THE PARABLE OF THE PANDA BEAR

The Panda bear thought me a big life lesson. I have made it into a story; it is interesting and will bless you. Please read to the end, if you don’t get blessed, you have a right never to read any more of our posts.

One day a hunter went into the forest to search for a particular animal. He was not bothered about getting the grown up (adult) of the animal because it would be too large for him to carry home; he had his mind made up to look for the animal’s offspring. He searched for days but found none that fits his imagination of a supposed offspring for the particular animal. Meanwhile, during his search, he came across some small animal species looking like that he had on the picture of the adult type he was holding, but he imagined those little things were looking too small to be able to grow big into that big animal in the photograph he had. He thought to himself that the offspring of the large animal should also be large enough with visible potentials of turning great later. He went home after a presumable fruitless search.

Many years later, he visited another hunter in a different community. As he was going round the animal farm of his friend he found the adults (male and female) of the animal in question and was excited with the largeness and uniqueness of the animals. Then to his amazement, he saw some little animals, almost of the same size or smaller than a mouse, by the side of the large animals. He curiously asked the other hunter why he should breed the small animals with the large ones. Then he got the biggest surprise of his life; his friend told him that those little animals were the offspring of the big female animal; she had just given birth days before. His friend told him how he had picked up the same little animals from the forest many years ago, and now they had grown up and mated and the female one is the big “mama” of the offspring. The offspring would also grow up to become as big as their parents. The visiting hunter was bewildered; these were the same small animals he saw about fifteen years ago but he had despised.

“Though thy beginning is small, thy latter end shall greatly increase” (Job 8:7)

I have just described to you the Parable of the Panda Bear. It is a unique creature with keen sense of smell and an excellent memory. Remarkably, the adult of the Panda Bear weighs 160 kilograms and has an average length of six (6) feet. But at birth, this same Panda Bear weighs just 100 to 200 grams and is just about 15 to 17 centimeters long, not even up to the 30 centimeters mark of a primary school ruler. It is said that some offspring of the Panda Bear are smaller than a mouse at birth.

Imagine this; at birth, that hunter despised the little panda Bear. He must have concluded, “Can anything good come out from these ones”? But, it was just a matter of time, those small Panda Bears would grow up to become big in their generation.

There are people that look at your birth, the circumstances surrounding your birth, etc, and then they tend to conclude about you and write off your destiny. It is possible your parents had to borrow to organize your naming ceremony…or perhaps, like the biblical Jephthah, you were born outside wedlock. Perhaps you had a very small beginning, so much so that like Goodluck Jonathan you didn’t wear shoes to school. It is possible that your had no school fees to pay while in primary school and your books were always never complete. Just think about whatever disadvantage you were exposed to. Perhaps you attended a local primary school while others went to “money-blessed” schools. With all these and more, it is not unlikely that some people would look at you and (erroneously) put a big question mark on your future and destiny. Now, look at this;

In my book, THE SEED OF GREATNESS, I described something about the greatness of Jesus in relation to His humble beginning. When he was manifesting greatness, people decided to investigate his birth. They discovered He was not born in a teaching hospital or federal medical centre. They found his father was a carpenter (not even a furniture maker which carried more prestige and money); his mother was a full time housewife; his other siblings were like any other children wearing shorts and playing on the streets. At the end, they got some information; they found out Where He was born; How He was born; When He was born; by Whom He was born….BUT, they didn’t understand one thing; they didn’t understand THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH HE WAS BORN. His purpose was the single reason no one, not even satan could stop him. Though His beginning was small, His end remains indisputably BIG.

It is God that made you, and if God is big, then you have to be big. The Offspring of the Panda Bear must become like their parents. You may not be “anything” now, but provided you have become born of God (Born Again), it is just a matter of time, you will become big. We have a BIG God.

Friend, your background is not what God looks at when He wants to make you Truly Great. God is not a scientist and so did not create you to see if you will stand a chance. He made you because He wanted you to make a change in your family and your generation. Everyone might have their opinions about you, but God did not and does not consult men concerning you. I love what Christ did before entering Jerusalem; He was looking for what would carry Him in glory into Jerusalem and what came to his mind was a village ass…a typical ‘Villager’. He didn’t consult with his disciples, He just told them, “go into the village ahead of you and bring that village ass” (Matthew 21:2). I am thinking if He had informed them, trust Peter and co, they themselves would forget who they were (“unlearned”) and suggest a city-based or more flamboyant ass. In summary, that was how a village ass stormed Jerusalem and kept everyone on their feet. Mind you, He was carrying Christ.

The name of your village may not be on the map of your state, but that doesn’t stop God from making you a generational phenomenon. And anyone who is still looking at you as little because of perhaps your parents’ status or present condition, may they be disappointed like that hunter!!!

Dr. Bukola Williams