The Story of Jonah Revisited (A Testimony), And why our Lives will get Complicated when we Decide to Disobey the will of God

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Jon 1:1-4 

No, God is not complicated. But we are. And to the extent to which we make our lives complicated, to that extent will our God also seem complicated to us. Jonah might have made his life very easy once. But he disobeyed God. And his life got complicated.

And sin always does that. It complicates life.

Jonah had to make hasty travel arrangements. He had to raise his fare very fast, probably by disposing one of his possessions. He had to pack. He had to leave. So at the harbor he paid his fare. He got into the ship and the ship took off. But he didn’t complete his journey. Instead he raised a storm in the ship and in other peoples’ lives. So he chose to disembark in the middle of the ocean, and his money went to waste, and probably his luggage.

But even in his complications God had mercy upon him. He saved him from drowning, although he had to suffer the indignity of taking a ride in the belly of ‘a great fish’, and which also became his lodging for three days and three nights. And after all that trouble he still had to do God’s will – the very thing he was escaping from in the first place! It wasn’t God but Jonah who complicated his own life.

And perhaps if we are honest, we will admit that we knew, like Jonah, what God’s will was upon our lives right from the beginning – but we fled!

Knowing God’s will is a personal journey. It begins in childhood, for that is when we first detected the strong pull of wrong versus right, and of evil against good. From very early on I was very conscious of that. When I did something good my life shone like the sun, but when I did something wrong, suddenly the whole sky above me went dark. I understand now that was God speaking to me through my conscience, for he is ‘the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world’ (John 1:9). But the rebelliousness in me prevented me from becoming his son then (John 1:12).

So how did I get saved? How did I accept God? How did I know his will? I suffered a crisis. And in that crisis (a stroke at 37) and alone in a hospital bed I knew God. I understood then that that was really his will for me since I was a child. He wanted me to live my life led by him. And that is the whole point of our rebellion. I refused. But my life only got harder!

So I got found at last (Amazing Grace!). What did I learn? That God speaks to us from childhood. We know it but we deny it (Rom 1:18-20). But God does not give up. He follows us like he followed Jonah. That God allows crises in our lives because that is the only time we are ‘forced’ to hear him. My old life consisted in running away from him – like Jonah. Until I landed in that hospital ward, and in one long night I heard him. That hospital ward was Jonah’s great fish belly for me. I accepted God’s will. For Jonah, if it was not the storm, and the great fish belly, and if it was not for God not giving up on him, he should have been lost to the world. For me if it had not been for that stroke, I should never have been saved.

God is still speaking to us to know his will. God has never given up. His love cannot him allow him to. Even now millions are getting saved through this crisis, as God is silently conducting a revival while all the churches are closed. Millions will date this Corona pandemic as their turning point in life. Millions are being born again today without the benefit of the altar call. God made his will known to us, if we are honest to admit it, from childhood. But now in the storm, in the great fish belly or hospital ward, God is still making his will known today. One can come to him through the easy way, like the Ethiopian eunuch, or the hard way, like Jonah. Further disobedience is not worth it. It will only make life harder. But life will become very easy if we give up. O God open our eyes today, that we might see you!

#
21/06/20

The Story of Jonah and the Meaning of God’s Will

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jon 1:2-3 

One can never quite run away from God’s will. But that is only one of the wonderful lessons in this fascinating story of one man’s will against that of God. Jonah is a complex character. And may this be an inspiration to all the people who are called ‘complex’ by other people – or who unflatteringly consider themselves as too complicated. May they know that God can still use them so they have no excuse!

Jonah’s ideals were shaped early by the writings of his religious leaders concerning the one true God – and the only God of the Israel nation. Jonah’s thinking was firmly rooted here. God could only be one thing and nothing else. And that was the genesis of Jonah’s complication.

