In order to catch our 9.30 am flight from Calgary, Canada, to Las Vegas, USA, last June, my wife and I left the house at 7.00 am without breakfast. To our disappointment, only water and fruit juice were served throughout the three-hour flight because it was classified as a local flight. Refreshments were however sold on board but we were not prepared to start spending our scarce dollar.
We arrived Las Vegas hungry and the challenging check-in process at the prestigious Caesar’s Palace Hotel caused us further stress. The problem was eventually resolved and we were taken to our luxuriously furnished room for the four-day conference of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) in collaboration with the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA).
On the day of our departure from Las Vegas, we didn’t want to experience hunger in the aircraft again. So, we took some snacks and beverages in the hotel before boarding a taxi to the airport. At the airport departure lounge, we ate some apples. My wife phoned our daughter in Calgary to prepare lunch for us since we could not have good breakfast and the airline would not serve meals on board.
We did not realise that we had to go to another counter to obtain our seat numbers. We were therefore turned back at the screening counter before boarding. Consequently, we had to go for the seat numbers and returned to join the queue afresh. Eventually, we were given seat numbers 3F and 3D and I excitedly told my wife we were allocated seats in the business class. We entered and occupied our seats in the aircraft but my wife feared that it was a mistake placing us there. Therefore, she beckoned at the air hostess to confirm. The air hostess simply told us to relax and enjoy ourselves. Probably placing us in the business class was an error in favour of the only black couple on board. But one thing was obvious – it was God’s favour. He wanted to prove to us that He can favour anyone as He pleases.
We flew business class from Las Vegas to Calgary and enjoyed all the privileges. The entertainment on board was memorable. Shortly after the takeoff, we were served fruit juice and water, newspapers, and earphones for in-flight entertainment. Hot wet napkins were given to freshen up. Cashew nuts and drinks of choice were served. My wife and I asked for tomato juice since tomato had become an essential commodity in Nigeria. Menu cards were given for selection of lunch, which was later served. I felt for those in the economy class because they had nothing but water/fruit juice. We could have been with them but for God’s favour.
Later, it was another round of drinks. Those interested in alcoholic beverages had to their satisfaction. Finally, varieties of snacks were served and the air hostess asked my wife and me to take more, if we wanted. Of course, we took them for our grandchildren in Calgary. We ate so well that when we arrived Calgary, we could not eat the lunch our daughter had prepared for us.
What we experienced was actually God’s favour. And this same experience also happens to people generally. You may receive something you cannot afford to pay for and never expected. God may favour you in your business, not because you worked the hardest or you have the best product or provide the best service or you know influential people. He may just decide to place you above your peers as a favour. That is why He says in Romans 9:15, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
In order to succeed in business, some people tend to work too hard and have sleepless nights. They even neglect their essential spiritual life because they want to want to get rich. But King Solomon says in Proverbs 23:4, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.” Your success or achievement does not solely depend on your efforts, ability or intelligence. Ecclesiastes 9:11 says, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned but time and chance happen to them all.” (NIV)
There are many things happening in your work, business or career which no one can understand or explain because they are beyond human understanding. There are certain challenges which only God can resolve because He is Omniscient. God determines a lot of things that happen in the workplace. That is why you must put Him first and look up to Him.
Many workers look up to their bosses for a raise or promotion but it is actually God who does it through the boss.”For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the West, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:6,7).
