Christ’s Ambassador

What if David had been dodging every bear and lion in the jungle? What if he had been celebrating every escape from those animals with loud testimonies of ‘supposed’ God’s deliverance from beasts? What if he had allowed Jesse to loose a couple of sheep in the wilderness because he considered his life more precious than those sheep and he wouldn’t dare attempt to save them from death? Of course he would not have been judged wrong. Jesse would have been thankful for the safety of his little boy and the loss of sheep would not have been anything to him. David would have been a hero in the family for having the swiftness and tact to escape hungry lions and bears. Then he would never have been able to make the statement in Ps 144: 1 for he never would have killed any wild beast. With that attitude, even dogs would have caused him jitters if anyone was wild enough to attack his sheep. Maybe David would have remained a shepherd boy all his youth days until he was old enough to join the army like his brothers. And he would have also had to hide in trenches as the Goliaths of Philistines and other enemy nations curse the living God. Worse still, he would have worked against the purposes of God in his life by escaping the trainings needed to make him a vessel unto honor. 2 Tim 2:21 Think of this point when you dodge responsibilities and when you avoid taking risks at work, in your neighborhood and at church. Many Christians give testimonies for taking the easy way out of challenges but loosing the opportunity to get God’s strength for war and skill for battle (Ps 144:1)

Many years ago I was always having a re-current dream of being in school and missing examinations and even lectures at times. I was always disturbed anytime I woke up from such dream. I sought my brother’s help one day and brother Soji told me to tell God that I was ready for all my tests in life. So I prayed to God to help me face my tests with his inspired wisdom and strength. My own call to service was as simple as that. I had no dramatic display or vision of angels. I did not hear any supernatural voice in my ear telling me “Follow me”. The logic is this: No matter how brilliant a student might be, the school authority still needs the result of an examination to promote him to the next class. The student’s performance in a test or examination is still an indicator even to the student of how well he stands. His future career hangs on his performances in the tests he is able to pass. He gathers courage to face the higher challenges. He gets better at managing his time, his attitude to study improves and he learns to read and discern the expectations of examiners. He learns how to cope with failures also. With all these, he also develops the skills to help those who are in lower classes. This illustrates the purposes of life’s trials and the benefits of offering oneself to service even when such services are difficult and could be cleverly avoided.

David himself attested to the fact that his audacity to face Goliath while Saul and all the well trained and armed-to-the-teeth troop of Israel lay panting in trenches took root from his training in the wilderness when he ran the family business of cattle rearing. He rode on the assurance that God who saved him from the paws and jaws of those hungry beasts would also save him from the hands of Goliath and deliver the giant into his own hands. 1 Sam 17:37 He had faced lions without commendation from anyone before facing a killer giant with over a million people looking on. He would not have developed the courage to face Goliath the uncircumcised Philistine dog if he had not earlier on faced the uncircumcised bears and lions. God trains his children in progressive stages. He has the full picture but we could only follow him with trust as he reveals them bit by bit.

If he had not trusted God enough to risk his life for the few sheep of Jesse in the bush, enduring the pains all alone with neither spectator nor supervisor, he would not have been able to trust God enough to give into his hand the army of the Philistines as he risked his neck for the flock of God Almighty. In similar vein, if he had not proved faithful in the relatively lower challenges of keeping Jesse’s flock he would never have been trusted to keep the flock of the Almighty God. If your performance is mediocre, even if man promotes you, you definitely will miss God’s promotion which is the only promotion that is real, good and permanent. All good and perfect gifts come from God. Many Pastors desire to lead very large congregations, many evangelists desire to travel far and wide with the gospel and preach to large assembly of people countable only in acres, many brethren desire to perform signs and wonders and heal the sick. But sadly they fail because the path to these levels of spiritual height is infested with lions and bears which must be killed lest they destroy the helpless sheep. The path to great spiritual height is through selfless service and is full of thorns and thistles, things which the heart of man abhors. Jesus proclaimed the principle of heaven in Mark 9:35 that “ Anyone who wants to be the first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else”. This sounds foolish to the people of the world but the wisdom of the world is also foolishness to God.

