Guest article:
Sometimes it’s not your fault when things don’t go your way…
By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
A month ago, I received a phone call saying they needed people for a consultancy in a European country. They mentioned that I was highly recommended and could co-opt a third person depending on how good our proposal was. The process was that each individual had to apply independently, and they would create an international team to handle the assignment.
The devil being the devil, my first thought was to go solo and submit alone from Zambia. That way, I had a better chance of being selected, since it would just be me. But God always guides my decision-making, so I chose not to co-opt the maximum number of people—three! That way, if we all succeeded, at least Zambia would shine!
Fast forward—I ensured that we all did our separate papers, and I made sure we submitted before the deadline.
When the decision came through, only one of us received the approval email. I wasn’t one of them. I wasn’t upset about it because that’s how God operates. There was no jealousy on my part, even though I had introduced this person and wasn’t picked. So, I congratulated my colleague and continued to help them ensure they submitted all the necessary documentation on time, as the funding partners requested.
One day, I received a strange email asking me to sign a document transferring the rights to all work produced during the assignment. I got the document, signed it, and sent it back. I also reminded my other colleague to check their email for the same document. I thought I had received it by mistake, so I just signed it to be sure.
Today, I received a phone call from my contact, expressing disappointment that I hadn’t responded to the organizers. I was shocked because I had sent all the emails. I even took screenshots and sent them to my contact as proof. Then, shortly after, I received another call from the organizers, explaining that all my emails had been going to their spam folder, so they hadn’t seen them.
They resent the acceptance letter and informed me that I was actually co-opted!
With this new confidence, I am now pushing to have the third person co-opted as well!
The message in this story is that sometimes you miss opportunities not because you’re inadequate, but because of fate or mistakes beyond your control. Whatever happens, never blame anyone or feel jealous of someone else’s success. God has a way of sorting things out.
Happy Wednesday!