God hated Israel’s enemies, and God fought for his people Israel. The Assyrians of Nineveh were such one enemies of Israel. They were cruel and bloodthirsty hounds. But now Jonah was reading ‘mischief’ in the character of God, in his desire to bring salvation to Israel’s chief enemies. Jonah, being fixed in his beliefs since childhood, decided to refuse to obey this of God’s latest proclamations. He decided to flee to Tarshih in a place he thought was in the furthest parts of the world. But Jonah had not reckoned for the humanistic side of God (yes God can be extremely humorous too). So God decides to follow Jonah to the furthest parts of the world (perhaps he had not read Deuteronomy 30:4 which says:  If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee). And from there it becomes like a battle of wits between Jonah and the God of Israel. Who will win? The answer is obvious of course. Jonah knows that but he is also determined to make his point! But in the end the will of God is done – as it always has. But even after he sees the results with his own eyes it doesn’t please Jonah. Instead it leaves him bitter than before…in fact so bitter he desires to die there and then – and he lets God know that! (Jonah 4:6-8).

In the end Jonah’s lesson is on dangers of ‘fixing’ God. It may be a dangerous thing sometimes to fix God in one locality, one thinking, one day, or one method. Another fascinating book full of complex characters I want to refer to is Job. Job’s friends were not only heavy intellectuals (as Job himself was), but they were also perilously fixed in one reading of God’s face. They knew God avenged wicked people (by taking away their wealth as in Job’s case, and he made the good guys very rich). It was the way God had dealt with his people in his writings in all generations. So Job was a hypocrite and that is why God was punishing him. But they were wrong. They had fixed God but God is never fixed. He does what pleases him. And so again God never ceases in his surprises, for in the end he reprimands Job’s friends while he preserves his mercy for Job. Truly God is no respecter of persons.

A third character who I consider complex is Peter. It is amazing that God picked him as a leader amongst all his disciples. Why didn’t God pick on a ‘safe’ character like Philip? But that is God, no one can fix him in one type of thinking, and he surprises us every day on that – as he surprised Peter in his new ‘will’ (Acts 10). So what is God saying in all these things? I believe it is that God can set aside his known ‘will’ at any one time and introduce a completely new way of thinking for us. Would we be ready to accept such a thing? Secondly, God is saying that sometimes it is through a vision that he makes his will known, or through a Spirit (Acts 10:19) – and not necessarily through what ‘the letter’ says (2Co 3:6). But either way God will and does make his will known at all times, whether it will please us or not. Sometimes he surprises us from our thinking, so it good to remember that. Nevertheless God will never deviate from his nature as he has founded it for us in his holy word. The moral law of God is still as valid for us today as it was in the beginning. God grant us the courage to accept that every day you are creating a new thing in our lives – and sometimes even when it goes against our core beliefs, or what is written down. Give us the perception which can only come from you, O God, to understand these things, for without faith we know that it impossible to please you O God.

DO YOU DESIRE TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE? THE TRUTH IS THAT IT SHOULDN’T BE A MATTER WHICH BRINGS SUCH DREAD IN OUR HEARTS!

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom 12:2 

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Heb 13:21 

Yes, few subjects are as scary as the desire to know the will of God in one’s life. But the truth is that, when all things are considered, it shouldn’t. Because one, life is serious and it is never simple. It is only easy while we are still young and when we have to depend on others to make decisions on our behalf. And it is only after we have grown up and left the safe shelter of our parents that we discover just how rough the terrain called life is…when we entered school for the first time, when we met other children like us – we detected it in the bullying we received at some unpleasant kids, who made great fun of us, who laughed at us and called us very unpleasant names. We also detected it earlier when we became sick and we were taken to somebody strange called a doctor…and nurses who caused us great pain through injections! We detected it earlier too in some adults, probably our own parents, our relatives, our neighbours, our friends and our teachers. So from very early we have known that life isn’t easy, and never will.

