GO AGAIN

Reference: 1 Kings 18:43[KJV] ‘’And said to his servant. Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.’’

There’s been no rain for three years in the land. Economic and social life was affected negatively! The nation of Israel rebelled against the One who was there for them from the time of slavery in Egypt till they attained nationhood. Prophets were sent to bring warnings, but their warnings fell on deaf ears. 

Eventually, Elijah shows up and pronounces the judgment of no rain on the land. Consequently, a drought of three years hit the country.

However, mercy is procured; God sent a word of abundance of rain. Yet the rain didn’t come down until the process of repeated sessions of heartfelt prayers. It would have been easy for the prophet Elijah to have given up on praying for the rain the first time or even the third time he got a report that there was no sign of rain despite his prayers. But No, not Elijah! Instead, he told the servant ‘’go again seven times.’’

For the following six times, the same discouraging results came in. This is similar to some of the situations of our daily experiences. In the pursuit of our dreams and goals, there could be failures and setbacks sufficient to make one throw in the towel. For instance, a job interview that you didn’t sail through; a first date that couldn’t advance to a second date; a failed business that left debilitating marks to the point one is scared to try or launch out or venture again, and the list goes on.

Well, you could choose to whine, have a pity party, and be robbed of the joy of bouncing back to victory after a defeat or rejection. And many are on that path.

Alternatively, you could allow this principle familiar to those who up-turned and blast through to their dreams – the ‘’go again’’ mindset. A try-again strategy though straining, allows you to tweak your method but retain the vision till it becomes a hit. 

The seventh time, the servant of Elijah sighted a cloud the size of a man’s hand, and that was all for the rain that ended three years drought to come. It worked for Elijah as it worked for Abraham Lincoln, Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC, and many people still. 

Dust yourself off, learn from the last presentation, and seek counsel, but by all means, “Go Again” because you’ll never really know what the next effort has in store for you. It could be joy after all the efforts or another opportunity to learn what doesn’t work to find what eventually works.