#1 Wrong expectations.

When I decided I was going to go full time, I started asking God some questions like: where am I going to live because I was staying in an official lodge? I also asked God: “WHO IS GOING TO PAY MY SALARY?”, ” Where will my money come from?” Do those statements sound familiar? I first heard it from Bishop Oyedepo as some of the questions he asked God and so I decided to do the same.

God asked me, “Who pays a Teller that works in a bank? The bank or the customers? I said: the bank.

Then, He said: customers bring money to the bank in other to save it. The Teller must not look at the customer or the money in expectation to be paid from it. I said YES.

He went on: but the Teller must attend to the customer well even though she’s not expecting to be paid by the customers or from the money that was brought by them. “YES SIR”.

Also, He said: the Teller’s salary and promotion are based on how well she attends to the customers. Again, I said YES.

Then, He explained the meaning of the illustration: I am your Employer, I am the one to pay you and not the people or your members you minister to. They will have testimonies just like customers bringing money to the bank but they are not to pay you. You must also attend to them well because that determines if you will be paid or not.

I argued: BUT IT IS MEN THAT GOD WOULD USE.

He replied: look up to God that will use men and not the men that God would use.

It is painful that pastors would labour on someone, they will have testimonies but not remember their pastors. But it is very wrong for any pastor to feel OFFENDED BY THIS. It’s like a teacher getting offended that his students didn’t pay him or bankers getting offended that customers who came to deposit a huge sum of money didn’t pay them.

It is this wrong expectation that leads to OFFENCE, BITTERNESS, CUSSING, and ANGER towards yourself and those you are ministering to.

If you feel bad, take it to God. If you’re angry, take it to God. If you feel cheated or neglected, take it to God. It is God that employed you and not those people. If you try to look up to them, the biggest they can give you is what they call ” tipping”. And if your Employer catches you asking for tips, you can be fired! Many are pastors whom God has left to enjoy the “tipping” while their salaries are withheld. Stop cheating yourself. Satan is not the one that kept you poor. Get over the wrong expectation.