There was this really interesting phenomenon back on Campus. The number of available rooms for Students’ Accommodation across all the Hostels was hardly ever enough for the burgeoning influx of students. This inadvertently created a situation where the few “lucky” ones who got official accommodation from the University, had to either sell their spaces at inflated amounts, or allow the “less privileged” ones, who didn’t have the money to buy spaces, “squat” with them. The School Authority frowned at “Squatting” because it put an incredible amount of pressure on the limited facilities within the Hostels.
Rooms, restrooms and other facilities designed for about 200 students, were being used by over 500 students. It was not uncommon to see a room for 5 become a den of 15. At some point, it was no longer derogatory to call a person a “Squatter”, because there were many of them in that category… Too much social capital to boost the sense of belonging in the Squatters’ Club. The Squatters were arguably even more powerful than the legit room owners themselves.
I particularly like the use of the word “squat” in describing the phenomenon. I think it was a really brilliant choice of slang. When you squat, you take up less space than a person standing vertically or a person lying horizontally. You sort of take a third of the space each would typically take. It’s almost like being crunched and compressed. If a room would contain 50 people standing, including the possibility of standing on top of themselves, you would agree with me that, that same room is likely to contain about 150 “Squatters.” So the Squatter pretty much optimises a space 3 times as much as a “Lyer” or a “Stander”.
Imagine with me, that a new student, who has no accommodation from the University, approached an occupant of a room turned “den”, and says… “Please would you guys be kind enough to allow me stay in your room for this year? I don’t have any accommodation and I’m a new student.” Now, no matter how empathetic that occupant is, even if he was the original owner of the room with a “legit” authority over the space; if the room has already been optimised by Squatters, he couldn’t possibly accept to house another Squatter. He could replace but not add. The reason is because, there literally isn’t any room left for an additional Squatter.
Let’s bring it home:
That room represents our lives, whilst the squatters are the number of specific commitments and responsibilities we have at any point in time, which have occupied the whole of our lives. The new student is an extra responsibility or commitment.
In God’s economy, promotions come, in the shape of responsibilities! Many times, we find ourselves asking God for promotion, when our rooms are filled with squatters that cannot be shifted. What we’re doing when we pray such prayers in essence, is asking God to bless us with promotions that will inadvertently bring in more commitments that God knows we have no room for. No matter how sincere our prayer is, our overcrowded rooms are telling Him something else: we have no capacity for any addition. So, even when we’re praying sincerely, the life God is seeing is literally acting as a negative force of rejection, stopping that prayer from being answered. God risks destroying that room, if He adds an additional squatter. So, in His Mercy, He refuses to answer your prayer.
The moment your current level of reality and performance is already overwhelming you, it’s a signal to God not to add any extra ounce of responsibility which could potentially bring down the whole house of cards, even if you’re sincerely asking for it. In such situations, the most effective thing to do is to increase your capacity first, and then the increase will follow, sometimes even without praying… In such contexts, your efficiency is your most effective prayer. Many are praying, but only few are increasing capacity. Imaging someone asking for God to make him a global voice to the Nations, but can’t make a presentation before a mini-group of 5 colleagues. Such prayers become very confusing!
This is why the Prophet in Isaiah 54 asks us to prepare for the harvest by lengthening our chords and strengthening our stakes. How we pray for harvest is by preparing for the harvest. The interesting thing is that there’s a world of difference between a physical room and the room of your heart. One is finite and can only accommodate a specific amount of squatters, but the heart of man on the other hand is infinitely elastic. The Bible says God has literally placed eternity in the heart of man, and the shocker is that, the heart swallowed eternity without collapsing! That heart can expand enough to accommodate an infinite amount of responsibilities. This was what King Solomon asked from the Lord; Largeness of Heart to accommodate the multi dimensional streams of demands that would flow in his direction, upon becoming King.
Luke 16:10 TPT;
The one who faithfully manages the little he has been given will be promoted and trusted with greater responsibilities. But those who cheat with the little they have been given will not be considered trustworthy to receive more.
I like the fact that The Bible uses relative terms such as “greater” and “little” in the passage. You determine how long you stay little. The goal is to ensure that your former “greater” has become your new “little”, so that it can be qualified for yet more and greater responsibilities… The difference between what God sees as “little” and “greater” isn’t His capacity to bless us, but our capacity to receive. If He adds a little more to this “little” that is already overwhelming you, then that “little”, is already too much. You have inadvertently capped that little as your “greatest”, which means ceiling! You define your seasons of transitions by your current level of efficiency. When you refuse to be efficient at your “little”, the Bible verse says you’re cheating… Only that it’s your future self, you’re cheating. You’re cheating your possibilities, what you could become and how much farther you could go.
When you master your squatters so efficiently, such that there’s room for more, you won’t necessarily be praying at that point, your efficiency already made your most powerful prayer. When it’s time for increase, God isn’t necessarily watching your prayers, He is observing your routines. When your boss gives you 3 people’s work, not for malicious reasons but for reasons such as “Start Up Phase reality”, do you crumble under that pressure or you become bigger than the demand made of you? Imagine you’re as good as 3 Staff? Before you think of the impossibility of becoming 3 different people, what that simply means is that you’re able to do a task in one third of the time the average person will take to do the same task. Thereby churning out 3 days worth of work in one day or three different desks’ worth of work, with just your desk. When you become this type of person… Nothing can stop you from getting promoted to higher levels of responsibility. The cities are coming for you, but the goal is to thereafter make the Cities into Streets… the new “greater”, has to become “little” again! That’s the protocol of increase until you get to the ends of the earth. Your efficiency determines the scale and scope of your influence. What overwhelmed you in a month, is another person’s to do for a day! Exapnd!
The Inn Jesus was to be born in, had no extra room for the Baby Jesus. That is how many people have missed out on golden opportunities to host divinity? That is how many people have lost opportunities to go global? Because they had no room left for one more responsibility, one more task, one more item on the to do… One more baby! See where Jesus eventually was hosted? A Manger — God will choose a roomy Manger over a filled 7 Star Hotel. It does not matter if you’re a Hotel or a Manger, the real question is do you have room for more? That roomy Manger will soon become 7 Star, if it doesn’t stop making room.
Ever tried pouring milk into a plastic can? After the first pour, what do you do? You shake the can? Why? So it can make more room for you to fill with milk. That’s what you’d be doing this year 2023… You will be shaking a lot. God doesn’t want any waste, so He waits till you have made room, before He pours in more.
This year, God is looking for Soldiers who are worth an Army’s wages; Individuals whose efficiency can hasten His Plans and Purposes… So that what God had planned to do in 2030, He would have to roll out by 2024, because one man consumed the volume of work meant for 8 years in 2 years. (This is no license to burn out, but an opportunity to learn what I call Strategic Leadership… More insights on this later)
If you will cut out the clutter and eliminate the distractions, you would have made more room for additional squatters… Who knows, one of them might be named “Jesus Christ”.
This is God’s intention for you this year: Embrace it, Receive it, Pursue it… Become it!
God bless your heart richly.