WHY BEING BOLD IN OUR GENERATION IS VERY HARD – PART THREE

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Jos 1:9  

Fear cripples. It paralyses. And because of it lives die. And yet when one has missed that - his true calling in this life, then automatically he sets himself up for depression throughout his entire life. No two people are exactly alike in this life whether in their desires, eccentricities or foibles. We all have crosses and temptations but which are particular to our own individual and unique self.

And frictions happen because we forget that, or because of what the writer George Morrison has called The Tyranny of Type in one of his devotional sermons. But many times we shun our callings in life because they are not popular, or there is no money in them, or because of outright fear. And so many bury their talents, like the man in the parable. But the end result for abandoning one’s calling is always depression later on in life.

I have met people. But they had been silent all their lives. And then they spoke, as if out of the blue. I didn’t know them, and they didn’t know me. But they spoke. And nothing but pathos came running like a flood out of their mouths. Why did they speak to me like that, and not to their loved ones? In a drift, they decried their lost lives. They had gained everything in life but what they had lost in it was much, much more! It is interesting. To escape poverty they had closed their eyes to everything. And now riches had opened their eyes to everything. It is a sudden clarity which can blind, kill or redeem when it strikes one.   

‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’ (Jas 1:17). May God grant us all the courage to live that truth. Yes it is sad but true. One can be in ministry and be depressed all their lives. One can also be in full ministry but only become born again after they have retired. Even sadder one can be in marriage and be lonely all their lives - until they go back to the field and search the place where they had buried their gift! And finding it they find themselves for the first time in their lives. But even more than finding themselves they find a treasure or the pearl of their lives – their God! And it is only then they can begin to enjoy their God in truth and spirit, and even more, they begin to understand for the first time the real meaning of fear and courage.

Writes Paul the following nuggets concerning spiritual gifts: ‘Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant… Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all… For the body is not one member, but many (1Co 12:1, 4-6, 14).  ‘For I would that all men were even as I myself’ expounds Paul, ‘But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that… Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God’ (1Co 7:7, 24). Be bold therefore, brothers and sisters (encourages Paul further), for, ‘Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men’ (1Co 7:23). And once you get your gift back, that satisfaction will begin to show on your face not only now, but it will continue even in your death and after. God we desire to glorify your name forever. Please help us find the purposes for which you called us here!

HopeisnotAshamed

HERE IS HOW HEAVEN CAN BEGIN TO LOOK LIKE RIGHT HERE!

Psa 15:1  A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 

The life of a Christian is a separate life. It is a tabernacle life. Peter called it ‘a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people’ life (1Pe 2:9),

‘that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’. It is the life of a sojourner. It is a heroic life. We are in the world but not of the world. To fail to acknowledge this will lead to a most depressing life.

Psa 15:2  He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

Here is what distinguishes a heroic person from a fearful one. To walk uprightly takes courage. To work righteously takes courage. To speak the truth from the heart is to touch heaven with one’s hand!

Psa 15:3  He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. 

Neighbours can test one’s patience to the limit. But if one can live peacefully with one all the days of their lives then no doubt one has seen God.

Psa 15:4  In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. 

The heroic gets even tougher. These days of easy murders it takes great courage to call a spade a spade. People fear death. People fear to antagonize. To speak differently is to invite wrath and hate. But one who does that has tasted freedom.

Psa 15:5  He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Money is a great tempter. So great Judas betrayed Jesus because of it. So great in fact someone will sell their own mother or father without blinking…. These are betting days. So it is very easy to bet with one’s soul as well but when that is gone it is gone. Put cash on the table and eternal life by its side and then choose one. More than half the people in the house will choose money. It is tangible. It is ready. It is easy. The short term will always appeal. But it will fade, it will fly away. Yes the eternal, the unseen…will always glow from a distance. It may seem far…but it will come. And that is what makes the waiting seem like nothing…because it will come! Yes we shall not be moved but we shall wait for it all the days of our lives!

Hab 3:17  Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 

Hab 3:18  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

And that is surely something worth to sing about!

HopeisnotAshamed!

WHY BEING BOLD IN OUR GENERATION IS VERY HARD - PART TWO

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Jos 1:9 

It is possible to be bold, even though it is very hard. And fear is always the main culprit behind our lack of courage. It is no wonder then that the one word which rings again and again throughout the whole Bible is the injunction not to be afraid. But we may ask, is being courageous being without fear? And the answer is no! No one, even the most fearless soldier, is without a shred of fear inside them – only that it is usually very well hidden so that the people who are not supposed to see it don’t see it! The same applies to parents. No one would show their children their fear, because to a child no one is quite as brave as one’s dad in the whole world!

