WHEN GOD SEEMS SO WICKED OR DOES NOT SEEM TO CARE (PART 3)

THE STORY OF THE FERN AND THE BAMBOO One day I decided to quit. I wanted to quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality…I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me. "Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" "Yes", I replied. "When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. “In the second year, the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In year three, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. The same was the case in year four. Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant. But, just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall! It had spent the five years growing roots beneath. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.” “I will not give any of my creatures a challenge it can not handle. Do you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.” “Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose apart from the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful. “Your time will come." God said to me, "And you will rise high" "How high would I rise?" I asked. "How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked me in return. "As high as it can?" I questioned "Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can." I left the forest, realizing that God will never give up on me. Never regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness; Bad days give you experiences; Both are essential to life. If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

WHEN GOD SEEMS SO WICKED OR DOES NOT SEEM TO CARE (PART 2)

3. A test of faith – The example of Job in Job 1-42 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works to the end, to him will I give power over the nations: Revelation 2:26 - Job was subjected to multiple afflictions just to determine the limit of his faithfulness to God! - His servants (staff) were killed by raiders who stole his 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys. 1:15 - Fire consumed all his 7,000 sheep as well as some of his servants. 1:16 - Another band of raiders made away with his 3,000 camels and also killed some of his servants. 1:17 - His 7 sons & 3 daughters were all killed in a collapsed building. 1:18-19 ALL OF THESE HAPPENED TO JOB IN ONE DAY! - He was afflicted with painful boils from head to foot. 2:7-8 - To make matters worse, his wife tongue-lashed him for his faithfulness to God in the midst of their woes. 2:9-10 - Even his closest friends castigated him and presumptuously blamed his misfortunes on his sins - But Job kept the faith in the midst of it all and forgave all who had unjustly criticised him. - And God restored all he had lost to him double-fold. 42:10-17 SOME ATTRIBUTES OF GOD God is Omniscient - Job 24:1, Hebrews 4:13 God is Immutable – He does not change - James 1:17 God is Just - Deuteronomy 32:4 (KJV) God is Merciful - Lamentation 3:22-23 God is Faithful - 2 Timothy 2:11-13, Lament 3:23 God is Good, and does good - Psalm 119:68 God is Caring - 1 Peter 5:7 HOW TO GET OUT OF THE “GOD DOES NOT CARE” TRAP Do a Soul-searching, then Repent from and Forsake Sinful Habits – Proverbs 28:13 Be Prayerful – Philippians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Have a Change of Perspective – know that it could have been worse Develop a Habit of Thanksgiving – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Have a Change of Attitude – Count it ALL Joy! – James 1:2-4

WHEN GOD SEEMS SO WICKED OR DOES NOT SEEM TO CARE (PART 1)

REFERENCE SCRIPTURE Job 5:6-7 For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground; Yet man is born to trouble, as [surely as] the sparks fly upward. SOME LIFE SITUATIONS THAT MAKE GOD LOOKS SO WICKED/UNCARING 1. Prolonged job search 2. Delayed manifestation of a future partner 3. Having a tough time in marriage 4. Having a tough time in business or at workplace 5. Poverty and Lack 6. Being misunderstood every time 7. “Feeling” Unappreciated 8. Unfulfilled Dreams etc. etc. SOME REASONS WHY THESE ARE SO 1. A test of character – Joseph’s example in Genesis 37, 39-41 God does not use an untested vessel - Joseph was not popular among his family members - He was hated by his own brothers - He was sold as a slave by his own brothers - He was thrown into prison for an offence he did not commit - He was forgotten in the prison by someone whose dream he helped to interpret - He was eventually elevated and honoured above all his adversaries 2. The purging of the soul/punishment for sin – The example of David in 1 Samuel 11-18 - David had an illicit affair with the wife of Uriah, one of his subjects, and had him killed at war in order to save his face when she became pregnant - The first child the woman born to him died, despite his earnest prayers and fasting (1 Samuel 12) - David’s son, Amnon, raped his step-sister, Tamar (1 Samuel 13) - Absalom, Tamar’s brother, killed Amnon in vengeance for the defilement of his sister (1 Samuel 13) - Absalom later declared himself as king of Israel and caused David to flee the city for the wilderness (1 Samuel 15:10-18) - Some trusted friends and counsellors of David deserted him to pitch their tents with Absalom (1 Samuel 15:31) - David was cursed and stoned by Shimei while wandering in the wilderness in fear of his son (1 Samuel 16:5-8) - Absalom slept with his father’s concubines on top of the house, in the full glare of the public! (1 Samuel 16:20-22) - David lost another dear son, Absalom, when the rebellion was eventually quenched (1 Samuel 18:32-33) - All of these, and other misfortunes, befallen David because of the sin of adultery and murder that he committed

