William Wilberforce was just like you and me, I suppose. He grew up and took things for granted. Went away to college and partied too much. He lost his faith, forgot his name, and turned his back on his mentors, one of whom was none other than John Newton. Yes, John the author of Amazing Grace.
At 21 one of Williams friends talked him into running for Parliament and on a lark, he ran and won. Five years later he would “wake up,” due to the influence of one of his friends who had become his builder. He would go from being a disengaged member of Parliament to a master of his craft. He would study for 9-10 hours a day. To re-solve the anguish he felt for wasting so much of his life, he re-solved to meet with his old mentor, John Newton and seek his council. Newton talked him out of resigning his post and challenged him so serve God with his public life. And so he did.
Wilberforce would catch a vision for his work and on October 28, 1787, he would capture it in his diary. If this doesn’t serve as a great example of a compelling (Overarching vision- The “O” in OPUS) I don’t know what might. Check it out.
“God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners.”
He would chase his overarching vision for the rest of his life, literally. He would push for the abolition of slavery for 46 years. He would endure political threats and death threats on countless occasions. He resolved to fight. In fact, the more he studied the atrocities, the more re-solved he became. Three days before his death, July 26, 1833, slavery was abolished in the British colonies.
William woke up and changed the British islands. Who knows what an awake version of Y.O.U. might do.
Who knows…
BUILT TO LEAD 