And so we can hide such things to a child anytime – or to ourselves. But no one can hide anything from God. And part of the reason, I think, God is hated so much in the world is because he knows too much! In our minds we equate him with a snoopy or nosey person. And such a person is always detestable! It is why darkness is loved by many. Because in darkness we can be ourselves and there (we imagine) no one can see us. But we are a contradictory lot. God is open and inviting. He wants to meet us, to know us, to have a conversation with us. He wants us to tell him all, yet it is all that we are usually very afraid to tell anyone. And yet we are born with this deep-seated hunger not only to be known but to be understood!

As a writer, I observe things very minutely. And like a camera there is no place where my eyes ‘feed’ on people’s expressions as well as at a wedding or a burial, especially the latter. I learn a lot not only from the faces of mourners but also from the face of the dead person before the lid is closed forever on their faces. It says a lot, sadly, and it is scary. But what is usually at the back of my mind is whether that person was a very brave soul or a very afraid one while they were alive.

Because we are naturally very fearful. It is why our first instinct at birth is to cry aloud and grope for a hand to hold us. We grow up afraid, and we enter life (from home) very afraid, and some leave it extremely afraid. Fear and courage are mere words. But what a depth of meaning underpins them! Yet it is that meaning, I think, which God calls us to understand – even more than getting ourselves understood. Because it is only God who can make us see ourselves for who we really are. Jesus told Peter he would betray him that night, and Peter ‘called’ Jesus a liar. But in the end Jesus proved Peter wrong. No one was as brave as Peter, and no one was as afraid as Peter! But in the end Peter learnt the truth bitterly about himself.

And we all do that, before we come of age, and though the bitterness can be quite crushing sometimes (leading us to weep like Peter) but it is necessary, before God can transit us from fear to courage. And because it is only in knowing God first that we should really know ourselves, or know anything. And if courage means anything at all to me, it is that. But even above courage it means having real freedom. And such a person always dies happy! God give us this courage!

HopeisnotAshamed

WHY BEING BOLD IN OUR GENERATION IS VERY HARD – PART ONE

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Jos 1:9  

This is a preamble, I hope, to a blog I intend to do on the topics of courage and fear…especially with regard to our Christian faith and discipleship. I don’t know where it will take me…but it is a journey I am just beginning right now. Please welcome and take a walk with me…

It is not easy to be bold in our time. Too many issues are usually at play in our busy lives these days that for a man to be a true man is a tricky undertaking.

First there is the issue of culture and how society expects ‘an African’ man (or woman) to behave. In short the conflict between modernity and old customs is a real one. We may think it is a conflict which dates to the days of colonialism, when it came, and what it left us with (their God and ways versus our gods and our ways)… but it dates far back to the first conflict in the Garden when Satan showed up and made our first parents wiser than their Maker had – or so they thought. And that was the first lie we believed.

They got wiser it is true but that wisdom has also brought us more tears than mirth. ‘They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul’ (Psa 106:13-15).  

The second lie I think was when we invented a short cut to reach heaven by our own merit. In truth though it was a long shot – which soon we abandoned anyway because no one could understand one another (while in truth it was after God came down himself to look and wonder at the deviousness and ingratitude of us mankind!). After that everyone left to their own homes and ancestors and then tribes were born… I think the third lie was that we had invented our own tribes as well.

But after that the lies just went on increasing.

‘Lo, this only have I found,’ groaned the king turned Preacher, “that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions’ (Ecc 7:29).

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But today the accent is chiefly on ‘My life, My choice’. And there are all sorts of social groups advocating for the rights of their ‘choice’ – such as gay and lesbian rights, Children rights, Women rights, Men rights, Atheist rights, Religious rights, Labour rights, Gun rights, People living in marginalized areas rights, Anarchy rights, and the list goes on and on! Our famed Enlightenment has sometimes left us looking like…!

And so it is hard these days for a man to be a true man. The debate what is truth and what is a lie is still raging I am afraid…

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So how was it during the days of the famed chivalries and stoicism ages? These were true men. But at what cost did they achieve their supremacies and greatness? Remember WWW 1 and 2 were basically wars of egos and who was more a man than the others. But all wars – including civil ones or tribal had first and foremost to do with the question of egos…And where egos have taken precedence there is usually a great dearth of sober thinking as we all know…

But let us debate these questions as we go on.