THE LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOIL THE VINE (PART 4)

The New Living Translation (NLT) puts it simpler thus, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done!” So take a step of faith, cast your net into the deep, and do that thing you have been putting off for so long TODAY! And you will be surprised to discover that YOU are the one who has been delaying God from blessing you all along, not that He doesn’t care or slow in hearing as you probably thought. Nothing moves until you move. A tortoise cannot make progress unless it puts out its head and legs out of its shell. So get out of your shell and break through into your blessing. THE LAW OF SEED AND HARVEST Another way some of us unwittingly delay or even truncate our miracle is by our blatant violation of the ageless law of seed and harvest. God Himself decrees in Genesis 8:22 that “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” This law of seed and harvest is as immutable as God Himself; it does not change. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). But it is amazing how often we deceive ourselves by despising the effect (result) while nurturing the cause that results in that same effect. Have you denied someone in the past when you shouldn’t have? You can be rest assured that you will also be denied too, if you are not being denied already. Have you wronged, robbed, cheated, condemned, judged, short-changed, or done something untoward to someone in the past (no matter who the person is), you will reap the harvest of your thoughts and (in)actions in due time, if you are not reaping it already. And we all know that the harvest is usually bigger than the seed. This is one major area I think we usually fall short and thus shoot ourselves in the leg. Granted, God is merciful, but He is also a just God. I have the privilege of having read the bible a number of times, and one of the discoveries I made about God is that He is not a fair God; He is only just. Now that may sound unreasonable to some of us, but it is the truth. We all suffer the natural consequences of our shortcomings from time to time albeit the fact that we have sought forgiveness and have indeed been forgiven their eternal consequences. We will get to reap the harvest of the seeds we have sown in the past or are sowing presently, either good or bad, at one time or another. That is why it always pays to do good and be good. Even when you are the one that is wronged, you are not expected to wrong your offender in return because by so doing you will only plant a seed of wickedness whose harvest you will reap in time. Little wonder the Bible is replete with several passages that command that we do not repay evil with evil. SINS The final reason we shall consider as one of the ‘whys’ for unanswered prayers is sin. Most of the times we shoot ourselves in the leg by our sinful indulgences in thoughts, in words, and in deeds. The bible says ‘God is angry with the wicked everyday’ (Psalm 7:11), how then can you hope to get anything from Him if you are always rubbing Him on the wrong side? Little disobediences here and there: an evil or lustful thought you allowed to roam in your heart, a wrong word you said to or about someone, an harmful deed you planned for or did to someone, or your blatant disregard for the injunctions of the bible. These are ‘the little, little foxes that spoil our vine’. But we often do not know. Another way that sin robs us of our miracles is through the little compromises we allow from time to time. You see, God tests us now and then to see the disposition of our hearts in relation to Him. He tests our faithfulness, our commitment, our loyalty, our maturity, our patience, and our preparation, among others, before committing certain things to us. How we fair during and after the moment of trial is what determines whether we are ripe for the blessing or not. God does not use or commit things to an untested vessel. If you run through the bible, you will see how true this statement is. Just as we have to write exams to pass from one class to a higher one, so does God examine us or allows the devil to tempt us from time to time with circumstances and real life situations. If you fail, the miracle is aborted or miscarried at that point, but if you overcome, it is delivered to you. However, because of His infinite mercy, we are usually presented with multiple opportunities to prove ourselves worthy so that if we fail at some time, we may overcome at other times and so obtain the goodies of that victory. In conclusion, I encourage us all to examine ourselves impartially to see that we are not falling short in any of these areas of spiritual leakages so that we can be able to say that we have indeed ‘done all to stand’ toward obtaining our miracle. Thanks for reading. God bless you. Shalom.

