Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Worthless offense .. Fickle Treasures



3rd of June, she got into an argument with her husband, and by the time they where half way through, she started wishing he had stayed a little longer at Abuja from where he just returned, after being away from home for 1 week.

30 minutes later, he was headed out the door, needed to get out and sort out “more important matters” that have been left pending in his absence rather than sitting at home and arguing  with her…”women and their wahala!”, he must have thought.

She was so upset! Offense had found a seat in her heart! Etching deeply! “How can he say that to me!! How can he think that of me??” …The stage was set for the play of the week…. “RENOVATION OF BODY PARTS – cold
shoulder… long face…pouted mouth….bitter heart…hard head and rolling eyes!” 

10 minutes after he drove off, confirmed reports filtered in, indicating that there had been the fatal airplane crash that had just taken the lives of 153 people, coming from Abuja to Lagos!!

Goodness!! “It could have been him!! It could have been anyone” she thought! At that instant, nothing else mattered but that her husband – her love, was alive and well, safe and sound back home!! Alive enough to  be annoying! Alive enough to have a fight with!! Alive enough to reconcile with! Text messages had never been typed this quickly  - Her message read ; “Thank God you are back home! Thank God you are alive! What would I do if I ever lost you!... sorry about the argument, I just realized that I misunderstood what you were trying to say. Please let’s forget about it and move on. I’m just happy that you are back safe and sound, every other thing is trivial. Life is the most important! It’s a gift from God.. I love you so much…”
 
And she meant every word of it! Because set side by side with issues of life and death, the cause of the offense harbored became so irrelevant! So worthless!

It got me thinking, 
how many times have we held on to issues and nurtured offense in our heart like a mother would a child
 How many times we have helped to water, cultivate, and bring to harvest the seed of offence that had been laid in our hearts 
Oh, how many times we have deprived ourselves of the joy and weightlessness that forgiveness brings!
For On that Day, when we all shall stand before our Master, all the issues of life as we know it, will be like “NOTHING”!
All our hustles, bustles, hassles, deals, runs,” levels”,“swagger”, everything will equal to NOTHING –
 It is then that we will know that “nothing” is actually a sum total of some things! 
Things of no spiritual relevance multiplied by infinity equals to nothing!

Permit me to make a preposterous statement! 
Heaven is only for the Rich!! Yes o, I said it!
Permit to clarify my  statement; God who will judge our wealth level, has his own standard of judging wealth; “ for His ways are not our ways”.
It won’t be “Your acct 1234567678 has been Credited With N50,000,000 On 31—May-12, 12:01pm by XXX. Bal:=  N 101,000,00”
Far from it, it would be an assessment of treasures that cannot be quantified by human systems! 
Heavenly Treasures that are immune to moth, rust, theft and fluctuations of economic systems;
Remember, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also..

And so, out of the ashes of these tragic events, let us rise
and walk in Newness of Life!

Walk in Grace, Live by Faith, 
Dwell in Joy, Have divine Peace,  
Walk in righteousness, Believe God for the impossible, 
Practice forgiveness, Be anxious for nothing (but with Thanksgiving make your request known on to God),
Be prepared for War (for we wrestle not against flesh and blood), 
Put on your whole armor of War, Walk in Victory, be the Overcome you have been called to be, Rule and Reign like the King you are,  
Release offense, Play the fool (for He uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise)….

Life at best is brief…. In an instant, with a crash, a bang and a boom, All that we could see, GONE!
What counts now is all that we can’t see…”For what is seen is  temporal, but what is unseen is  eternal” 
Get over yourself already! Ask for the grace  Live the Christ-like life! Aka the “Love-life”
Stop being impatient!
Stop those acts of wickedness
Stop being jealous!
Please do not brag and stop all the “formings”
Stop being rude, selfish and self-centered too!
Why are you easily irritated and resentful? Always keeping record of wrong doings!
Stop condoning evil and start standing for and rejoicing in truth!
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Love stands the test of time;
Love never fails!! It lasts forever! It never ends!

How blessed are we to be offended, for it is the priceless
opportunity to exercise Divine Forgiveness…
May the Grace of God, rest and abide with us now and
forever…l