Faith is the currency of breakthrough
The other day I was stressed up to the nines and one of my good friends asked how I am to which I basically grunted, “meh”. My logic here was that I was in such a funk that I would rather not put into words how bad it was lest I spoke permanency into my broke state.
A part of me wondered if things were this far upside down because I had made the same colossal mistake a second time (leaving a perfectly steady job to free up my time and follow my passion) but the other part of me knew the down time was inevitable but I thought she would have at least saved up some face paint for these guerrilla times.
So this friend of mine just smiled and reminded me of the story of Abraham and Sarah. Inwardly I thought “listen pal I’ve heard this one a million times okay” but his logic changed my attitude a little while later. He said that faith isn’t about denying the facts but it’s about laying them out on the table and choosing to activate your trust in God regardless.
Then a light bulb flicked on in my head, that was it! I knew what I had to do and that was to stop worrying about what could go wrong and start working towards what could go right. At this auspicious juncture I just want to point out the importance of having people in your life who can say annoying truths that you may not like to hear but that are absolutely valid and helpful when you are ready to listen.
Life group
So life group is basically cell group that got qualitative, in other words its cell group that went to private school. I attended my first session and had started to develop a tendency of dodging because I just didn’t have the emotional strength to deal with people who had to be happy to see me and act like they really cared about my life. It was a surprise when I attended a second session and saw that this wasn’t just a fancy way to call people out of their houses at night for absolutely no reason.
On Thursday evening I showed up to life group cold, grumpy and annoyed that a month later I still had to charge my gadgets elsewhere. If you want the truth I think I was there more for the guilt free charge-up than anything else and the birthday cake that had been mentioned on the whatsapp group earlier. Nothing prepared me for the bonding that took place over an indoor game of what felt like netball inspired air-soccer. The group leader really flipped it on its head and I can’t remember the last time I had laughed so hard or had so much fun without a drink in my hand or the loud “doo doo cha” (I’m a nineties baby and yes doo doo cha was a thing) in the background.
I’ve been a loner for most of my life and it’s been useful in some aspects but the truth is that there really is safety in numbers. I like the illustration that I saw in a sermon by Pastor Carl Lentz from Hillsong church, the sermon was titled “That girl is poison” and in it he showed a little impala-like buck and equated it to a lone Christian and the enemy was a hungry lion obviously in the business of devouring such buck.
It’s so easy to find yourself cornered while the enemy practically marinates you in preparation for skewered buck barbeque. If you’re not currently part of a cell/life group I urge you to at least think about joining one. These things aren’t an emotional inconvenience they are actually quite a useful support system and if you think you are so spiritual that you can walk alone with the trinity you are volunteering yourself into a shadowy valley of death. I’m not saying people are perfect or that you’ll make instant friends but I’m simply saying trust God to place you in a cell group that can impact your life because this God of ours is in the business of fortifying his sheep by any means necessary.
There is no such thing as powerless
We have unbelievable power as the creation that can think objectively, foster a sober mind and choose to be brave in the face of uncertainty. We were made to take dominion, to create things and call things which are not as if they are and be around to see it when the called things materialise.
The enemy only roars so loud when you can’t hear the still soothing voice of the Holy Spirit, when you start to load success onto your own strength as if you did something special to call your next breath into your lungs.
When I’m especially down I remind myself that if this was the end of the road I wouldn’t have woken up that day. That surely there has to be some reason why I am still here, maybe to crack a joke, to hold a friend’s hand, to scold a crazy Kombi driver or be elevated to the next level by some promotion I could never have anticipated.
My prayer today is that God reminds us of the power in our weakness, the power of believing in His word and the power he bestowed on us by fashioning us in their image. May we never contemplate suicide for lack of a purpose, may there always be an unexpected enthusiast who prompts all the right thoughts and relieves that pressure.Amen
