Message
When I became the General Overseer of RCCG, I was so concerned about the church’s growth that I was always fasting, praying, and preaching to the extent that I gave myself no rest or holidays. I did that for years, until suddenly, I discovered that while preaching, I would lose my voice completely after about 15 minutes. Even though I followed all kinds of recommendations to combat the issue, one of which was drinking tea with honey, it persisted. One day, an elderly woman who had noticed what was going on approached me and said, “Sir, you are suffering from Teacher’s disease.” I told her that I had never heard of that, and she replied, “You keep teaching, and you aren’t resting your voice. Now, it is in rebellion.” I asked her how to cure it, and she responded, “Rest your voice for 15 days.” “How will I do that?” I asked, and she said, “You can still teach without losing your voice for 15 minutes; when you can’t last 5 minutes, you will do what I’ve said.” Therefore, for the first time after becoming General Overseer, I went on holiday. I travelled to Germany and stayed in a house that had a sauna. My host told me that it warms the body from the inside out, and when I enter, I must exit after 15 minutes at most because I would have been sweating profusely. I went into the sauna, and 5 minutes later, there was no sweat. After 10 minutes, there was still no sweat. It wasn’t until after 15 minutes that I noticed a little sweat. I was in that sauna for 45 minutes before any real sweat came out. I had stressed my body so much that it wasn’t functioning as it should anymore. Since then, I discovered that if I am to last long in the assignment that God has given to me, I must rest every now and then.
Beloved, if you want to last long, you must always take time to rest. Today’s Bible reading tells us that God rested after He finished the work of creation, and that is a pattern that every Christian must emulate. It is very dangerous to keep working hard and not take time to rest because exhaustion can kill. Don’t sabotage yourself when it comes to fulfilling your God-given purpose on the earth. Take regular scheduled rests, and you will keep yourself in optimal physical condition, so you will be able to keep running your race.