not fit to live.” Andrew Young, the American diplomat and friend of Nigeria eyed a seat in the United Nations for 18 years. He didn’t let it get off him until he saw it happen.

  That is what purpose does, it drives you on. Until you are a goal setter, you can never become a goal-getter. Thus, to be a success, you have to set goals. Lifelong learning is the prescription for success. You can discover your life assignment or purpose by knowing the area where you are gifted. “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men,” Proverbs 18:16. God created everyman with a peculiar gift. Your gift points to your purpose. In your pursuit of greatness, you must be single-minded. You must have only one goal. The eye is the light of the body. If you want to shine, have a single purpose.

  Peter said, “We have left all and have followed you.” It means they have left fishing for good. But you must pursue your purpose to win. Pursuit is the force that transforms purpose to reality. Only runners get the prize. The Nobel prizewinning apostle of non-violence – Martin Luther King said,” if you cannot fly, run. If you cannot run, walk, if you cannot walk, then crawl. By all means, keep moving.” You cannot stand still and expect success.

  God is a worker. Your work determines your worth. “In all labour there is profit; but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury,” Proverbs 14:23. Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work,’ Jn 4:34. “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slothful shall be under tribute,” Pro 12:24.

  After you have found your purpose, you can only make a mark on your generation through persistence. To persist is to pursue a purpose tirelessly. That is, you are absolutely sure of the end result. So, you put everything you have into it. No matter how it looks now, you decide, ‘I must not miss this chance. I must get the prize.’ You will never amount to much in life without persistence. Hit and run people never make the race. It is those who stick to it that  make it in life.

  Alhaji Aliyu Dangote and I used to seat at the feet of Alhaji Garba Nautan hamza of Apapa, Lagos. Dangote sat as a businessman, I as a publicist. Dr. Hamza used to lecture us on persistence. He said when you strike a wall with a hammer, the wall doesn’t come down at once. It perhaps gives way at the 50^th strike. But the 50^th blow wasn’t what actually felled the wall. It was the cumulative effect of the previous 49 blows. The 50^th blow just happened to be the one that received the ovation. God ordained every purpose to start as a baby. It will then grow to maturity, till it is set for exploit.

  No previous commodity begins in its fullness. It starts as a seed, with persistent pursuit, it develops into the great thing God destined it to be. Persistence is the rule of champions. In Genesis 25, from 15 to 22, you will read how Isaac became a king in a strange land and the land’s natives envied him. Isaac digged new wells in place of those dug by Abraham his father which the Philistines had stopped. Isaac dug new wells he called Rehoboth, for Jehovah had made room for him. Isaac out-dug those that were filling up the wells, so the Philistines gave up on him. They even had to sign a peace treaty with him. “And let us not be weary in well dong; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not,” Galatians 6:9.

  If even you are dong the will of God, you still need patience. If you lack patience, you will be trapped in doubt, and subsequently your destiny will be doomed. So be patient. Instant wealth lures culprits into robbery. Many kiosks have become a network of supermarkets. Persistence wears out all frustrations, just as it more out the Philistines in the case of Isaac. God will always make room for the persistent. Rehoboth is the biblical name of El Dorado, a land of great wealth, that is the destination of every patient person.

  However, you may be valiant in the pursuit of your purpose, you may even be persistent, but nothing would work until you are grateful to God. The way to gaining outstanding success is in your lifting up your hands in thanksgiving. Thanksgiving invites divine presence into your affairs. Jehovah’s presence renders your enemies helpless, clearing the field for your greatness. Great success is the heritage of grateful people.

  Our champion for today is Eusebio da Silva Ferreira, the Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is regarded as the greatest footballer of all time. During his professional career, he scored 733 goals in 745 matches. He was born in January 1942, he died on January 5, 2014; 20 days shy of 72 years.

  Eusebio helped the Portuguese national team reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament – and received the Bronze Ball award. He won the Ballon award in 1965 and was runner-up in 1962 and 196. He played for Benfica for 15 out of his 22 years as footballer. Thus he is mainly associated with the Portuguese club. He is Benfica’s all-time top scorer. Eusebio was the European Cup top scorer in 1965, 1966 and 1968. He also won the Bola de Prata (Premier League’s top scorer award) a record seven times. He was the first ever player to win the European Golden Boot in 1968 and 1973.

  Nicknamed the Black Panther Eusebio was known for his speed, technique, athleticism and his ferocious but accurate right footed shot. Whereby, he became an outstandingly prolific goalscorer and the greatest free-kick taker in history. He was Portugal’s most renowned player and the first world-class African striker.

  Although Eusebio was born in Mozambique, he had an Angolan father, like others before him, he could only play for the Portuguese team since both African countries were overseas territories and their inhabitants were considered Portuguese. Eusebio’s name often appeared in best player of all time lists and polls by football critics and fans. He was elected the 9^th best footballer of the 20^th century in a poll and the 10^th best footballer of the 20^th century by World Soccer magazine. He was 7^th in the online poll for UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In 2003, to celebrate UEFA’s Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Portugal by the Portuguese Football Federation, as their greatest player in 50 years. He was called Africa’s greatest-ever player.