1 Thessalonians 5:18. In every thing give thanks: for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Well the weather is behaving just as inconsistently as us! (smile) Yeh, yesterday it didn’t morph into any bright and sunshiny skies, just remained dark and dreary. Now today, after a foggy, drizzly night, the sun is out there trying to overcome the dark rain-filled clouds. Who knows which aspect will be victorious eh? Only the good Lord at this particular time, but we’ll find out eventually.
Yeh friends, that’s the way we live a lot of our life, not sure what’s happening in our present or future, and only understanding it when it becomes our past. As Cousin Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say; ‘you live life forward, but understand it backward.’ And that’s certainly the truth…if you understand it at all. (smile) Anyhow, enough of me, let’s hear what the ordinary workingman has to say this cloudy Friday morning, as we run through the month of a very calamitous October.
And as usual, he opines: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday and work soon done for a couple days! It’s good to see another weekend, although there still isn’t much to do in it, but stay home and stay safe, for the Covid-19 numbers not coming down appreciably even though some of us still in phase 2 of the lockdown. In fact, the average cases actually going up, and some four major hospitals have outbreaks of the virus now. Ah Lord, what is happening eh? An’ people still refuse to wear masks, wash dem hands and stay away from crowds, the only things we currently have to somewhat control the virus So what yuh expect eh? Steups!
But as my old mother always use to tell me: ‘Son, when yuh don’t hear, yuh does feel.’ And believe me, plenty times when I didn’t hear her, I certainly felt her! (smile) And is the same thing that’s happening to us as a society now. We not listening to the medical advice, what little we have, so people still living in fear of the tiny li’l virus that yuh can’t even see with the naked eye. What a knowledgeable and revolutionary society we’ve built eh… Hn!
The trouble is that though we society so advanced and so flashy looking, we still only full of heifer dust! And as they say, if yuh put a pig in a palace, it still going to be a pig, and still going to behave like one! But with a small man like me, all I can do is try to keep my family safe yes, and say thank God for Fridays and weekends oui!’
Ah mih bredrin, when you have a preponderance of sin, foolish pride, greed, hunger for power, and a lack of godly principles in a society, there will never be peace nor stability. And those are the things which are currently running rampant in our society, so it’s no surprise that we are in such a distasteful and disastrous situation. And how do we solve our calamitous situation eh? I just came upon a couple verses of rather appropriate scripture, some prayerful words ascribed to the prophet Daniel, when Israel was suffering the consequences of one of their disobedient spells; seventy years of captivity in Babylon.
Daniel prayed: ‘O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city (Jerusalem) which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do (listen and act); defer (delay) not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.’ (Dan. 9:18-19)
Yeh friends, it seems that it’s only in our dark and dreary times that we remember the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so it is in these times, many who had turned away from God, for whatever reason, are now crying out to him for help and succour as they go through unprecedented and very unfavourable times. And those of us who have remained faithful and steadfast during the exodus from God’s fold, we too need to get very prayerful. As Bruh Paul said to the Thessalonians: ‘Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.’ (1 Thess. 5:16-19)
Ah mih people, those are not easy rules to follow, but if we want to be successful in this life, we ought to follow them as best we can, obviously with the Lord’s help. Hear these explanations from the scholars. ‘5:17. Pray without ceasing… the believer ought to remain in an attitude of prayer though not always praying audibly.’ That means praying at intervals throughout the day. ‘5:18. In every event or circumstance (thing) the Christian is to give thanks to God for the good He can bring out of the event, even should the event be unpleasant. The constant attitude of prayer, mentioned in verse 17, will help the believer to maintain gratitude in the face of adversity.’
Yeh friends, it’s not a matter of giving thanks for the adversity, although that will help us grow stronger in faith, but more for the fact that God can bring good from all our adversity. Remember the famous scripture that promises it. ‘And we all know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) So we need to be prisoners of hope and hang in there. And as per quenching God’s Spirit, we must ‘not stifle, suppress or hinder the Spirit’s workings by stopping Him from leading us to rejoice (vs. 16), to pray (vs. 17), to give thanks in adversity (vs. 18).’
Oh my fellow saints in Christ, it’s in those times of dire need that we need to listen to the Spirit’s leading and guiding more than ever. So let’s put some of that into action right now nuh, by going to God in prayer and supplication, making our needs, wants, fears and anxieties humbly known to Him through our Friday Chant.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. Yuh know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and the racial strife causing. We not accustomed to that kind of life Lord, and it really telling on us. And we know we can’t handle it on our own, that we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets.
So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, so that we can avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways.
It’s also a good opportunity to introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Now if we were really sincere in that prayer, then we need to go out and behave like faithful believers, handle the situation the way Christ desires, so that others can take example from us and come to Him. Much LOVE!
…talk is cheap…but action needs sacrifice…let’s see some works with our faith…
SCRIP-BITS 