THE AFRICAN IMPALA: LESSONS LEARNT

DR GLORIA MASEKO

INTRODUCTION

It is amazing  that an African impala which is enclosed in a zoo can jump 10 feet high and cover a distance of more than 30 feet dismally  fail to jump a 3 foot fence.  What is interesting is that African Impalas won’t jump if they can’t see where their feet will land. This   clearly explains why Impalas stay trapped this is because they refuse to go where they can’t see!  Humans are in several ways similar to the African Impala.

Lesson- live beyond your sight - 2 Corinthians 4v18 While we look not at things seen, but things unseen for things seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal

Hebrews 9 v1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen

Each and everyone of us have a choice are to live our lives depending on our sight and what it makes us to see. Or we can decide to live our lives based on the unseen things at the moment and what could be on the future. When you loose your patience you become a patient. My advice will be to say to you take the option of living your life  based on the unseen things  and what could be in the future, that is the best option you'll ever make because you will dream big.

All people are born originals but most die as copies. To hear this at first encounter that you are supposed to live beyond our sight may seem strange, but it not weird. This is because all the greatest accomplishments in the world have been made by people who believed that seeing beyond their sight was the way to go in life.

Almost everything we enjoy today was impossible yesterday. So you know what transforms impossibility into a possibility, a probability into a fact – its commitment.   Deep inside you lives an impossible thought, a dream come true. There is a mission residing in you – and at the end you should say mission accomplished. The good news is that God wants us to do more than we can imagine. When you take one step towards God, he will take more steps towards you than you could ever count.  He longs to take our impossibilities and turn them into possibilities

Lesson 2:  Have a vision of what you want to be and do. Proverb 29 v18 where there is no vision people perish (KJV)

If you want to walk on water get out of the boat. For many years “safety first” has been the motto for the human race……… but it has never been a motto for the leaders. If you never take risks you will never accomplish great things. Everybody dies, but not everyone has lived” you need to live. People who are too cautious never go anywhere. So take a chance, take charge, and take control that will definitely change your direction. When you have a vision you will be unstoppable even when barriers of life try to stop you.

Lesson 3: Have Faith Corinthians 13v5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in faith”

Feed your faith and watch your doubts starve to death. Worry is a route that leads from somewhere to nowhere, never let worry direct your life. Worry is like a rocking chair it gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere. Worry does not take away today's problems it takes away today's happiness. Fear of the future is a waste of the present. Fear not tomorrow because God is already there.

Lesson 4: without Faith and Vision You’re Trapped

Circumstances and situations of life will keep you caged like an African Impala if you don’t have vision and faith. Life is too short to think small. You never know what you can do until you try it. If you can dream about something it shows you can do it. Everything started as a dream. Don’t allow people to put limitations for you. If you move with the crowd you will never move further away from the crowd. But if you walk alone you will see and be at places you have never been before. If you put a limit on what you can do, you put a limit on what you will do.