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WHEN FALLING BECOMES IMMINENT
RELIGION The Heritage July 21- Aug 16, 2008 p41
WHEN FALLING BECOMES IMMINENT
When falling becomes imminent in your life, just prepare to rise up. Those who are afraid of falling do worst; while those that are making effort to stand hardly fall astray.”
There is no place where people suffer a lot after detouring in the faith like in Christendom. Great men in the past have had terrible past or in other words, they had their own detouring moments, right from Adam, the Patriarchs to many people today in our modern day life.
Right from the fall of Satan; he has made it a duty to also deceive and make as many as he can to derail, detour and fall below the standard of the righteousness God has destined and prepared his saints to live up to.
According to Bishop Thomas Dexter Jakes, many destinies have been detoured because of so many things. Abraham detoured when he denied that Sarah was not his wife, he also detoured when he wished for God's purposes to be fulfilled through Hagar (Sarah's maid).
Jonah detoured when he started heading towards Tarshish away from Nineveh his original destination.
David detoured and brought shame upon himself. First he refused to go to war, secondly he slept with Uriah's wife and thirdly, he committed murder by engineering the death of Uriah, he also detoured by declaring a census, counting Israel against God's will (God had promised Abraham that his descendants will be as uncountable as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore).
But in reality what really makes such great men to take such irrational decisions?
1. Moral depravity: Ever since man fell in Adam, man has bee battling with the state of his moral life.
2. Loss of Vision: The Bible state that where there is no vision the people perish; another translation states that “the people live carelessly and walk aimlessly. It has been said that if you don't have anything to stand for you will fall for anything and everything.
Without vision a man's destiny can and will naturally be toyed with by himself and any other person he allows into his life territory. Vision has its root in hope for, you will develop faith for it, what you develop faith for, you will be passionate about it; and Love is the ultimate of all passions. Love has inspired individuals, families and nations to fight in order to win and defend what their hope is hinged upon. It could be for material wealth, corporate identity, fame and what have you.
Love has been instrumental for so many conquests. Even for the Love of woman; towns, kingdoms and Empires. Without vision falling becomes inevitable.
Lack of discipline: A writer once said that “Discipline yourself so that others won't have to do it” lack of discipline towards food, clothing and the opposite sex has led to the ruin of so many people, and this includes pride, arrogance and greed for money and material wealth.
Discipline means the culturing and streamlining of an individual to fit into a pattern of behavior and mannerism. One best way of describing discipline is with the illustration of a plant nursery, it takes trimming the plant, protecting it in a greenhouse and at a certain point being transplanted from the green house into the plantation; Where it will face the wind, the storm and the harsh sunlight. This marks the beginning of testing for the new young plant in an open unprotected environment. But its greenhouse experience also plays a very important role into what this plant will turn into.
So also every home and Church is like a greenhouse. Where wards and church members get groomed to face the real world.
The world by default is a failing world; even the media does not celebrate good news but the bad. They say “good news is no news, but bad news sells; stories like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Professor Adenike Grange and the N 300 million Health ministry scandal, former President Obasanjo and his daughter-in-law, the hurricane Catrina, hurricane Esther, the Tsunami, the Chinese earthquake, the Iraqi war, the September 911, and so many other cases about men of God that detoured. But where do we place the attributes of God when it comes to analyzing the deprave nature and fallenness of man in everyday life? Since God is All powerful, All knowing, Ever-present, Just, All-wise, the only true God, merciful, loving and everlasting Father of creation: do you think that He doesn't have or has not made provisions of grace and mercy for getting His children back on their feet? The writer of Proverbs documented that: “For a just (righteous) man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Prov. 24:16. But He was also quick to add a caution to the righteous that, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him (the wicked)." God Himself knows how best to deal with the issues of fallibility in man.
This month, the world's youth gathered in the UK to celebrate the South African legend and first democratically elected president of South Africa, Dr. Nelson Mandela, irrespective of his divorce situation with Winnie Mandela, yet the world celebrates his strengths and contribution to humanity. While we are slow to support; we also are quick to judge and condemn.
When Bill Clinton had his case with Monica Lewinsky, he still retained a good lead among the most influential and adorable personalities in the world, even ahead of the late Pope John Paul II. Charles Spurgeon stated in his book: “Lectures to My Students”, that even the ministers of the gospel go through their own “fainting moments”, when the fire just dwindles, when to pray becomes an issue, when to study becomes difficult, when relationship with brothers, sisters, and friends becomes estranged.
At such moments it will take God to help such a person practice the presence of God. Samson lost his vision, his freedom and his strength to the terrible distraction caused by a woman. Samson's Delilah.
But it might interest you to know that after Samson's come back it was recorded that he killed more people than before his fall. Judges 16:30b. “So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life”.
Things you need to know about managing failures, according to Jackie and Sheila. Working life is rarely a breeze. But don't be frightened of failure it can actually spur you on to make changes and help your career progress.
* Remember: every body is allowed to make mistakes. Promise yourself that if you slop up you will learn from it and put it behind you immediately
.* Failure can sometimes make you realize that you are looking for happiness in the wrong places and for the wrong reasons.
* The very act of accepting failure will turn it into success.
* The most frightening things about failure are the prospect of being judged by others, the truth is, other people are far less interested in your failure than you think.
* Don't over emphasize the importance of your failures: Other people's judgments of you will rarely be as harsh as your own.
* All “winners” are losers at times.
* Life is made up of successes and failures you are more resilient than you think.
* Be specific when criticizing yourself don't say, “I'm useless at that.” say” I made mistake but I did my best at the time.”
* If certain things you thought you wanted are not possible, ask yourself, what else is there? What else am I good at? What changes can I make at work that will make me really happy?
* Remember: failure is one of the greatest catalysts for positive change. It is not just when one commits a scandalous sin that he has fallen, if you fail to plan, you have planned to fail.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “where fore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” 1 Corinths. 10:12.
Falling becomes imminent when we are not wary of distractions. And such distractions are plenty which even includes “self” as the oldest archenemy of his destiny.
If nothing is working for you pray:
If you have done all the praying, work.
If need be; work and pray, pray and work and God will deliver you from all forms of evils. Amen.
By APOSTLE (DR) GENESIS API DAWUDA
e-mail: info@drgenesis.com
08028063695.
