ECG

The cursor blinks, reminding me that this piece will not write itself. It’s not that I have nothing to write rather how do I write it. I mean I see it, feel it but I’m not really getting the words to express it.

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, KJ’1769 Rom 4:16

It is of faith that it might be of grace..

I like to steer clear of discussing grace despite implicitly writing about it. I find there’s less a storm if certain things are presented parabolically than bluntly. Moving on…..

In the medical field is a law called the all-or nothing law. It stipulates that for an impulse to be carried by a nerve or muscle, the stimulus must be above a certain threshold otherwise it nothing will happen. The stimulus has to be high enough for it to register a response. If it’s pain, heat, smell etc, it has to generate enough stimulation at the nerve ending for an impulse to sent to the brain. This could also mean that taking a pain killer might not necessarily cure the pain instead simply raise the threshold of pain. #Justsaying

Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of the simple foundational things of our faith. It is easy to chase the big God, big visions, big faith projects etc. Granted, we all (at least should) believe to see the bigger things in life. But what happens when these things don’t show up? Or conversely what happens when these “big things” shadow and cloud our vision and cause us to miss the bigger picture?

Yes, we know about waiting on God and all. But for how long are we gonna be comfortable (or not) waiting? It’s 2022, there’s AI and 3D printing. There’s Starlink being setup. There’s robots doing the sorting at Amazon and Alibaba with plans in the works for drones to start making deliveries. 5G internet has been rolled out, the iPhone 14 has more processing power than a laptop from 5 years ago. There’s multiple apps for ordering cabs, delivering food etc. Convenience has never been prioritised as it is today. And yes, Corona really did change the world.

With such a backdrop, how long are we gonna be comfortable waiting in a world where convenience and speed are like the mantras. It’s either happening now or it’s not happening. I’m not sure there’s much trending in waiting.

But consider the other side too… One of being too taken up by the big things and completely missing out on the bigger thing. The disciples were so taken up by this new kingdom that when Children showed up to say hello to Jesus, access was denied. Because, after all, when you think about it, what child is gonna understand about kingdom- right? I mean Nico had issues grasping it yet he was a mega teacher. How much more these children?

It is of faith that it might be of grace. It’s not of force or a broken record. It’s not of zeal (without knowledge) or endless wishing. It’s neither of busyness or pity. Faith is not pulling another blanket while waiting on God, anyone thinking like this hasn’t understood faith. As extreme as it might be, faith is not extremism. In his wisdom, God has crafted and maintained the perfect balance for in him all things have their proper place.

The empowerment to push on and obtain the promise is birthed in faith. It’s faith that strengthens us. It is faith that pushes us not the reverse. Zeal must be undergirded by knowledge, and the right knowledge at that. It’s of faith that it might be of grace. Faith is the precursor to the grace necessary for the desired results. We coming in from a culture where people feel the need to do (or appear a certain way) so as to be relevant but that might not always be the case.

But I’ve also found that it’s easy to be caught up in the other things around us. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by situations and matters pertaining to this life. It’s easy and happens often where we start something believing but later we either abandon it or find ways of finishing it by means that were not part of the “believing” we started off with. Sometimes we just have to “get back to reality”.

For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed in (trusted in) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living and right standing with God). AMPC Rm 4:3

Abraham believed in God and it was credited to him as right standing with God. Look at The Message Version….

If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, “Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.” If you’re a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don’t call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it’s something only God can do, and you trust him to do it— you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked— well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. MSG Rom 4:2-5

It took more for Abraham to keep believing. We always talk about his age but Abraham was a wealthy man. He was not believing because he had no option. Getting a second wife was not an issue both financially and culturally. The means to procure or procreate a child were well within his means. He just chose to go with God’s way and not his way – and that right there was faith (and it took guts)! And in that faith, he got the strength to keep believing – not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb. It was this faith which empowered him.

Sometimes results are not the answer. It’s not so much in what we can do as it in how much we have believed. It’s not so much about our passion or zeal as it how much we have really believed. God is not justified or vindicated by what his mighty hand can do. If He said it, he’ll do it- guaranteed!! The question here remains, where do we need to position ourselves to remain in right standing with him?

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