HOW TO AVOID AN EXPERIENCE OF A WASTED YEAR.

I'm persuaded to share this morning on how to have, how to avoid an experience of a wasted year. Many people today are victims of a wasted year, and there were always reasons, factors, some of them very common factors that could have been identified and proactively avoided that brought about such experiences for different people.

Please open with me this morning to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. Verse, are we looking at verse six to nine? I will be reading from the Living Bible. Luke chapter 13, verse six. Tonight, he said, then he used this illustration, referring to our Lord Jesus Christ. A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if he could find any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he told his gardener to cut it down. "I have waited three years and there hasn't been a single fig," he said. "Why bother with it any longer? It's taking up space we can use for something else." "Give it one more chance," the gardener answered. "Leave it another year and give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, cut it down."

If not, cut it down. Now, at the beginning of every year, people have some common goals and expectations. And some of these goals and expectations obviously always include good results in our respective endeavors, better results than the previous results we've had. People look forward to realize goals and realize targets. People make plans in order to experience to become productive and even more productive in the new year. Then many want to excel in what they do. People look forward to increase, consistent increase. Someone to expand, someone to spread to other locations or spread to other markets. So there is always an expectation for steady progress. And then, of course, people want to see transformation. That is the reason, one reason why there's heavy investment in education. Parents want to see the transformation of their children mentally, intellectually, and also prepare them to excel in their respective careers and professions as time progresses. So people want to see transformation every year as the children advance in school. And then for those doing business, they want to attract higher patronage of their product, higher patronage of the service they render. And of course, everybody would look forward to see experiencing consistent improvement, added value. And one of the reasons you engage a manager, for instance, to assist in running some part of your business, is for that manager to come on board and add value, add value to whatever was the best result before, consistent improvement in different dimensions of the operations of that business.

Now, having identified the specific goals to be achieved at the end of a year, what follows then? At the end of the year, at the end of the year, people now want to see results. And I want you to please have this in mind because lack of sensitivity to this factor is what has led to many people experiencing wasted years over and over. You see people just get as excited, they get excited, they get thrilled. Wait, certain things going on and they get involved. But a true disease, are you getting results? Is it generating results? Is there evidence, evidence of a positive effect, an impact? So at the end of a year, there is need for the expected results to have been realized. And this was a foundational problem in this story in Luke chapter 13. The owner of that garden had an expectation, and his expectation was not being met. As we read from the Living Bible, he said, "and he was always disappointed." When people have a particular expectation tied to a particular timeline, when the expectation is not met, there is discouragement, and some are disappointed. So take note of this, that you need to get results and not just activity. We want to see results and not just activity. It's not about being busy. It's not about being out of the house to have ten, eight hours every day. We want to see results. We want to see fruit. We want to see dividends from the work you are doing. I pray that in this new season ahead of you, the hand of the Lord will turn around all your efforts into a spectacular and impressive outcome in the name of Jesus. You will get results this time around. You will get fruitful results this time around. You will get far better results this time around, in the name of Jesus.

What are the lessons from the story in Luke chapter 13? The first lesson is, a divine assessment is often based on results and impact. Results, impact, results, impact. There are certain schools, setting schools that parents deliberately send their children to because of the track record of that school. Some in the world of discipline and moral values, some in the realm of academic excellence. Divine assessment is based on results. It's based on impact, and not necessarily the spectacular style being used to get results. God is not so. It's not really about the intensity of the approach. You need to ensure that whatever step or approach you are currently using would actually achieve the desired goal. It will produce the desired effect. It will produce the desired impact. You need to evaluate your results or performance from time to time. And two times, two times in a year are critical: every end of the year and the end of mid-year. So either the end of December or the close first week of January, you should do a review of the whole year that just ended. And then don't wait. Don't wait till the end of a new year. After six months, there should be some signs of what is likely to be your, your, your testimony of results at the end of the year.

And we have seen some people quickly, quickly make adjustments at when they did an appraisal at the media, and that was a turning point. They were able to correct certain things, and the results eventually changed for them in the second half of the year. You are going to have a much better testimony in the name of Jesus.

Lesson number two. The story of Luke chapter 13, verse six to nine, was not a case of laziness or inactivity. Please take note, very, very critical. It was not a case of laziness. It was not a case of inactivity. In this story, it was a case of work and effort without the desired results. Is your current approach giving you the expected results? The problem in Luke chapter 13 had to do with work, with effort without results. It was a case of activity without productivity, activity without productivity, without profit, without added value. It was, it was a case of being very busy, very active, but without any positive results at the end of the year. So it's not enough to be working. It's not enough to be trading. Our work or trade must be followed with results. A time comes where you need to close something down, close it down, close it down. It's there in the scripture. Don't close it down in the first year, not the second year, the third year. But the man pleaded, he said, "Okay, wait. From experience with fig trees, can we spend one more year? One more year?" At the end of the fourth year, we should see results. And are we putting more effort? Are we using more fertilizer? Now, if at the end of this next year, we don't get results, then we know that we need to, we need to use the space for something else that would be productive. Or else, like the man said, this thing is just wasting space that could have been used for something else. In the life of every man, every woman, your God gives you space for close relationship. Don't let anybody waste that space in your life. Anybody that is not adding something to your life, don't let that person waste, waste that space any further. Let the right people come closer. You'll be a blessing to them, they'll be a blessing to you. That is how it works.

