“Pastor, I’m really struggling in this life, I don’t know what else to do. It doesn’t feel like God gave us dominion” 

When God designed man to have dominion over the earth, He had four things in mind. Meanwhile, don’t forget that He created the earth. And from His record, the earth could be manipulated to lose form and accommodate darkness. Which is why John chapter 1 tells us how He had to make the earth compliant by His Word.

Knowing that the earth could easily be manipulated, He gave us 4 instructions that will help us maintain our dominion over the earth. Let’s see how scriptures put it:

Genesis 1:

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Simply put, if you want to maintain control over this earth, then you must be Fruitful, Multiply, Replenish, and Subdue the earth. Let’s analyze each of these words:

– BE FRUITFUL

This simply means to be productive or to do something that yields benefits to others. Another way to say this would be to add value, and a man’s value is the measure of his usefulness.

What can you do that can influence my life positively? The earth has no regard for any man who isn’t productive. Earning a university degree and getting a job is being fruitful, but if you lose that job tomorrow, what becomes of you? Let me guess, you’d look for another job, and chances are that you won’t get it.

That’s certainly not how God wants us to live on this earth, He wants us to be in control, not being controlled. If you went to school just so you can look for a job, then you’re not in control, you’re being controlled by the system. God wants us to align our acquired skills with His wisdom to produce something unique for ourselves.

Don’t just tell me you work with a company as their chief engineer, what has your engineering skill produced? When your profile is read, will they read what you’ve produced or the companies you’ve worked with? Even if you work with a company, have a productive mindset, not the mindset that only does supervised work.

The reason why a company can easily fire you is because you’re not fruitful. Fruitful people may work with a company but do not necessarily depend on the salary they earn from that company. Who fires an employee like that? Who fires an employee that doesn’t take loans or salary advance? Who fires an employee that serves as a role model to other employees? Even if you don’t work, they’d still retain you. It won’t be about the work you do for them, but about the value your presence adds to their company.

I’ve contemplated leaving the company I work with many times, but each time I remember the lives that are being transformed, I’m inspired to stay. That’s how it should be, your productivity shouldn’t depend on any man’s or company’s employment, but on God’s wisdom. Even your employer should not be able to explain your success.

– MULTIPLY

Many people believe that this means child bearing. Well, that’s partly correct, because it also means to consciously and deliberately expand your sphere of influence.

Think of the products and services you use almost every day, how did you get to know about them? It’s either you learnt about them directly from the source or from people who were already influenced by the source.

The more people you reach, the more dominion you enjoy over the earth. Imagine for a moment that the only person that reads my article is my wife and child, my dominion will be limited to my house. You are able to read this article today because I made efforts over time to expand my sphere of influence. And because you found it valuable, you decided to share it to others. The more it’s shared, the more value is distributed, and the more dominion I enjoy. Note that I’d only enjoy dominion because value is being distributed. Rubbish can also be distributed, but you can’t dominate with rubbish, it has to be value.

Whatever you do, do it with a mindset of multiplication. If you service a client, do it in such a way that he’d recommend other clients to you. That’s how you multiply your influence. Nobody survives on earth with one client.

– REPLENISH

This means to renew or stay relevant. I’ve not seen a product or service that doesn’t have competitors. Even if it’s new, it’s only a matter of time before competitors will arise.

If that’s the case, then you must develop a system that keeps you relevant to your customers despite your competitors.

My daily devotionals started with the name TIMELY NOTES, but after a while I began to experience a decline in followership. This got me really discouraged and I had to stop for a long while. Thank God for this wisdom, today we have even more followers reading my articles. Timely Notes used to be a few short paragraphs yet fewer readers. The articles I post now are far lengthier, yet with more readers. That’s how powerful renewal is.

There’s a wisdom you can apply to your product or service that will keep you relevant despite the cost.

There’s alot to talk about on REPLENISH, but this article will be too long for it. I’d probably write a book on today’s topic. If you’d like that, just leave a comment.

– SUBDUE

To subdue means to overcome, quieten, or bring under control. And this is where God’s word comes in. If after you’ve done the first three and the earth still resists your dominion or your progress is being impeded, then you can subdue the earth by the word of the Lord.

If God made the earth compliant by the word, then you’re expected to do same. Remember that we can control all things by the word of His power.

As I conclude, dominion over the earth is not automatic, you have to do these four things. I’m sure by now you can already see why things have been difficult for you. You clearly haven’t done one of these four things.

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

#EmekaAnslem