That’s probably the way of God to make us reflect, think, and importantly (and perhaps the hardest), to decide. But some people paused – and they paused permanently from early on in their lives. They were unable to decide for themselves. So unconsciously they surrendered their lives to others to think for them, may be a guardian, parent, teacher but mostly friends. Very few of us have surrendered their troubles to God from early on. Yet he has been there since we were children waiting for us to ask him to show us the right way. Imagine the peace which we should have enjoyed from very early on if only we had known! How much money should we have saved, or how many troubles? So we plodded on sometimes in total darkness about what was the right thing to do – for we didn’t believe God in the first place. And therefore mistakes happened and they just went on happening in our lives until now.

But thanks be to God because he has never quite given up on us! He was there in the beginning and he is still there today, and he will be there tomorrow, and in eternity. He is there always waiting to hear someone answer his knock, even now. But why do we fear to be associated with God so much? What drives our dread? Is it something we have heard of him, or is it something we have experienced of him? Chiefly the main reason why we fear him is because we fear losing our independence. And we are born with a hard heart more given to rebelliousness than obedience. We detected this even as earlier as we were still children. We hated being told what to do, wear this, don’t wear that, comb that hair, go there, we didn’t even love the names we were given at birth, we changed them.

Sometimes we hated God simply because our parents drummed God down our throats since we were children. Their portrait of God wasn’t one to drum up love in our hearts. The God they drew up to us almost resembled a dictator. He was ruthless, eagerly waiting on the margins of our lives to just make one mistake, and then he pounced on us with bloodletting fury and hailstones. He wasn’t a God of mercy. He rejoiced over our failures. He magnified them until they became like an ogre in our lives. We grew up with that picture. In one day alone the word hell was dropped about ten times. That is the picture of God most have up to this day. But I am here to tell you that that picture is from hell and not from heaven! It is the devil!

But you can begin now to trust this God. It is not easy, after all the years of mistrust, but try him and see whether he is faithful or not. Don’t be afraid. Ask God for forgiveness. He does it so wonderfully beautiful! How ugly have your sins been like? What is the worst colour you can associate with them, black or red? God promises he will make your heart white as snow. He will take away the heaviness and leave your heart feeling as light as wool (Isaiah 1:18). You can believe that today and be free forever. And who knows whether that is not the will of God for you today? Oh God help our unbelief!

REALISM OR IDEALISM? FINALLY IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THE ELUSIVE NATURE OF FREEDOM!

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Joh 8:36  

Freedom is a wonderful thing. It is not easy to give up when it has been acquired. But freedom is also slippery. It can get so fluid for example until one loses the sense of right or wrong – or until it has slipped into a form of very subtle bondage. The prodigal won his freedom once. But it was also his greatest ruin. Such are the complex nuances which constitute the meaning of freedom. The redemption of the children of Israel from Egypt may just be one of the nuances. The surface meaning is easy to infer. But the deeper undertones may easily pass undetected. Metaphorically it is an exercise that takes labour and hard days just to dig it up or experience it fully. It is not a fancied exercise at all, and it may even sound boring. ‘And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart’ (Jer 29:13).  ‘I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word’ (Psa 119:58).  

The prodigal’s freedom was cheaply acquired, and it deserted him just as suddenly. He had paid nothing for it, and he had no reference point or experience on how to make use of it before that. The value of hard work was lost on him. His life had never understood patience. He had just grown up in his father’s house where everything had been provided for him, including his inheritance. But that is not how God wants his people to earn their freedom! It might have been easy, and very easy indeed, to have just made his people cross over to the Promised Land from Egypt in one day. But picture what they would have lost, the whole experience of forty years! They should never have understood God’s faithfulness or power. They should never have learnt the expensive lesson of patience, of trusting God, of waiting, of the meaning of faith and of the invaluable lessons of pain and suffering. (The things God is teaching us through this Covid19 for example should probably serve us well for the next 100 years. There is almost a four hundred year period of relapse afterwards, a period of forgetting). They should’ve earned their freedom very cheaply and they should’ve lost it very shortly indeed. They should hardly have acquired the full taste of it in their mouths before it should’ve evaporated. Their children should never have had a reference point, no songs to remember by, no writings to refer to, no lives to draw strength from and no witnesses! In short they should’ve gained nothing, no history, no identity and no inheritance! And that is not the way of love. It’s sheer cruelty instead. Indeed they should’ve gone back to Egypt (and slavery) the following day! And it is the same way God behaved towards Adam. Had he given him absolute freedom without any rules Adam (and us) should’ve remained at one stage of ‘development’ all his life. And that is slavery of the worst kind! And certainly it is not the way God acts with those he loves. He cares for the end results. That is why he dwells too long on the lessons.

