Following God's Will (2)

…You go online, it’s flesh-edifying, and Spirit-defiling contents you find there. If you decide to watch the TV, you meet naked people, in the name of acting in movies. If you decide to read a magazine, the front cover would be littered with devils in persons of nude photographs. You decide that you do not want to feed your eyes anymore, you’d rather you listen to the radio, you’d be lost in the devil’s words, in the name of hip hop music lyrics.

The good we can do as believers is spread our wings to these places, and seek that the devil is driven and disgraced out of our media space! Let’s agree you’re too shy to speak to someone one-on-one about Christ, but your social media handles, what do you do with them? Do you just post trending topics, or you just post your edited pictures, and leave? On the other hand, do you talk about every other thing in your social media space except Christ? Dear believer, change! Jesus says in the book of Acts, “Go into all the world and preach!” I believe that includes the media space.

I remember doing something with my Instagram and Facebook pages, I was posting my daily activities on social media. I called it, “Day In The Life Of An Average Nigerian Lady.” If I’m not glad about anything I wrote at all, I’m glad about one particular Sunday. I talked about the Holy Ghost, and it happened to be the most engaged “Day In The Life…” I ever wrote! Click here to read https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02hX5VJ6HhFaco9ccFSBTbjZxFta657WXAHmcawD5xFevAhFJmQ89aoTkBttBFDwQBl&id=100025828625932. The engagement was massive on both platforms. Usually, one would expect that because I talked about the Holy Spirit, there would be little or no engagement on the post, and it happened that it was the other way around. Why am I going in this direction? It’s to tell you that if you have a particular gift that is geared in the direction of the media space, you should use the gift to the edification of the name of Jesus. Remember Jesus’ saying in Matthew 10:33 that, “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven.”

Dodging from speaking out about the life of Christ you’ve found is denying Christ. You’re always hiding in the crowd when you’re on mass evangelism. You’re scared of criticism on social media because you’re always mentioning the name of Jesus. No one is saying everything you post on social media should be about Christ all the time, but where I have a problem with is not talking about Him at all. This doesn’t just refer to Christian media creatives alone, but also to everyone who is on the social media space. You have so many followers on your media handle, and not for once did you mention Jesus in one post or the other. If you ask me, I’d say you’re denying others the right to know Jesus. You do not always have to preach. A simple statement like “Jesus loves you” can go a long way. Sometimes ago, when Pastor Nathaniel Bassey asked believers to post Jesus on their media handles, some other believers were attacking Him. It’s sad, really.

(There’s so much to say on this topic, but I believe with these few points, the Holy Spirit will explain and expand the rest in our hearts, in Jesus name. The Holy Spirit is releasing me here, so I gotta go. I believe sooner or later, the Lord would have me revisit this topic, and write more extensively on it).

Phew! Let’s relax here and take a deep breath. Sit back, unclench your jaw, and let your heart beat freely. I’m now getting to the reason why I’m telling you my story (though it doesn’t feel like I’m telling a story anymore). I’d spare you the boring details and get down to the major reason I stayed away all these while…

My heart was troubled. A lot happened. I was caught in between fulfilling God’s will and listening to my parents. Looking at it from the human point of view, listening to my parents only spelt “COMFORTABLILITY.” While following God’s will for my life spelt “DISCOMFORT.”

Staying at home with my parents, was free food, no bills, and wild enjoyment. But leaving them was going some days without eating good food (as in balanced diet), being short on cash for some weeks, being sad and lonely because you’re far away from your family, etc. However, I choose the latter. It was hard. It was a struggle with my parents. It was even a struggle with myself because I adored enjoyment and love being taken care of. To my parents, I was caught between being rebellious and being a good girl. Well, I gave them a little dose of rebellion sha (it wasn’t funny then, but thinking about it now, It’s funny to me). I was more of a good girl though because I needed them to see reasons and understand that I am not sending myself on an exile from my family, but that I’m sending myself into God’s will like Abraham did in, Gen 12, and Joseph in Genesis 37 (they were the examples the Holy Spirit gave me. Though Joseph didn’t know he was being sent into God’s will. In addition, the similitude of both fathers is that they had to leave their father’s house to fulfill God’s will, and it is the same with me). The only difference was that I knew the location God wanted me in. Abraham had no idea; Joseph, in fact, was sold to unknown men and had no idea where they were taking him.

I’m the firstborn, but it didn’t stop my parents, my mother especially from pampering me. She would always drum it into my ears saying, “I don’t want you to suffer.” That automatically meant enjoyment. They provided me with everything. Regardless of my age, they didn’t demand anything from me. They just wanted to take care of me until maybe a man comes to whisk me away or something.

I proceeded to the location God asked me to go to, but I was soon back home because I couldn’t handle the emotional torture and stress I got from home. Any call I got from home sent shivers down my spine. I was praying that God would touch their hearts, and make them see reasons why I chose to sacrifice the comfort of my family to stay alone and live on, “God said.” (‘God said’ means the word God spoke to you about you). When I couldn’t take it anymore, I went back home. Little did I know God was already touching their hearts. The moment I got home, I discovered I was stuck. This time, the torture was physical when I said I was leaving again. They couldn’t understand. They just couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried to explain, or how simple I made it look. It was in the place of prayer I discovered I shouldn’t have gone home in the first place (remembering it now, it doesn’t hurt, but as at then, I felt so bad I couldn’t keep my mind straight. I felt bad because I misinterpreted the peace I had when I had earlier prayed inquiring if I should go home or not). I now started re-praying that God would touch their hearts. Some weeks later, he did, and they sent me off with blessings.

Well, it seemed to me then like I had my freedom when they finally let me go, but it wasn’t until I got back to my God-ordained location that I knew I didn’t have freedom. I thought I had freedom; meanwhile, I made a SACRIFICE. The moment I stepped into my room and sat down, I cried (once again, for those who’re conversant with me, you’d know crying is one of the hardest things for me to do. Some people feel I’m hard-hearted for a lady because I don’t shed tears easily. Whatever happens that has the power to make me cry has to be very strong, deeply painful, or deeply intoxicating). I cried because I missed my family. I cried because it wasn’t easy following God’s will, especially when it takes me out of my comfort zone. Now, I’m glad I made the decision. The reason God asked me to leave my fathers’ house is now becoming clearer. I remember my family once in a while and I sigh, but there’s no going back, except He asks me to.

What is that thing that the Lord has been nudging you to sacrifice for Him? Is it your time? Your relationship? Your food? Your family? Your freedom? What exactly?

Wait! I didn’t just decide to leave my family. I was acting on, “God said.” I spoke with my mentor and my spiritual father. I sought counsel. I didn’t just jump into conclusion without proper advice. Likewise, do not jump into conclusions so soon about God’s leading, lest you end up with broken bones, internal injuries, and visible bruises because you didn’t wait to get instruction from God, and take counsel from counsellors. Proverbs 11: 14b says, “In the multitude of counsellors, there is safety.” Most especially if it’s a very critical decision you have to make, the spiritual authority over you have to be informed. Don’t keep them in the dark, and if you don’t have one, start praying that God leads you to one.

This is me admonishing you to try as much as possible to follow God’s will for your life. Sometimes, it’s difficult. But if you know how God speaks to you, and you’re sure HE sent you to do something or you were sent to a specific location, although it sounds bizarre, you only need one tool, “TRUST!” Trust God!

Shalom.