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CHANGE COMES AT MID-NIGHT

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JOY SUN



ORDER OF BULLETS

TEN VIRGINS, TEN OPPORTUNITIES
IT TAKES LONG FOR CHANGE TO COME
CHANGE COMES AT MID-NIGHT


















BULLET # 1

TEN VIRGINS, TEN OPPORTUNITIES





















A closer look at Christ’s parable about the ten virgins in the twenty-fifth book of Matthew’s Gospel, reveals an in-depth of truth. There is a mix of ten virgins in humanity. A virgin is one who is not yet married, and who expects to do so. Thus, according to this parable, a virgin is one who is expecting a change or has a need. There are usually two sets of this class of people in the world. That they are ten means that they are all leveraged as those with needs. But something else is outstanding, which is that they are classed into two classes of equal number – five. This means that they had equal opportunities to them in life, which is the opportunity of having life itself. It may be possible that some of the virgins may be handicapped, but this is not emphasized. What is explained is that in their state of virginity, they maintained two unique camps due to their behaviors – which is “the foolish” and “the wise”. You may be impoverished or lack certain abilities or even be handicapped. This is not what should be emphasized. What should be emphasized is that you need a change, but what you do will class you into one of two groups, based on your actions or behaviors. You should therefore put aside your peculiar predicament and face the fact that you are a virgin – one who requires a change in their lives.
Now, as one who requires a change in life, you will be wise or foolish in the end based on what you do presently.

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE FOOLISH?

Focus! That’s the answer! Having or losing focus in life is the reason why most people who seek a change will lose out, while others will have their expectations met. For instance, focus is needed in preparation for the required change. If you need money, you should have plotted out avenues for investing the money once it comes. Your focus in doing those things that will drive you further in the direction of your expectation or expected change, will enable you have it when the time comes. If for instance, you lose focus in your pursuit for change and begin to be sidetracked by other distractions that can fill in the gap of your desires, but which are not it, you have lost focus and will gain exactly your alternatives. Mostly, these alternatives will turn out to be short of satisfying you in the end, though the process of having them may not be as difficult as that involved in obtaining your original expectation or desire.
One man who experienced this in the Bible is Abraham. Abraham at a time could no more wait for God: he had an alternative in the in the person of Hagar, his maid, who could bear a child for him, in lieu Sarah, against God’s promise. As I write, the result of that decision is still looming in the world today. As one who is expecting a change in a certain aspect of your life, you must be focused and single-minded or “single-eyed”. You must not be diverted. Ignore pain and hold tenaciously to your expectation till it delivers, regardless of time and denials.

YOU NEED A LAMP!

A lamp makes advancement possible in the dark, if you decide to make use of its illumination to forge ahead. This reminds us that the primary person to decide your continuity is you and the decision to do so. But the lamp will greatly be of help and ward off difficulty. Vision! This is the lamp! The ability to see into the profitability of a future with your desires and be able not to trade it for nothing else is the unique aspect of vision. Vision is an eye. It is an unaltered sight. It is a fixed focus made by employing the eyes. It sees exactly into all the glories the future will bring with it, and based on this, refuses any side traction. Vision is needed. You must be so convinced of the future that you never choose to give it up.

YOU NEED OIL IN THAT LAMP!

Nothing fuels vision like information, just as its sustenance is the will to get there. The right information from the Bible and other sources will keep you going in wearisome days. It will inform you of the possibility of tomorrow and what to do to arrive there. It will tell you of the glories that will grace tomorrow, and lead you through the right path to it. Your staying power in difficult times when quitting will be a pressing alternative, will be information. Most people will turn away. They will go for something less attractive and will be contented to fail. A time will be when waiting will be considered as foolishness, and swift advisers will turn up from every angle to sway you from pursuing your expected change. But if you keep feeding yourself with the right information then, though you trudge, you will still stand and walk on till the end is reached. You will owe yourself a duty to close your ears to what people will say at this time, remain single-minded and focused. You will have to part ways with friends that may persuade you to move in another direction. They are like obstacles on your path to destiny or your desired change. If you need to fight them, do so. Provided they leave you to your course. A good advice is worth listening to, but one on abandoning destiny is something you must avoid as a plague. People will be fed up of you. Some will say you are mad. But you must not mind their loud invitations or harsh and “reasonable” taunts and criticisms. Hold till you see your expected change.
Also, the oil mentioned here implies sustainability – the will power to wait till one’s condition is changed, no matter how long it may take. Our wills come into play here. We must be disciplined enough never to lose focus in our waiting. Our wills must seriously and fully be incorporated into the wait. This will involve ignoring pain and other alternatives and discouragement.











