Last Sunday was a warm, bright and beautiful day. It was one of those days when you retire at night and say a grateful prayer to God for having opened your inner eye; something I have come to value highly. It all started at the 9 am service. I sat in the center of the middle row. Pastor Brian was just about to wind up a beautiful sermon titled ‘It is coming again’. Then he paused and said he had something to clarify.

At the age of 45, Pastor Brian learned that his father had been abusing children, an issue he has openly addressed with his congregation. However, for some strange reason, a few people still make it their business to keep throwing mud. I looked at this well polished, eloquent and responsible man. A man who has worked hard to build a legacy which has infused our lives in powerful ways. Hillsong albums have always carried deep meaning which has always permeated our core to great depths. It explains why this music continues to dominate church auditoriums across the world.

Yet in the backdrop of this greatness, is a man contending with evil foxes. These ‘foxes’ are people who take it upon themselves to disrupt the life pattern of another. People who take pleasure in pulling others down. People whose hearts are rooted in jealousy and evil.
Friend, something tells me that at some point in the journey of your life, You must have fallen victim of these foxes. I know I have. In fact several times over, so allow me to show you the mantras that I adopted when battling the foxes.

You Must Be Doing Something Right

Unlike the real foxes in the jungle, the foxes which exist in our present world always aim to destroy beautiful things. Have you ever noticed that the moment you take steps to elevate your life is when foxes launch their attacks?
I always tell myself that the hunter only aims at a deer he can see. When you step out in the sunshine of your life, make sure to prepare well because attacks will come. As long as you are sitting in the corner eating dust, no one takes notice. It is when you brush yourself up and dare to change aspects of your life that all hell breaks loose.

Adjust Your Crown And Keep Ruling Your World

You will always be the king or queen in your life. It took me a while to unpack the truth of that statement, as simple as it sounds. The controls of your life lie entirely in your hands which is why you should keep your nose to the grindstone, regardless of what the foxes throw at you.
Eleanor Roosevelt passed on a well-honed truth when she said that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. No amount of mud-slinging or ridicule can affect your attitude unless you permit it.

What You Don’t Feed Doesn’t Grow

I remember dealing with some foxes sometime back. I had just been exposed to the statement above and I resolved not to engage at all. Practicing restraint was no mean feat. A part of me had this intense desire to lash back. I mean really lash back. Still, I resolved not to foster something that did not serve me. I was also determined not to lower myself to the fox’s standard. In refusing to engage I not only reinforced my ability to gain control over my emotions, but it also made sure that I upheld my decency throughout the ordeal.
To engage with foxes is to relinquish your cloak of decency and cede your power to them. There are tonnes of things that we can never recover, and decency is one of those. Foxes are not worth losing your decency over.

Eyes On The Prize

There is a reason as to why you get up at the crack of dawn. There is a reason as to why you go back to school. There is a reason as to why you make sacrifices for your children. Those reasons are what I refer to as The Prize. For some, it is the search for expanding their financial base, while for others it is to fulfill the secret longings lodged within their hearts. For me, the ultimate prize is to make it to the end with no untapped potential.
What is the “end”? I picture the end as those days when the heat will escape your body and no amount of blankets will keep you warm. The days when your eyes grow dim and folks will have to shout at your ears because those too, will be failing. When that time comes, I want to know that I have exhausted my potential, given everything to be my best, have no regrets.

I want to be empty.

I have learned that there is great power in staying focused on the prize. In doing so, you get to save your energy and utilize it on things that build you up instead of paying attention to the foxes. And by starving the foxes, you render them irrelevant and eliminate them from your life.
The next time those evil foxes come after you, remember that you are a good thing. You are onto something wonderful.

Adjust your crown and continue to reign over your life.

Keep doing your thing. Foxes have nothing on you!