No possession without increase, By Sunday Adelaja

In most cases, however, increase only answers to pressure. In other cases, increase only answers to demands. The amount of demand you lay on increase, the more of it you get. The more pressure you place on yourself, in search of increase, the more you will likely get of it. It is self-deceptive to simply lay in bed, letting everything run its course and yet expect to have increase.

Most people that I know enjoy increase. It is almost abnormal to think of a life without increase. We naturally crave increase in all our endeavours. When you don’t crave increase people become suspicious of you. You become a mystery. If you despise increase, you are a strange personality in the society. Because increase is a natural desire.

Increase answers to growth and growth is one of the most natural processes of life. Anything that possesses life must grow. To have life and not grow is an abnormality. Where there is growth, however, there is increase. Therefore, since we are all growing in one way or the other, we all expect to have increase in our lives. It is natural to aspire for increase.

Ladies and gentlemen, even as you are reading this piece right now, I have no doubt in my mind that you are anticipating one form of increase in one area of your life or the other. Increase is a natural tendency. Religious organisations, groups and churches all over the world, have millions of people parading them, because they aspire to have increase.

As a matter of fact, those religious organisations that guarantee the most increase, have the most parishioners. Why? Because increase attracts. Increase is a crowd puller. When you can guarantee increase, you create attention for yourself. Where there is increase, there is a constant flow of people.

“The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land.” ― Thomas Henry Huxley

Increase Answers to Pressure

Increase is so natural that it starts from before we taste the first breath of life at birth. I remember when we were expecting our first son. It was two months into the pregnancy that we discovered that my wife was pregnant. But once that assurance was there, I was all over her on a weekly basis to see how much increase we had, each week, in the size of the pregnancy.

Most of us work hard on a daily basis, to assure ourselves that we have a regular increase in different aspects of our lives. We work to increase our estates. We work hard to ensure an increase in investments, profits, savings, income, etc. Increase is a natural tenet.

My assumption was natural, if the pregnancy is increasing and becoming bigger, it means the baby inside is growing bigger. When our son was eventually given birth to at 54 centimeters in length and about four kilogrammes in weight, this time my wife and I settled into a weekly measurement of both his height and weight.

Why were we involving ourselves in such a mundane thing at the first glance? Because maybe the exercise is not so mundane by the way. We wanted to reassure ourselves that our boy is growing through his increase. More importantly, however, is the fact that we derived a lot of pleasure doing so.

What my wife and I both did to our pregnancy and our little baby, most people do on a daily basis with their finances. Is there anybody in this whole wide world who checks his financial balance for increase on a regular basis? Is there anyone who might just be carried away enough to practice the mundane exercise of checking on his salary, of course, for increase? Could that by accident be any of you, my readers?

Most of us work hard on a daily basis, to assure ourselves that we have a regular increase in different aspects of our lives. We work to increase our estates. We work hard to ensure an increase in investments, profits, savings, income, etc. Increase is a natural tenet.

When we talk about increase, as I have earlier said, increase is natural, not just to man. Increase is natural to all living things. It is a sign of life. My desire for increase and yours are signs that we are alive.

Increase at times is so natural that you don’t need to do much for it to come. Sometimes we grow physically big without doing much things about it. A lot of things in nature answer to increase, which is a law of nature. Many things will grow in life without your soliciting for it. That, though, is only one aspect of increase. In most cases, however, increase only answers to pressure. In other cases, increase only answers to demands. The amount of demand you lay on increase, the more of it you get. The more pressure you place on yourself, in search of increase, the more you will likely get of it. It is self-deceptive to simply lay in bed, letting everything run its course and yet expect to have increase.

Increase could be qualified in different ways. Increase could both be visible and invisible. Increase could be quantitative or qualitative. Some increase happens within us and are not seen by the outside world. In most of the cases though, that type of increase would eventually lead to a quantitative increase that is manifested outwardly. The reality of life tells us that to grow physically, you first need to grow inwardly.

Even though there are some things that come naturally, even in terms of increase, yet you would find out that most of those things that don’t need any efforts to increase, are normally the less significant things of life. To have great and impressive increase, we need to do more than lying down and wishing for the best. We will need to get off the bed, lay a demand on ourselves and exert enough pressure, as much as necessary, to get the kind of increase we need.

Some of these pressures would include a demand on the self to add value. It will include a time of preparation. It will include efforts at work. It will include the demand of self-discipline. It will include the pressure of labour, of taking decisions, of acting out decisions. Whoever is able to lay more demand on himself, enjoys the most increase, most of the time. That is simply the way God made the world to function.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ― Anaïs Nin

How Do You Qualify for Increase?

Increase could be qualified in different ways. Increase could both be visible and invisible. Increase could be quantitative or qualitative. Some increase happens within us and are not seen by the outside world. In most of the cases though, that type of increase would eventually lead to a quantitative increase that is manifested outwardly. The reality of life tells us that to grow physically, you first need to grow inwardly. It is your increase inside, in invisible things, that would determine your outward physical increase.

People sometimes try to replace quantitative growth with qualitative growth. According to the students of this school, who profess that quantity leads to a fall in quality. I understandably don’t buy into this school of reasoning. I believe we could both maintain growth and increase, both in quality and quantity at the same time. While quality might bring security and confidence, quantity will, most of the time, bring recognitions and accolades. As you can see, we need the two of them. The bottom line is to strive for increase in all we do.

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ― Gen 1:28

Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, transformation strategist, pastor and innovator. He was based in Ukraine.