THE MOUSE TRAP

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Sam Aka

‘Following the path of least resistance is what makes men and rivers crooked’ Larry Bielat

‘Truth is heavy, so few men carry it’ Jewish proverb

‘Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge’

 ‘A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle!’

‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ’ Galatians 6:2

Warning: This column may be hazardous to areas of mediocrity in your life!

I know that you have entrusted to me one of your most precious resources, your time. I promise to do my best by the grace of God, to be a good steward of the minutes we spend together.

Thank you so much.

Many years ago there was this tragic story of a young boy who wandered off from his house and into a huge wheat field.

It was getting late and the temperature was dropping, so the parents began to search frantically for the little boy.

Finally, after a few hours of looking, they called the police. The word got out, and all the people from the neighbourhood came together to look for that little boy.

After a few hours of that, they got the idea to join hands and comb the field in one big line. And in one far corner of the field where no one had looked, they found the boy’s lifeless body.

It was so tragic!

The father, being interviewed by the local newspaper a few days later, was quoted as saying,

“If we’d only joined hands sooner, perhaps we could’ve saved my son.”

The tragic truth is that many people today are suffering and dying on their own because they haven’t joined hands with other people that can multiply what they are doing.

They’re running around frantically trying to solve their own problems.

Don’t try to live life alone. There are no lone rangers in the success community

Walk hand in hand with other people in your local church and community; and you’ll be equipped to take on any crisis that comes your way. 

It is good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies but unless you are able to work in a team and harness each other’s core competencies you will always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you will do poorly and someone else does well.

It is mainly about situational leadership; let the person with relevant core competence for a situation take leadership.

Running this earthly race in a team is wisdom. No one succeeds in isolation!

Select the right people in life and make your life better and sweeter. If you fail to achieve your dreams, change your ways not your God.

Remember, trees change their leaves and not their roots. You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

Haters will see you walking on water and say it’s because you can’t swim.

Even if you dance on water, your enemies will accuse you of raising dust.

Make it your goal; To lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands. (1Thess.4:11)

Remember, Don’t ever wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it.

Enjoy the life God has given you to the best you can, impacting lives and joining hands with others for good!

 A doctor quickly entered the hospital after being called in for an urgent surgery. He changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block. He saw the boy’s father walking back and forth in the hall waiting for the doctor.

Once seeing the doctor, the dad yelled: “Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have the sense of responsibility?”

The doctor smiled and said: “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came the fastest I could… now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work.”

“Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies now what will you do?” said the father angrily.

The doctor smiled again and replied: “I will say what is said in the Holy Bible ‘From dust we came and to dust we return, blessed be the name of God.’ Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go and intercede for your son, we will do our best by God’s grace.”

“Giving advice when we’re not concerned is so easy” murmured the father.

The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, “Thank God! Your son is saved!”

And without waiting for the father’s reply he carried on his way running. “If you have any question, ask the nurse.”

“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son’s state?” commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

The nurse answered: “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery.”

Stay calm in all situations so you can make decisions the best you can, be it in life or business… and thank others for the excellent works they do.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning:

“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the goat and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The goat sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught.

In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his matchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main Ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock.To feed them, the farmer butchered the goat.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this amazing journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. The Holy book says in Galatians 6:2,

‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ’

Benjamin Franklin said,  ‘No one is useless in this world that lightens the burdens of others’

Albert Schweitzer made this profound statement, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know, the ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve”  

LOVE everybody; DAILY think AND seek for ways to serve others, adding value to humanity. We breathe in what the trees breathe out, and they breathe in what we breathe out.

Forever overwhelmed by the beauty of God’s design…We are created as contributors not just consumers: adding value and colour to the universe!

Each of us may not be connected through a blood line, we may not even be friends.

But we are all connected somehow and will surely need one another sometime. So encourage someone, listen to some, weep with some, laugh with some, help some……….no one is an island, we all need ourselves to fulfil destiny.

About author

Sam Aka

Sam Aka is a prolific writer, Public Speaker and Author. A member of the American Society of Criminologists (1985 Batch) and World Association of Detectives (1986 batch). For comments (sms only): +2348033053006 or E-mail: pastorsamaka@ymail.com

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