BULLET #2

IT TAKES LONG FOR CHANGE TO COME






















One truth we observe from this parable is that it took long before the bridegroom surfaced. The traditional time for a Hebrew wedding was in the night. There are different hours of the night. The bridegroom for instance would not come at 7pm, which is just the beginning hour of the night.
It will take long for the change we expect to be ours, but we must keep following. That change is our bridegroom and will not come immediately, because it is to be treasured once it comes. It will be the fruit of our wait which will fulfill the joy for waiting.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WAITING TIME

EXPECTATIONS WILL FADE

One characteristic of the waiting time is that many will lose hope. Most will think the “wedding” with change will no more take place. Hopes will fade. Most will say “it is foolish to keep waiting” and will divert to other routes and alternatives. The expectation of some that once drove them in their beginning days will become dull and less attractive. They’ll no more believe in the future. Some will think the future or expectation was a farce – that it never existed to start with. It was not real after all. Someone must have deceived them into it. They will lose conviction.

SLUMBERING

Drowsiness or sleeping began to set in as the virgins waited. This was natural because it was the night. But there are different nights. This was a night of purpose.
Mighty people who started out so promising on their lanes, will begin to wane and wither. They will see no more need to pursue the goal, which is characteristic of human nature. They will no more keep to their lanes. They will halt between the opinion if they had actually taken the right decision from the onset. They will fail themselves, their courage, dreams and fans. Their attitude will change. They will no more be interested in the race. They will see no need to continue in their pursuit of what would have seemed an unreality by then. They will want to become “intelligent” by choosing other paths and dropping destiny – God forbid! This is drowsiness and is the stage before sleeping, when there is no guard whatsoever, occurs. You must beware. Weakness will be a characteristic of the waiting time, but the wise must prevail in the watching and waiting till the change emerges. They must not lose conviction. They must wait!

SLEEPING

This is losing consciousness of one’s environment and therefore losing guard and losing watch. It is synonymous with denying the dream. When awakened, one meets an unexpected reality after sleep. It is the height of tiredness, and reflects discontinuity in hope and patience. Most people will out rightly give up on going on any further in expecting a change. This is the denial of faith and loss of vision or foresight. They slack and leave the race. They give up. They are no more interested in the dream. But this is destiny’s trick in choosing the best. It must select the fewest and best by becoming so hard and difficult. It is human nature to sleep or give up when tired, but not when something is at stake. The choice is on. Most must fall on their tracks in that marathon before the race is completed. They will back out feeling they were foolish, and count all the time they had sunk into their pursuit and wait as a worthless one. But no one knows the time. It could just be a minute before midnight – it must be darkest before destiny delivers.
BULLET #3

CHANGE COMES AT MID-NIGHT






















Sleeping is not a problem. Weakness is natural. We all feel it. But we need sustainability. At midnight, an old day exchanges place with a new one. A measure of the intensity of darkness at this time shows that it is the darkest hour of the night, but this is when the bridegroom chooses to come. Most would have been tired and fallen. Some would still be on but limping. A lot others would be crawling before he comes at midnight. Change comes at midnight. You never can know your midnight. It is the time when you would have suffered most as accessed in the eyes of destiny. By then, we all think God has forsaken us. There would be no better thought on our minds than to give up. This night progresses in stages till the midnight arrives. This is the best period to expect the Bridegroom. He would suddenly turn in then.

THE CRY OF OPPORTUNITY

When change comes, there would simply be an opportunity. And opportunity is sighted by those who are awake. The virgins in our text were all asleep due to tiredness arising from their wait. But something remarkable happened when the cry of opportunity was made. The wise had prepared by feeding themselves with information which made them stay focused, and their lamps of vision were brightly on. They had the sustainability to bear them thru the long, nasty wait. The foolish wanted some kindness then, which was purely a trick – they needed oil at the wrong time. Those who fail to wait through the long period of suffering for change will come around for assistance after abandoning their pursuit. They will expect their status to be as that of those who strove and waited, but they will be forced to do the same thing they had refused doing, which is the wait, but this time starting all over again against another future period of change. They will queue up again, but this time far behind, and will be forced to do the waiting once more. It is either you do the waiting now or do it later, which would require a longer time.
Those who prepared will be able to identify, respond to and be suited for opportunities, rather than lose them when they come because they will be visionary and informed enough not to lose them. There will be opportunity after poverty, to be an MD, but then for those who studied and added academic value to themselves by acquiring relevant higher degrees. There will be opportunity for the barren couple to bear children if they are still married. There will be opportunity to make more money or own a business if you had saved.

GO OUT AND BUY

The only choice that will be left for those who lost focus, will be to start anew – go out and buy; do what they had failed to do at the wrong time! By this time, they would become students instead of grandaunts, if they are still interested in the dream. They will be demanded to show faithfulness, instead of getting rewarded for it. They would want a miracle due to living carelessly, instead of maintaining and enjoying health. And usually if they failed at being faithful when it was first required, it would be doubly demanding to do so then. Time would have changed, and those who waited would have been rewarded. Nothing like waiting!

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