Not every door is an open one

Ever heard or read of the remarkable tale behind the Trojan horse? It goes like this. When the Greeks had fruitlessly tried to invade Troy, they finally resorted to giving them a gift of a wooden horse.

Hidden inside the Greeks’ gift, however, was the elite force of the Greek army. When the city of Troy had gone to bed that night, the Greek soldiers descended from the horse and conquered them. 

While the people of Troy were celebrating the gift in their dreams, that same gift turned out to be their greatest nightmare. The life lesson in this story is that the only way some of us may ever get defeated is by accepting a Trojan horse of a gift ― a juicy offer. 

Everybody loves to jump onto new opportunities or offers. Most employees, for instance, are looking out for the next job with, at least, better conditions of service than the present.

We all want to make some headway in this life. In a bid to make our lives better, however, we are likely to fall into deep pits, which may often come to us as big tips. Some tips in life are pits.

Fishes are attracted by baits. Attached to the baits are well-sharpened hooks that choke them to death. Some offers are like baits.

They look so sumptuous from afar ― a big-salaried job, a beautiful house, an almost perfect suitor. However, behind the sumptuousness is a hook. Not all offers are worth jumping at because some are decoys.  

Sometimes, the surest way for an enemy to get to us is a gift. The most possible means we can be reached is through something we have desired for such a long time. Some gifts are not gifts at all. They are baits!

Every trap, aside from being widely opened, has a bait. Almost every supposedly great opportunity that has been carefully crafted to set us up has some better conditions.

They often come across as offers too juicy to resist. After all, baits are irresistible, too. However, just when we have fallen for such offers, we are crushed to death.

Just when we thought our lives would be a heaven by accepting such offers, our lives instead become an unbearable hell. 

Not all opportunities are breakthroughs for us. Some supposed breakthroughs will only end up breaking us up through and through. Not all smiling faces wish you well.

Some smiles mean “You had better be prepared for what is yet to come!” Not every pat on the shoulder means congratulations. Some congratulatory messages are warnings turned upside down. Some open doors are traps in disguise. Some opportunities are carefully-covered pits!

When King Saul, for instance, promoted David and gave his daughter to him for a wife, he had his own intentions.

They were not good ones. He was giving David all those freebies in his own interest. As a matter of fact, he was pushing David closer to the Philistines to be killed!

All that while King Saul appeared as a generous king in the eyes of men, he was calculatingly setting David up for destruction.

When he was showering all his attention on him in public, he was carefully scheming to get him killed in secret. Some praises are craftily-woven traps. Some promotions are well-branded baits. 

Like David, some of us are being set up with fat, irresistible offers. We are being pampered to our death. We are being lured to destruction. Like a married man who plays in the bosom of a mistress, it all seems fun until the dirty blackmail starts trickling in.  

As a young lady, you should know that not all gifts are gifts. Some gifts are Trojan horses! Some men may walk into your life as a gift of the Greeks― very attractive from the outside but cunning on the inside.

The easiest means through which an enemy can reach us is often through a well-packaged young man in a neatly pressed suit and tie.

As a young man, be careful who and what you accept into your bosom. Some opportunities are demons in heels and make-up. Some open doors are nicely-packaged curses.

Such open doors do not lead to rooms. They lead to valleys of death. 

Not every single man or woman is worth marrying. Not every bachelor or spinster is worth walking down the aisle. Not every fat-salaried job is worth running to.

Not every promotion is worth embracing. Be led. Be discerning.

Discernment is an asset everyone should yearn for. It takes a discerning heart to know the path that leads to untimely death. 

Discernment sees beyond what the ordinary eyes see. It avoids troubles before they even happen. While everyone may be dancing with a sheep, discernment sees a wolf in sheep's clothing preparing for its next meal.

Being discerning is such a great virtue. It is not about being paranoid but carefully weighing every opportunity that comes your way. Some opportunities are mirages.

From afar, they do not look like what they really are. Some offers are like greener pastures. It is only when you get closer that you know they were not even edible in the first place, though they looked amazing from a distance.

Don’t you have to progress in life? You have to. Don’t you have to look out for better opportunities to make your life better? Of course you do.

However, do not just jump at every offer, no matter how mouth-watering they may look. They may be traps in disguise. 

Some open doors are only well-packaged valleys into which you may fall… never to rise. Always pray. Always be led. Take risks but pray, too.

Kobina Ansah is the Chief Scribe of Scribe Productions (www.scribeproductions.com) and Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com).