And so is the freedom which God gives. It is not a one day event but an eternal one. Lies have a very short shelf life, and one always pays dearly in the end for all the gifts from the devil. That was the lesson of the prodigal. For it wasn’t long before ‘he began to be in want’, and the devil’s trick always ends like that – it is usually one unending trip of wants! ‘Sir,’ cried the woman, ‘[G]ive me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw!’ The devil’s tales always begin very sweetly, very swiftly, and very big. It is hard to resist the freedom he lays out initially, very hard in fact, that few have successfully resisted him! You may be in trenches right now but hold out for a while. Don’t give place for a sweet tale just now! What you aim for is too precious to settle for anything so cheap! God’s way may be long but in the end he delivers what he promised. He doesn’t deny the desert place. He doesn’t deny the sun and the thirst and the long trek. But God never departs from his promises from the beginning up to the end. His promises are dearly purchased, that is why he wouldn’t settle for cheap.

So how does true freedom resemble like? True freedom may involve rejecting what at first seems like true freedom. True freedom may sometimes involve emptying one’s life completely of what one may have accumulated for years. Sometimes true freedom may only begin to become apparent once the room has been reduced to its barest minimum – until one even begins to suspect he is a pauper! True freedom takes great courage. Because it may involve rejecting a well-trodden path for a completely new one! And the sudden plunging into it may actually make the whole difference! So what sort of freedom would you rather have?

God is wonderful. He even gives us the freedom to reject his freedom! Who else can give a person the opportunity to reason with him like that – sometimes almost to the degree of becoming a nuisance to him - and yet he doesn’t give up! For me, that is the kind of person I wish to serve for the rest of my life! God make us hungry again for this amazing freedom and which you so expensively purchased by your own blood at Calvary. Fix our eyes permanently only on the final prize O God! - and not on our vain expediencies of realism and very short lived sparks of idealism.

A PEEK INTO THE MINDS OF AN IDEALIST AND A REALIST - IN CONTRAST TO THE MIND OF GOD – PART TWO

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. Jos 1:3 

Idealists are rarely happy people. They are born sorrowful and they die sorrowful. The idealist lives on pain. It’s his aphrodisiac. He sees the whole world as a sea of agony. He is a shrink buff and the psychiatrist is his best comfort. But if the idealist is the ‘idol of the theatre’, the realist is the ‘idol of the market’.

There are two groups of church going people at any one time and who all claim to be born again. One group is devout. It contributes heavily to church. The other group is grumpy and ever finding fault (And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. Mar 7:2). They don’t give easily. And in the rare circumstance they do, they follow it up with the rider that they are giving but they don’t really see the reason why they should. These cast a dark shadow upon everyone’s attempt to be happy. They seem to take a grim satisfaction in the fact that they are poor as if that confers on them righteousness. They hate the rich. They denounce them as robbers and devil worshippers. I attended a funeral recently where the preacher belonged to this school of thought. People walked away and I followed them. That is the view of any realist.

God wants us to be rich yes and in all things (For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Luk 12:30). And Christians should not be ashamed about it. There is a sickening poverty, so debilitating and so dehumanizing that this cannot be said to be glorious to God. No gospel should glorify such things. It is to be unrealistic. John Piper’s Christian Hedonism has covered this topic extensively and is a good read for anyone wishing to expand their knowledge on this topic. It is impossible to worship God on an empty stomach. That is realism. And Jesus recognized it. He gave the people bread to eat. And therein lies a double edged sword as everything in Scripture is. Jesus didn’t teach people how to make their own bread. He wasn’t an entrepreneur. And up to today there are people who follow him – but not for his teaching (This is an hard saying; who can hear it?) but for his bread. This is why there are unending fights in the church. Everybody wants to sit as near the treasury box as possible. And in that sense Christianity becomes more like any worldly business enterprise. Unfortunately the realists have filled the temple – while the idealists wander alone in dry places. The church is crying again for real saints – the shepherds who live and smell like the sheep.