David was to describe God, later in Psalm 46:1, as “A present help in times of trouble” because he allowed all the troubles that came to him to develop in him a solid faith in the deliverance of God. He allowed God to prove it in his life. He had to flee to the wilderness with caves and rocks as his places of political asylum as Saul sought his blood with the best of Israeli troop. Don’t forget he had also been anointed king of Israel by Samuel. But through faith David saw enough of God’s grace upon his life that he also developed a rare respect for the life of his enemy because of his resolve to honour God always. He wouldn’t kill Saul even when he had the opportunity to do so. 1 Sam 24:6,7 1 Sam 26:9. No one would have condemned him for killing Saul when his throne was also there for the grabs but he committed everything to God who says “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” Are you the type that runs down men of God, killing them with your mouth? Hear David “Who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one”?

His early desert training gave him the sound knowledge of the terrain such that when the hostility broke at the time of Saul and during Absalom’s coup, he had the strength of the body and the Spirit to survive outside the palace. Can you imagine a king leaving the comfort and luxury of his palace to live in the Palestinian desert exposed to the harsh weather and wild beasts? What is the reason many of our leaders want to hold on to power till they die on the throne? One of their fears is that they would not be able to survive the necessary downgrade of their luxurious tastes when the perks of office are no longer available. Most rich men could not fast for half a day to have deeper fellowship with God.

It shouldn’t be a surprise and neither should it offend anyone that David pleaded with the soldiers that Absalom should be dealt with gently. His tears and mourning after the death of Absalom was misunderstood by Joab the army commander and others because they forgot how David reacted to the opportunity to cause the death of Saul and how he mourned the eventual death of Saul and Jonathan. Saul had seen David as an enemy that must be killed but David kept on seeing Saul as an anointed man of God, king of Israel. The glory of Israel. He got his compassion and soft-heartedness because he faithfully walked and worked with God through the trials he faced and through the opportunities to serve God and the nation even at a risk to his life. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to [HIS] commands” Deut 6:5,6

Many of the challenges confronting believers today are in the same cadre as that which confronted David in the wilderness. He wasn’t compelled to do what he did to save ordinary sheep. So also you might have the opportunity to help and while helping in your own way which is good, there may be the chance to go the extra mile. Take the chance and don’t waste it. It is one of God’s way of calling you to greatness. There may be battles to fight. Don’t shrink back. Fight the good fight and contend for your faith. Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there. You still have a reward when you give the minimal help but you get the fastest growth and the greatest joy when you, for the love of God, go that extra mile. In your place of work, what gives you the purest joy and sense of accomplishment is the service that your employer does not pay for, the extra mile you exerts yourself to go, that finesse that shows your savoir-faire. In church don’t wait until you see an angel beckoning on you to come to Marcedonia to help. You don’t need to see a burning bush before you recognize the call of God to serve. To live is to serve Christ and to die is gain. There are needs everywhere staring you in the face. Those needs spell the call of God to you. Volunteer your time, money, experience, materials and anything legitimate that could meet those needs. It may be in the life of a brother or sister or in the running of the church. Well whose resources are we talking about anyway? God’s of course. What is it that you have that you have not been given?

Esther would have been on the right still if she sat back in the comfort of the palace just praying for the deliverance of the Hebrews but she would have missed her place in the list of heroes of faith. After all, the scriptures instruct us to obey constituted authority. The king made a lethal rule that whoever comes to see him without being invited would face death. Had Queen Vashti not lost her position because of disobedience to the king’s orders? But Queen Esther went the extra mile and it pleased God to use her to deliver his people. Nehemiah went the extra mile. HE offered himself prayerfully for service. Later, he forfeited his rations and allowances as governor to further the work of God and God used him mightily to restore the heritage of the Jews in Jerusalem. Remember all these when you revel in comfort zone, not daring to do anything that might cause you discomfort.

We should learn to look for purpose of trials rather than look for their reasons. We should learn to look for joy of service rather than working only for mammon. The body of Christ has become lukewarm. The world now sets the standard for the church. We must get the church back to her spiritual state in the Apostolic days. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever. The Holy Spirit is the same as well. How then did the church get to her present lukewarm state where men practice magic and deceits because there are no miracles? Men now teach the doctrines of men and practice vain worship (Mk 7:7). Men have gone apostate. Haven’t we tarried too long in the tents of Kedar? Wake up brothers and sisters, the night is gone. Be prepared for the coming of the Lord, we are in the last hour.