Pushing Against The Rock

Dear lovely people,

“The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.” Says Samuel Smiles

From an unknown author, I read that there once was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Saviour appeared to him. The Lord told him He had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock explaining that he was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, and for many days he toiled from sunup to sundown; his shoulder set squarely against the cold massive surface of the rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man showed signs of discouragement, Satan as usual decided to enter the picture - placing thoughts in the man's mind, such as ``Why kill yourself over this?, you're never going to move it!'' or ``Boy, you've been at it a long time and you haven't even scratched the surface!'' etc. giving the man the impression the task was impossible and the man was an unworthy servant because he wasn't moving the massive stone.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man and he started to ease up in his efforts. ``Why kill myself?'' he thought. ``I'll just put in my time putting forth just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough.'' And this he did or at least planned on doing until, one day, he decided to take his troubles to the Lord.

``Lord,'' he said, ``I have labored hard and long in Your service, putting forth all my strength to do that which You have asked of me. Yet after all this time, I have not even budged that rock even half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?''

To this the Lord responded compassionately, ``My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you to push against the rock with all your strength and that you have done. But never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. At least not by yourself. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed, ready to quit. But is this really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled; your back sinewed and brown. Your hands are calloused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your ability now far surpasses that which you used to have. Yet still, you haven't succeeded in moving the rock; and you come to Me now with a heavy heart and your strength spent. I, my friend will move the rock for you. Your calling was to be obedient and push, and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom, and this you have done.''

When God’s children obey their Heavenly Father, He is glorified. Jesus told us that the plan is for others to “see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Of course, performing “good deeds” requires obedience to the One who calls us to good deeds. A Christian’s testimony of holiness is a strong witness that God is at work in the world.

Africa’s Heavy Duty Jokers

Dear lovely people,

A friend sent this message to me on social media and so I thought it would be great to adapt it for your reading pleasure, awareness and especially motivation to wake up to the realities of our African society today.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with Pentecostalism which in essence, places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism with the Holy Spirit neither do I have an objection to the new wave of Prosperity gospel which posits that financial blessing and physical well-being is always the will of God for believers, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth. I think these trends, emphasizes the importance of personal empowerment, proposing that it is God's will for his people to be happy.

At the same time, the fact that these doctrines are taken to extremes is gradually throwing Africa into the fangs of another form of slavery. Increasingly as Africans, we are becoming mentally lazy and our ability to reason scientifically is being incapacitated. If you doubt one bit of what I just said, read on...

Suddenly, almost all Pentecostal or Prosperity gospel Pastors in Africa won't talk about people like Usain Bolt or Serena Williams. They won't talk about Eto’o Fils neither will they talk about people like Steve Jobs or the young people in Silicon Valley reshaping our world. Even if you compelled them, they will not mention the tons of young American scientists spending endless hours in search of a cure to a disease that's predominantly in the Tropical African Region. For sure they will not mention obvious names like Bill Gates or Africa’s number one richest man Dangote who ranked number 55 on Forb’s 2016 list of billionaires even far higher than tyrants like Donald Trump whom I equally admire for his business prowess.

In every corner of the world today, there exist young men and women just like the few names I mentioned above who have defied all odds and become successful through hard-work, smart-work, creativity and dedication... The extremist Pentecostal or Prosperity gospel Pastors won’t talk about them......neither will they ask their members to emulate the spirit of these individuals.

They would rather talk about Sister Agatha who got a job she was NOT the most qualified for because she prayed and fasted in line with their church programme. Or Brother John who became a millionaire because he used all his salary as a seed in the church. Or Papa Miracle who he laid his hands on and 3 of his children got admission into the university.  Or Mama Esther paid her tithe and her business started growing by lips and bounds everywhere across the nation......no business plan, just boom, everywhere.

This is gradually leading to an obvious devastating outcome: a new breed of mentally lazy young people who now see God as a rewarder of absolute mediocrity. To such Pentecostal or Prosperity gospel Pastors, the only way to prosper is by paying your tithe and sowing seeds in the church. So they will never talk about those who have through hard-work and dedication placed themselves on the world map.

No......the African god only blesses the first 30 people that rush to the altar to drop $100 as seed. The African god detests hard-work and creative thinking, He only gives to those who sow seeds and offerings......and those who shout "I am a millionaire" every morning and do nothing the rest of the day because they are roaming the church premises ‘praying’.

Ironical isn’t it? God embellished you with everything talents yet you want The Same God to come down and help you use the talent He gave you for free and bless you because you are going to church to shout "Daddy, I receive it.. I claim it… It’s my portion etc." You all must be some heavy duty jokers.

Can someone tell these jokers that irrespective of your creed, faith or religion, blessings and favors follow you once you start using your God given talents and become useful to your society? Maybe change will start when it’s fully understood that God doesn't owe you a cent!

By the way, if this cap fits you, rather than wear it, I strongly recommend you read Matthew 25:14-30 which elaborates on the parable of the talents. Change might just start there.