SURVIVAL STRATEGIES IN TIMES LIKE THIS

 

INTRODUCTION

• GENESIS 37: 12-28
  

  Joseph Sold by His Brothers

  ¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

  So he said to him, “Here I am.”

  ¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

  ¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

  ¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

  ¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

  ¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! ²⁰ Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

  ²¹ But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood,but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

  ²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty;there was no water in it.

  ²⁵ And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

• GENESIS 39

• GENESIS 26: 1-6; 13-14
  

  Isaac and Abimelech

  26 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

  ² Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.⁴ And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ⁵ because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

  ⁶ So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

¹³ The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; ¹⁴ for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.

GENERAL ATTITUDE IN STRANGE TIMES

• Feel disappointed and draw back
• Stay there, complain, blame people and sometimes change place of worship.
• Persevere, look unto God for direction and obtain breakthrough.

CURRENT POSITION AT A GLANCE

• Inflation rate of 15.6% ( highest in a decade)
• Unemployment rate /underemployment about 45%
• Job loss
• Companies are closing
• Devaluation of Naira by about 80%
• Increase in fuel price
• Poor output in public power supply

CURRENT POSITION AT A GLANCE

• Trading margins are getting slimmer
• Unpaid salaries
• Unpaid rent and many unoccupied apartments in developed areas like VI, Ikoyi, Amuwo Odofin etc
• Massive construction in new settlement in Lagos and Ogun state
• The birth of new entrepreneurs

• Emergence of creative thinking
• The restoration of dignity of labour
• More taxes / efficient way of collecting taxes and levies by government.( BVN and TIN)
• Tension in the Land
• Prudent use of resources by government, household and organizations
• People defenses are collapsing

YOUR FOCUS NOW

New Day

• Create Income
• Cost Adjustment

• Change your mindset- altitude
• Our blessing is not theoretical. He has promised to bless the works of our hand.
• Have a positive image of yourself like Joseph
• Rejoice and be thankful Job 2: 10
• Look inward. What can I do with my hands, my intellect, my talent and my gift. Go for training to acquire expertise.
• Look up ( My help comes from the Lord)

• Look forward not your past. Tomorrow is better. Forget the beauty/ fun of your past experience. It is gone
• Don’t compare yourself with others
• Cash is very important
• Always look for opportunities. Develop yourself. There are a lot of opportunities in times like this. Be alert.
• Sowing. Don’t be weary in well doing

ADJUST YOUR LIFESTYLE

• IMPORTANT  
•  URGENT
  • High priority
  • Not very profitable but important
•  NOT IMPORTANT  
• NOT URGENT
  •  Can Wait
  • Drop Them

SUGGESTED INVESTMENT AREAS

• Fast Moving Consumer Goods ( FMCG)
• Building materials in new settlements/ satellite towns
• Service Industry
• Entertainment industry
• Agriculture and its Value chains
• Logistics
• Stock market
• Purchase of existing Industry with potentials
•  Marketing ( market existing profitable ventures)
• IT and its associated value chains