FOREIGN Affairs minister Harry Kalaba has advised people not to burn their energies trying to outwit others because “each one of us has a specific agenda and responsibility assigned to them by the Lord”.

According to a posting on his Facebook page titled ‘A story to remember’, Kalaba, who is also Bahati PF member of parliament, stated, in principle, that life was not centered on competition with others.

He has challenged those who were in the habit of obstructing the success of others and engaging in slander to “take it easy”.

“I went to the banking hall a few months ago. As I was about to enter, a lady ran ahead of me and pushed me away, so she could quickly join the long queue before I could. She quite gladly did manage to be ahead of me and parked herself in the queue for ‘cash withdrawals’. I did not say anything. She might have thought l would come behind her, but I was actually not there to withdraw cash, I had come to make a cash deposit. With silent ease, I walked to the deposit lane and I was the only one there,” Kalaba stated.

“In no time, my transaction was over and I was ready to go. But just when I was about to leave the banking hall, the lady came from the queue and she apologised for having pushed me away. With a somewhat embarrassed smile on her face, she said: ‘I am sorry sir for pushing you away; I thought you were coming to this queue’. I just smiled and assured her not to worry. But since then, the lesson I learnt that day has kept coming to my mind, and I feel I should share it, for us all to learn from it.”

He continued in his posting and asked “who are you pushing away and trying to outrun in the race for destiny, relationship, business, church or career?”

“Are you sure that you’re going to the same ‘queue’ (destination)? Your path may seem the same, but your destinations may be so different! How many people did you say ‘sorry to’ after you mistakenly pushed them aside, before you realised that, that person was not actually going to the same queue as you? Are you reading this and you are pushing people away by slandering them, hindering their progress, blocking their promotion, spoiling their good names through lies and rumours, all in a bid to ‘get there’ before them? I challenge you today, to take it easy. You might not be going to the same destination. Focus on where you are going. Appreciate the greatness God has deposited in you,”

Kalaba stated.

“You may admire Ronaldo but lack the discipline required to stay that fit; you may admire Mandela but lack the grace to forgive that made him great; you may admire Michael Sata but lack the patience to fight for 10 years; you may even admire the first lady but lack the tolerance to watch your husband work without end. Just grab what and who you are and keep [on] moving forward – alone or in a crowd!”

He added that it might surprise someone that with all their pushing for success, the people they were pushing away may still leave them on the ‘queue’ of destiny.

“Finally, as you are reading this, do you feel people in your office, Church, business, pushing you away so that they can get ahead of you? If that is your situation, don’t worry; God will use your case to prove to them that their pushing you away, does not determine your destiny-it is the Lord who does. (Romans 9:16). Joseph’s brothers pushed him into a pit and sold him into slavery with the aim of gaining interim opportunities from their father who loved their kid brother just a little more, but at the turn of the full circle, it turned out they were pushing him into greatness. A story to remember!” stated Kalaba.