There is no escaping the consequence of action, or for that matter, inaction, in this life. The Word is clear on what we must do, how we must prepare, and the steps we must take to ensure that we remain standing.
As we see the day approaching, either we busy ourselves with
being ready, fully armored, and prepared for battle, or we continue grabbing at
imaginary straws, hoping we will never have to see the battle of which we were
forewarned.
Had the widow not acted, had she not been persistent, had she
not gone before the judge repeatedly, even at the risk of being denied justice,
mocked, ridiculed, or looked down upon, she never would have gotten the ruling
she knew she rightly deserved. Not because she was entitled to it, but because
it was just.
Had she not persisted, insisted, and persevered, her story
would have never been told, just another face among countless others long
forgotten by history.
We cannot blame God for our failure if we refuse to do what
He instructed and commanded. We cannot lay our defeat at His feet when we
thought we knew better, or that we would do just fine in our own strength
rather than employing, relying, and resting in His.
If you’ve ever tried to put a piece of furniture together
and, in the spur of the moment, decided to ignore the instructions, welcome to
the club. It’s nice to have you. Although there may be one or two genius minds
among us who were able to complete the task without losing their minds, for the
most part, I think we can attest that had we followed the instructions from the
start, we would have saved ourselves a lot of time, frustration, and
despondency. It’s not fun when, after having spent three hours trying to put
your daughter’s Ikea bed together, it ends up looking like a coffin. Where did
the lid come from? Why are there hinges? Mysteries abound, indeed.
Another two hours taking it apart again, then swallowing your
pride and digging the instructions out of the trash, following the steps, and
wouldn’t you know it, a perfectly serviceable twin bed with storage drawers
materializes as if out of thin air.
The same principle applies when we strive to deepen our
relationship with God. We can either try to do it on our own, in a manner we
deem more direct or beneficial in our own eyes, or we can do it God’s way and
in the manner He laid out in His word.
We can either waste our time grasping at swirling mists which
have no substance and slip through our fingers, or we can go to the manual, and
follow the instructions that have been laid forth by those who once were where
you are, who had the same desire, whose purpose was similar, and who discovered
the right way to do it.
The sad thing is that many today would rather take
instruction from men than from the Word of God. Whether it’s because they think
the simple act of praying, seeking God’s face, and spending time with Him is
too mundane, too simplistic, and that there have to be some hoops you should
jump through to attain intimacy, or because they value the words of men over
Scripture, countless souls are racing down rabbit trails, all of which dead end
at some point, and at the end of their quest have nothing to show for it but
bitterness and resentment. Who’d have seen this one coming? Evidently, wearing
a homespun organic cotton tunic while standing on a three-legged stool and
balancing an apple on their head did nothing to further their spiritual growth.
Prayer would have though, because the Word of God says He hears our
supplications, He hears our cries, He hears our groans, and is responsive to
them.
As far as the speed with which we receive answers to our
prayers, there are determining factors many may not be aware of, especially if
they have no understanding of the spiritual realm, or if we’ve gotten it into
our heads that once we pray, the answer to our prayer should come as fast as
placing a McDonald’s order at the drive-through. If you have to wait more than
two minutes, even though the pimply-faced kid at the window informed that
they’d have to deep fry a whole new batch of fake chicken for your crispy
sandwich, come the two-minute mark, you start getting antsy, and by the time
five minutes rolls around, you’re downright apoplectic.
I ended my prayer three minutes ago. Where’s my answer?
Where’s my breakthrough? Where’s my miracle? I’m a busy little beaver, and
although the Word insists that I should wait on the Lord, that was before the
era of high-speed everything. Waiting is for the birds. It’s for those who
don’t know how to assert themselves. I’m going to give it five more minutes,
and if nothing happens, if I get no answer, I’ll just do it on my own.
It took the angel Gabriel three weeks to fight his way to Daniel,
to deliver a message because the kings of Persia had opposed him, and only then
succeeded because Michael, one of the chief commanders, came to his aid. But
sure, get angry at God for the store not accepting your expired coupon for a
dollar off a family-sized bag of Skittles, even though you prayed they would.
More often than not, complete knowledge of a situation
tempers the urge to be negatively reactionary when things don’t turn out as we
expected or within the allotted time we thought they would. When we begin to
understand that the spiritual realm is real, that angels and demons do battle
on our behalf, and that there is war in the heavenlies for the souls of men,
we’re more likely to show a bit more grace when there is a delay in a prayer being
answered or a situation being resolved.
Some men are graced with a glimpse beyond the veil that
separates the spiritual from the physical, and they’re never the same again.
They grasp the reality that neither God nor the hosts of heaven are inactive,
absentee, uninvolved, and unconcerned with the lives of men, but are wholly
invested in their defense, protection, and deliverance.
You are not alone, and neither am I. It may feel like it at times, but even when we are physically alone, we are by no means alone. Beyond the brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we fellowship and come together, there are the angels, the messengers, and the great cloud of witnesses watching with bated breath as we finish our races faithfully and receive our crowns in turn.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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