THE LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOIL THE VINE (PART 3)

We do not pray enough, fast enough, give enough, serve enough, or do enough of what is required to get our miracle. We do not fill our clouds with enough water so that they might burst out and rain upon us in return, nor do we push our tree with enough force so that it can fall down and create an impact that will speak for us. ASKING FOR THE WRONG THINGS “You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3). Some of us seek after or ask for the wrong things in prayer. God is a good God. And it is because of this His goodness that He does not give us those things we frantically seek or pray for. He knows that if we should get them, they might harm us or ultimately deprive us of getting to heaven. And knowing that no earthly pleasure – which is at best for a lifetime – can compare with the everlasting glory He has prepared for us, He will not stop at anything to ensure that we partake of this glory, even if it means denying or disciplining us at times. It is therefore important for us to know that He is not under any obligation to satisfy all our whims; rather He is only obliged to supply our needs as a caring Father. NOT QUALIFIED/MATURE YET TO HAVE IT Some times, we behave like little children and ask God for something we are neither matured nor equipped to handle. Imagine a ten-year-old boy asking for a car? That is the picture some of us present sometimes in our prayer requests and aspirations. We ask for and aspire after what we are not mentally, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, financially, or socially equipped to manage. And when the One Who knows best and has it all decides not to release them to us, we whine and complain all day long, doubting if He really cares as we are made to believe. There is a world of difference between anointing and character; the possession of one does not connote the ownership of the other. A popular saying says, “Anointing can launch one to a height where character is not able to sustain him.” Such is the case when we ignorantly seek certain things at a time that it may result in our humiliation or public disgrace to the point that we will not have the courage to ever venture up again. God is omniscient, and because of this attribute of His, He knows the appropriate time to give us everything we will ever need for life and godliness. But due to our limited knowledge, we often strive, scheme, and struggle for what we cannot hold on to at a particular point in time. It requires wisdom to know the when of everything we desire in life. Imagine if Daniel had prayed for the liberation of the captives at Babylon at their 20th or 40th year in captivity, he would have only been praying into the future because God had already decreed that the captivity would last for 70 years. And any activities to turn around the captivity before the appointed time would have only amounted to an effort in futility. Wisdom is knowing the appropriate time you are due for something and aspiring/praying for it then, not before or after, “Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise in heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him” (Ecclesiastes 8: 5-6 NIV). MOTIVE Another reason we often do not get our hearts’ desire – regardless of our fervent prayers or sacrificial service – is because of our motive for seeking such things. We see in James 4:3 cited above that God does not honour prayers asked amiss or those that are meant to gratify our selfish whims. And though we may present our requests to Him as if we are striving for the benefit all, we should also reckon with the fact that He is all-knowing and sees into the inner recesses of our hearts. One of the most liberating scriptures I came across in the few years I have been studying the bible is 1 Samuel 16:7b. It says, “For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Man considers the action, the appearance, the outlook, the seen, and the ‘what’ of people and things, but God looks at the motive and the ‘whys’. Some of us pray to God to bless us so that we can spite or ‘show’ someone who has offended or denied us in the past. God does not answer that kind of prayer. Whatever He blesses you with, He meant to be used for your benefit and the benefit of those around you, friends or foes. So if you want a speedy answer to your prayers or a quick reward for your service, check your motive very well to know WHY you desire that thing. If your motive is genuine enough, or you need that thing for your purpose or sustenance in life, God will be more than willing to grant it to you. But you need to really settle this issue of motive first because God cannot be deceived; He knows those things you are not saying with your mouth. I once read a write-up where the writer said an angel told him that they hear the thoughts of men more loudly in heaven than what we say with our mouths on earth! Can you beat that? NOT TAKING A STEP OF FAITH Even after all is said and done, and we have done all we possibly could to get our miracles, some of us still short-change ourselves by not taking the necessary step required to get our desire. We procrastinate by crying, whining, and bemoaning our lot in life, to whoever cares to listen, and lament about all we had done to get this or that without any result. The truth is that God is not impressed by tears and complaints. He is moved only by faith. The bible says ‘without faith, it is impossible to please God’. And because we have not yet grasped the import of the bible’s definition of faith as “the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen” (Heb 11:1 NLT), we wait (tarry?) for the time when it is going to look like it before we take any step at all, and therefore languish in abjection for as long as that may be. Listen my brethren, the best time to do anything is NOW. Don’t wait until it looks like it before you act, otherwise it may be too late by then. The bible says “He who observes the wind will not sow. And he who regards the clouds will not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4).