HopeisnotAshamed

^{TO BEAT DEPRESSION SING PRAISES TO GOD!}

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Psa 42:5 

There is no time when singing has become so difficult as it has now. The churches are closed. People are in indoors. The children are on the floor and everything else is just scattered. Singing in such conditions, especially praises to God, calls for supernatural powers. This is just not the way we were created to live.

And so depression happens. It is a relatively new word – and the disease. And in the Bible it doesn’t appear directly but it is implied in a lot other words. Words like spirit overwhelmed, spirit growing faint, bowed down, miry clay and the valley of the shadow of death.

Depression happens because of many interrelated issues. So I will not make light about it. It is a hell I have been to but God brought me back (I have a fifty thousand word work in progress based on that subject alone, praise God! That is my testimony). But chiefly the main cause of depression is a self-inspection which has gone awry.

In Babylon they were so low until they found no reason to sing anymore (Psalm 137). So they hang their harps upon the willows and sat down, yea, and wept. But just as suddenly they sprang to their feet again! No one can hold his God down for long! ‘If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.’

What can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, shouted Paul. And we shout with him too, though our thorn is still in the flesh. Because when we are weak, then are we made strong, and in his ‘foolishness’ we are made wise. God calls us to his banqueting table not only for his love, but also to the fellowship of his suffering.

I know. Sometimes it seems like the more we trust the more we suffer, the more doubts assail us, the more we are condemned, the more we are misunderstood, and the more we are hated for no cause! But don't worry. It is the battle coming to the heat. And the hour before dawn is usually the darkest. But no matter how long it lasts the morning arrives eventually – and what glory it is!

No, our faith is too precious to let go! It is gold! How can we lose the pearl again after years of searching? We have been out the whole night but we caught nothing. Don’t worry, in the morning we will find Jesus at the shore with fish ready. He always serves the best wine last! So let us pick up our harps upon the willows and begin to sing again!

The psalms are bottles filled with our own tears. They sing our own music. And we sing them with abandon especially at night. Bury yourself in them and you will find comfort any time. And remember those are pains which David personally went through. What will your pains produce? God forbid that we should ever forget such a God!

HopeisnotAshamed

RETURNING HOME TO THE FATHER

And when he came to himself…. Luk 15:17a 

There are many who are lost like the prodigal son today. They left home. They went to ‘a far country’ to find life – but they found death there.

We are forever restless. And King Solomon gave us the best testimony of this in his Ecclesiastes. He had everything. But in the he despaired of it all, ‘Useless, it is all useless!’ His restlessness came to an end only after he returned home to his father. His Song is a divine testimony to that, ‘I found him whom my soul loveth’. God can give you such a song too in your darkness.

Abraham’s heart fluttered at the thought of a city built with ‘foundations, whose builder and maker is God.’ He lived in a tent but it is not a tent that was in his sight. It was a city. In this lockdown what do you see, a tent coming apart at the seams or a city?

The prodigal never saw the life that teemed at his father’s home. He only saw ‘a far country’. Have we taken God’s graces for granted for too long and now he is speaking very loudly so no one can fail to see or hear him?

No doubt before returning home the prodigal must have been a wreck not only physically but also mentally. Would he be forgiven? Would he be accepted? Could he overcome his shame or would he rather die? But thank God he came to himself at last! He might have remained a tragedy all his life – if he had not.

And so what is making you very restless at this present time? Before he left home the prodigal thought he knew himself very well. The pigs ‘in a far country’ taught him that he didn’t. And only after his return home to his father did he learn the truth - that he was a prince after all! What is this present crisis teaching you? May that lesson be your testimony to your children and children’s children for generations to come!

HopeisnotAshamed

PEACE LIKE A RIVER!

For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river. Isa 66:12a  

I can bet there are people, since Covid19 visited us, who have never lacked their sleep. You will not find them ransacking the news channels, poring over the number of deaths and projections. These people are fixed. They know whom they believe. And ‘though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,’ they will not fear. They have been searched. God knows them. And that is what matters.

It is disheartening to lose a loved. It is even more distressing to see how they are being buried. In a moment they are gone. It is heartbreaking. And yes it matters. But there is an even more urgent thing that matters. How shall the living cope? Shall we die too because we see no hope or no end in this thing? No, we are going to live. We must live.

There are things which we can only hear in silence, and things which we can see only when the streets are empty. May those empty places speak to us now…like I can read in one this: The just shall live by faith. Another: I will not leave you comfortless. Another: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Another: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. And in another: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Yes it is possible to sleep through a storm now. And when such a peace comes and finds you, my dear brother or sister, you will never doubt that it was from God. Father, give us this peace!

HopeisnotAshamed