The church has unfortunately killed many as well – and who have found refuge in poverty – not because they love it – but because it quietens their demons. Their heart flutters with the idea of being rich and great. But on the other hand they were taught from childhood to denounce riches and hate rich people. Instead they were taught to glorify poverty! And because they are caught up between the two opposing schools of thoughts – they are forever trapped in that middle ground of indecisiveness. And this is what happens when one suppresses their God given ambitions because of fear. Sadly they end up in life bitter and depressed. Christ calls us to a life of self-denial. Christ also calls us to an abundant life. Christ therefore becomes both an idealist and a realist in that sense. If we adopt such an open ended worldview we shall all become tolerant, peace makers and God glorifying people on earth. Failure to do this we shall always be rubbing people the wrong way. We shall become unpleasant. But can one become all that and without compromising their core beliefs? Yes. Where there is love everything is possible. God is teaching the idealist that he alone is the final ideal – and final happiness. Paradoxically he is teaching both the idealist and the realist to hate themselves first and love God. Because it is only in him that they will begin to understand ‘these things’ – the things which so exasperated Nicodemus on that lonely night.

Theology is not esoteric. Theology does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in a real world of real people of divergent gifts, desires, colour and bearing. God make our ideals to flower. God make our realities come true! Let us begin to see our own Christian fiction writers, Christian poets, Christian entrepreneurs, Christian C.S Lewis’s and Christian politicians, all thriving and getting rich in the world without being ashamed about it – and may all these redound to the praise and glory of you O God! Amen.

A PEEK INTO THE MINDS OF AN IDEALIST AND A REALIST - IN CONTRAST TO THE MIND OF GOD – PART ONE

And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go. Exo 5:1a

  

The idealist lives in in his mind. It is his home. But the idealist is a poor lover. He only speaks truth and the language of love hates hard facts. The realist is a good lover. His face is his cover. He lies with his eyes wide open. When a realist looks at a dead body he sees a dead body. An idealist sees a sad poetry book written on the face of the dead body. He carries that face home and ponders at the meaning of life. The realist goes to the bar where he drinks and laughs as if nothing has happened. ‘Let us drink for tomorrow we die’ is his mantra.
 

God’s call is The Ten Commandments. You are inside or you are out. The realist does not give a whiff. They are not real. The idealist sees another trick by the zealots to imprison him. And he does not care, though sometimes they prick something sacred inside his mind. The idealist hates them. But the pricking never stops. It gets intense every day. And the hatred. And the disillusionment.  If he is bold he picks a gun and pumps a bullet into his head and the pricking goes silent forever. His ideas had failed him. He dies angry. Depression killed him. But his disciples follow him to the cemetery where his grave becomes a shrine. They read his face and go home where they write tomes of books. His comrades make big money out of his death.

An idealist can be a savior or he can be a tyrant, like Stalin or Hitler. A religious idealist may be worse. They kill people in the name of God. When Martin Luther penned his Ninety-Five theses on the wall he was being both an idealist and a realist. Something needed to be done and he did it. He protested, and we have followed his example up to this day. The church had earned its bath. But we still protest. Religion is good. It can free a man completely or it can send him to the gallows or sanatorium.

But no race on earth has been affected so adversely by religion as the black man. It took away everything he had, his land, his culture, and his gods. It made him a slave. And he accepted his fate. But some rose up in rebellion to reclaim what was theirs. And ever since the black man has been suspicious of everything, especially if it’s coming from outside Africa. That is realism. Moses became a hero not just for Israel but for the black man. ‘Let my people go!’ became a rallying call for blacks (or slaves) everywhere in the world. Theology generally makes the black man suspicious. There are too many disagreements amongst its proponents. He hates it. But he is also easily enslaved. And he has stuck with the God of Mt. Sinai up to this day. But he has also a great suspicion of Paul because he did not marry, and he talked a great deal about the death of the flesh and enslavement – while everywhere people were getting freer and richer! Some churches simply don’t care about Paul. They are religious realists and not idealists. A man must marry and have children and get rich and that is that. It’s reality.

