The Red Sea Principle: The Courage to Pursue Your Vision!

I have been thinking a lot about vision, goals and plans and reflecting how some things materialise, others stall and some don't even come to pass. Of course there is a number of reasons like timing meeting opportunity, having the finances to execute the plan and simply having the zeal to go for something regardless of the naysayers. However there is one thing that leads to stalling or things not happening and that is not taking the first step.

I was reflecting on the scripture in the bible of the crossing of the red sea, a lot of us are a lot like the Israelites who have a vision of leaving where they currently are to move and go to better pastures. However what we are never prepared for is the route to your vision will be unorthodox in most cases, it requires you to do the impossible, it requires you to trust the process and drop procrastination and just start. In order to escape the Egyptians, Moses had to convince his fellow tribesmen that they will achieve it through walking through the Red Sea. To give you a better understanding of how ridiculous that sounds, here are some facts about the Red Sea I found in Wikipedia: The Red Sea has a surface area of roughly 438,000 km2 (169,000 sq mi), is about 2,250 km (1,400 mi) long, and — at its widest point — 355 km (221 mi) wide. It has an average depth of 490 m (1,610 ft), and in the central Suakin Trough it reaches its maximum depth of 3,040 m (9,970 ft). With this kind of information you can imagine how one could see the flaws in this idea, my immediate thought is Moses you're crazy and this is a plan that will only lead to death not to the promised land.

It often takes a lot of courage to trust your vision especially if you feel led by the Holy Spirit to do so. A lot of us don't move because we say we are waiting on God but if you ask God he will say his waiting on you. He gives you the vision but he will not execute it he will need you to be like Moses and take your Staff and stamp it on the red sea, take your first step and watch the red sea part so you can walk through. What I'm trying to say visions, goals and plan only come true because you dare to do one act and continuously to do that act until you achieve the outcome you desire. However, what happens is we want to be assured that the outcome will come even before lifting a finger and unfortunately that is never how things work, you have to be willing to get dirty and get into the trenches, trusting the outcome will come regardless of how things look in the beginning.

The hardest part of executing a vision is the "during season", this is the time where you're doing everything you can to make things happen but you keep going but feeling like you're not arriving at the destination. To put things into a better perspective to finish the length of the Red Sea it will take a person 53 marathons to complete it. The zeal to run those 53 marathons is required but what's imperative is the training but most of us want the trophies without the work needed to achieve them.

The points I want you to get from this article is this:

• A vision, a goal and/or a plan are an unflawed design imagined in your head and if you had your way the route would be smooth but life on the other hand will give you roses but also thorns.
• Absolutely nothing is achieved with ease, let me be clear there will be moments where it is easy but there will be an equal dose of challenging seasons and they are both part of the package.
• As you dream about what your heart desires ask yourself are you willing to run 53 marathons to get there? Naomi Campbell said in an interview that it took her 34 years to get the opportunity to do an ad with Calvin Klein yet at the time she was doing their runway shows. One must recognise that how long it takes will always be unclear and it can take less time but at times it might take even longer, so patience is required.
• Lastly, I wish to reiterate that the Red Sea (your vision) will only part if you take the first step meaning that your vision will only come to life if you show up daily and put in the work needed to get there.

I hope this motivates you to act but at the same time leads you to be realistic and truly ask yourself: "Am I willing to work hard to get to the end no matter how hard it gets, how unsure I become and the battle that fear and doubt both from within and the opinions of others will take a toil on me, will i still remain on the path or am i not equipped to take this on despite all odds?" The answer to that will lead you to know whether your Red Sea vision will come alive or remain a figure of your imagination.

I wish you all the best!