And lesson number three. Avoid emotional attachment to unproductive options. Avoid emotional attachment to unproductive options. Now, in this story, even the gardener agreed that there's a right time to eventually cut down the tree. You see that in verse nine. There is a right. He said, "If at the end of this next year, it still does not produce any fruit," he said, "then you can cut it down." One of the reasons people are going through wasted years and experience of wasted years is emotional attachment. Emotional attachment. You are still the distributor of a product nobody wants to buy. Emotional attachment. And sometimes fear keeps people away from embracing them seasons of change.

And the lesson number four is that time is very crucial. Time is very crucial. In Luke chapter 13, verse seven, the Bible says, and Living Bible says, "Finally, he told his gardener to cut it down. He said, 'I have waited three years.'" Now, this was not a case of impatience. He said, "I have waited three years and there hasn't been a single fig." Single fig. No result at all. Not even poor result. No result at all. He said, "Why bother with it any longer? It's taking up space we can use for something else." It's taking up space we can use for something else. Do we really need a House of Representatives and at the same time have a House, have the Senate? The waitings are going. It's looking like waste of resources. Why don't just have one chamber and even cut down the number? In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse one, it says, "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." Therefore, everything has its time, including different types of trees. They have their time. Time is very critical. I talked about a bamboo tree. It has its own time. It has its own season. So you will be more patient in those first four years, those first five years. But not so with the fig tree. In the same way, when you invest, there are certain investments that will bring you immediate returns. And there are some types of investments that you'll expect your payback and reward after five years of investment. Time is very, very key. Very, very, very key. Be very sensitive to time.

And then lesson number five. Learn from the 80/20 principle. You need to learn from the 80/20 principle. The 80/20 principle tells us that at any point in time, a majority of any phenomenon will be caused by a minority of the factors or actors involved in that phenomenon. The 80/20 principle asserts that a minority of causes or inputs usually lead to a majority of the results. Even in businesses and farms that have marketers, after some time, you will observe that 20% of the marketers actually attract 80%, close to 80% of the favorable transactions or deposits from for that particular platform. It may not necessarily be 20% and 80%, but the key point is a minority gives a greater percentage of the final result, the overall result. So the 80/20 rule observes that most people or things have an unequal distribution in terms of performance, in terms of strength, in terms of effect, value, relevance. So the 80/20 principle is a key factor. It will help you to avoid waste. It will avoid you, help you to avoid drain pipes that could come in the realm of habits, activities, methods, strategies, or programs that need to be dropped or changed. The 80/20 principle will bring them out. When you use this for strategizing, it will help you to focus on more important things.

And lesson number six is strategic timing. Strategic timing, very key. There is need for strategic timing of your strategies in order to get the desired goal. It's like a couple that wants to have children. So this couple, they are not in the same location, but every time they make out time to be together, it happens to be at a wrong time in terms of the cycle of the wife. Now, when they come together at such times, even if they lock themselves in the room from morning to the next day, because the timing is wrong according to the cycle of that woman, the time spent together, the intensity of the effort in view of what they want to achieve, does not, does not translate into the desired goal. So strategic timing is very key. So we need to be very, very, very strategic in terms of timing.

The same thing is lesson number seven that has to do with location. The prime location can be a game changer. The wrong location can be your biggest undoing. Location. Always use the most effective people for different aspects of your operations. You look at hostesses, you look at newscasters. The selection of an air hostess or a newscaster should not be thrown open to anyone that desires that. Many people would love to be an air hostess, but do they have the makeup? It's not everybody that can be a newscaster. And if they must be, then they must go through a given measure of training and meet up before they are exposed as a newscaster. So the fact that someone is willing to do something doesn't mean the person should be giving that job. If the person does not fit in, if you use the person, you'll be undoing your organization or platform because you are using a very wrong, putting a square peg in a round hole. Praise ye the Lord.

So you've seen all the key factors, and we must critically, at the close of mid-year, like I told you, two times of the year, you should sit down and quickly carry out a review. End of a year and an end of half of the year. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of your current approach, your current strategy. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of your timing, your timing for different things you do. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of your personnel that are involved in your business or your team. Critically evaluate the advantage and disadvantage of the location you are operating from or the location that you are focusing on. Critically evaluate the viability of the market or audience you are focusing on. These are very, very, very key factors that can make or mar the fortunes and potentials of any man, business, or organization. I pray that by the grace of the Almighty God, you will not be a victim of a wasted year. You are going to be where you are supposed to be. The Lord is saying that as you sit down now and go through the insights and lessons of this message, there are certain decisions you must quickly take and act upon. And together with the God factor, the God factor, as you apply wisdom, as you act wisely, intelligently, and diligently, then together with the God factor, what would have taken others 10 years to achieve before December 21st, the Lord will give you a better testimony in the name of Jesus.