Why is it that individuals are so secretive and distrustful even when it comes to sharing their testimonies and stories about how God has blessed them?

Allow me to start off by saying that I believe that this is an overall human issue; however it seems to be compounded within often superstitious African communities. Honestly, I should already know the answer to this question.  Individuals are often secretive about their successes because, unfortunately, there are people who dislike seeing their neighbors succeed and are quick to downplay the success of others by spewing nasty and negative comments.

Perhaps this distrustful mentality is encouraged because individuals worry that by sharing their successes with their neighbors, who might be in the midst of experiencing challenges or temporary failures and setbacks, it could cause their neighbors to feel uncomfortable and breed a feeling of resentment.

In truth, we as human beings should not fear temporary failures and setbacks. The fear of failure is an antiquated mindset, which individuals in older generations held on to. This mindset needs to be reevaluated and thrown out.

Success is not a zero-sum game. Just because one’s neighbor experienced success does not mean one is less likely to experience success in the future.  Success is unique and manifests itself differently from person to person.

Here is a list of individuals that I consider to have experienced success in their lifetime: Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Mahatma Gandhi, Genghis Khan, Marc Rich, Kwame Nkrumah, Abraham Lincoln, Patrice Lumumba, Ernesto Guevara, Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici and my Granny (my late maternal grandmother who raised eight biological children and a handful of adopted ones).

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. Photo: Ben Stanfield

They were all successful people in their own right. However, success manifested itself in their lives differently: some among those names were wealthy and accumulated millions of dollars, francs, nairas, shillings or gold pieces in their bank accounts; some were poor; some were virtuous and devout; while some were not so virtuous.

I believe that success can only be determined:

1. At the end of one’s story
2. By one’s unique divine calling to improve the lives of others

With that in mind, temporary setbacks and failures are completely normal and are often beneficial in hindsight. It is only through failures that we can identify our areas of weakness.

It goes without saying that I strongly disagree with the rhetoric that I often hear from a handful of ill-informed Christian leaders that failure means you are in sin, or that you are going to hell, or that you don’t have enough faith.

Sometimes temporary setbacks and failures are useful, productive and even necessary to experience greater success in the future. In other words, God can use your setbacks and failures for your benefit.

Temporary setbacks and failures are often just a test. Success usually manifests itself when we are able to bounce back and persevere on the heels of failure. Whatever happened to believing in the nursery lesson, “If you don’t succeed try, try again?”

I don’t remember reading in my Bible that success is easy. In my short life, I have failed numerous times – professionally, personally,  and spiritually. In hindsight, a few of those experiences have been excellent learning opportunities and have strengthened my faith and confidence. Personally, I try not to link my present circumstances to my level of happiness, because I am confident that God has great things in store for me.

So when I am blessed enough to witness a neighbor’s success, despite the fact that I might be in the midst of challenging times in my own life, I can be genuinely happy and celebrate their successes, embracing their testimony as an example of God’s faithfulness.

Photo: Flickr’s Inspyr.com

As Christians, people of faith, the focus should not be on us. When God blesses us, two of the outcomes should be that:

1. It adds to our life’s narrative and strengthens our own faith
2. It should benefit the kingdom, encouraging others to share our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The latter point is why it is so important for us to share what God is doing in our lives – so that others can be encouraged, to believe and come to put their trust in God after observing how God has blessed us or hearing a testimony of his mercy and faithfulness in our hour of need.

When God blesses you, I encourage you to pray about it, if the spirit leads you share your testimony with your family and friends.

Imagine how many of Christ’s followers lose faith and stop pursuing a divinely inspired passion project or praying for a breakthrough because they didn’t hear that one testimony that would have encouraged them to remain focused and steadfast.

We shouldn’t let a few haters stop us from praising God and sharing testimonies about his everlasting faithfulness.

I have heard a few people say that they hesitate to share their testimonies because they fear that people will pray against them, “curse” them, or simply throw negative energy their way. My response to that can be summarized in the afrobeat praise and worship song I learned in the African evangelical church I grew up in as a child, Bethel World Outreach – “When Jesus says yes, no one can say no!” If you believe that you are serving the one true God, and God has already blessed you, then who else can say anything to take those blessings away? It is one thing to lack confidence in ourselves but let’s remain confident that we serve an all-powerful God.

Again, I’m not saying to blab your business everywhere because obviously in certain settings, discretion is necessary. Especially since negative “joy stealers” or “dream killers,” as I call them, do exist. I am just encouraging you to pray about it, use discretion, and share your good news and testimonies with family and genuine friends. Provide them the opportunity to praise God along with you and give them needed encouragement and evidence that we serve a God that provides for his people.

We should have more faith in ourselves, humanity, and God, and believe that we have a genuine support system that wants to see us blossom and share in praising God for our successes. If that’s not the case, then we need to update and upgrade our support system, right?

To reinforce my point, when God showed up for the Biblical prophets and characters, like King David and the blind and sick that our Lord Christ Jesus healed in the New Testament, those individuals praised God publicly, danced in the streets naked, and shared their testimonies with family, friends, and strangers.  In the book of Psalms, King David said, “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.” (Psalm 66:16)

And the Lord Jesus Christ said in the Mark 5:19: “Now, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.”

They didn’t have social media back then, but I bet if they did they would share their testimonies with their followers on Instagram and Twitter. It just surprises me how despite living in such a digitally connected world, most of us are only connected at a superficial level and are hesitant to risk sharing meaningful events in our lives. Sharing our successes and testimonies of what God is doing in our lives should be a regular occurrence.

I invite all of you to celebrate my future successes with me and in the midst of my setbacks and failures, please step out and share with me your testimonies of how God has been faithful in your lives.

Perhaps I might be a bit idealistic and hey, what do I know? I am no theologian. Anyway, what are your thoughts on this subject matter? Feel free to share them with me by dropping a comment.

Peace & Love!

Featured photo: Flickr’s Simply CVR