And so the rose grows dim. Its shine begins to fade. And though it smells like a rose but it is no longer a rose.

‘Where have they put my Lord?’ cried Mary. And in our day one may be led to ask the same question. The colleges we attend are too many. And the disagreements they generate are too many. It is no wonder some come out unbelieving, cynical, and doubtful. Nihilism and absurdity naturally sets it. So in the end the idealist goes to the sanatorium and the realist goes to his church. He doesn’t so much care about the God of his preacher. He has formed his own God in his mind and that is his reality. God help us to recover our ideals again, and our Jesus. Help us to become bold and submissive. Help us not buy into the ideal of the world. Help us to hear only your voice and to trust it. In Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.

DECISIONS AND THE FEAR OF BEING MISUNDERSTOOD

And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: Mar 4:24a. Take heed therefore how ye hear: Luk 8:18a. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life. Deu 32:47a.  

Misunderstandings can be lethal. It is what befell Judas Iscariot the son of Simon after he fatally misunderstood Christ. Lot’s wife however chose to deliberately misunderstand the angel, and hence her stony demise.

But being misunderstood hurts. And perhaps for fear of being misunderstood a lot of people consciously choose to zip their lips for life. But that is the cowardly way and I shouldn’t advise anyone to take it. For no one really can be free in this life with their mouth shut. And depression loves a people who are afraid to talk.

The result is that such a life can stagnate. And one can hardly live to their full potential, if they are forever afraid of being misunderstood. However a life rooted in Christ should not have such a fear. A life in Christ is a peaceful life. The knowledge of truth sets one free, and ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed’ (Joh 8:36). However for many they are still in a cage. And even worse no one recognizes they are in prison until the day they get out. But when they do no one ever forgets such a day.

But perhaps there are times when we ask to be misunderstood, especially when we choose to be vague. We know politicians love this game, and pseudo lovers, and many others whose professions bloom in darkness. I think it is why Jesus put a heavy accent on the matter of speaking plainly. It is why he taught it is better to stick always to yes or no monosyllables. A few texts render this plainly. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Mat 5:37. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Mat 12:36-37. In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Pro 10:19. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Mat 11:15. 

Hearing takes great responsibility. What you hear. And how you hear. You are liable to misunderstand people if you don’t listen to them well. Equally one is liable to open themselves for misunderstanding if they are not plain. Other times we have chosen deliberately what we want to hear. Lovers, like lawyers, are notorious for asking leading questions, or shutting their ears when they choose to. And the results for such deliberate short sightedness are always far reaching.

Parables may be said to be vague – but where Jesus meant them to be taken that way, he did not hide that fact from his own disciples. The vagueness, I think, was actually a rebuke to the intended audience. We abhor calling a spade a spade, sometimes for political expediency. But no, we should speak plainly at all times and not necessarily in parables… It is God who takes a cowardly or reluctant person and makes them orators. He did with Moses. He did with Jonah. He did with Paul. What is your greatest fear? Is it holding you back? Allow God into your life and watch him transform you into a Moses, a Gideon, or an Esther. Don’t be satisfied with less but make your intentions clearly known by all.

It is always easier to say one heard incorrectly of course. But that is the cowardly route and not the courageous one. Rather say what you mean and mean what you say. And don’t forget that character is never quite far from what we mean. Don’t be in a haste to agree to things. And don’t feel ashamed for not understanding things quickly the first time. Ask again. Because, in the final analysis, the choice of what to hear, and how to hear it, can mean the choice between life or death, or between a blessing and a curse. God, help us know ourselves, so we may know you better, and everything else around us.

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