FROM LEPERS TO HELPERS

FROM LEPERS TO HELPERS

(Written by Rev Dele Kolade, Member First Baptist Church Oyo)

How can a horrible terrible negative situation be turned around to become positive and admirable one? What are some of the divine principles to turn our negative situation around for the best? We shall textually explore 11Kgs 6 and 7 to identify the timeless radical revolutionary ideas that will help us unlock the hidden virtues and potential in us which can accelerate our breakthrough, and catapult us to the level God wants us to attain. We shall take a retrospective excursion to (Samaria) the capital of Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet and see how the power of God can turn negative situation to positive one. Come along –

The Shakings are for your Makings – One of the problems we have is getting the right definition of our situation, understanding what we are passing through. Sometimes we wrongly conclude that every negative situation we go through are meant for our destruction, but the truth of the matter is that some shakings are for our makings. Jesus’ comment on the man who was born blind, that his situation was meant to glorify God was not only a misnomer but also a big challenge to the popular worldview of his day. Jesus is by this comment bringing a new perspective to the way we see situations and interpret events. Some seemingly negative situations are meant to accelerate our progress. Some of the challenges you are going through rather position you well to receive the supernatural touch of God. Your current problem makes you the right specimen for miracle. Lets get down to Samaria to x-ray the situation and the intervention.

Besieged but not Deceased – Samaria was besieged by the Syrian army, the resources from the outside seized, and the movement of the people curtailed. The intention of the enemy was not only to limit the people but to also psychologically suffocate them and reduce them to less than nothing. The Samaritans were surrounded but they never surrendered. One good thing about problem is that it help bring out all that is in you. Sometimes when you are confined you are better defined and refined. You can not know all you are capable of doing until you are squeezed beyond your limit. Hunger and sufferings in Samaria revealed the cannibalism in some people, some mothers, in order to survive went as far as eating their own babies. It is problem that can separate disciples from the multitude. Values and morals are better revealed in problem situations.

Why this and why me? – In the midst of problems, actions are taken and questions are asked. The questions of why? become very prominent as people try to understand what is going on with them. One important thing about the Samaria situation is the fact that the problem was not linked to any particular sin of Israel. It was not that they sinned against the Lord that they were besieged. The question of sin is out. There are things you go through that are not as a result of some sins committed. It is good that we ask questions in our problem situation but it is better we wait for divine answers to those questions also.

Intervention by Information – If there will be a release there must first be a decree. Right information is a prelude to transformation. The first verse of the chapter seven introduces a radical transition by an authoritative declaration of the prophet. “Thus says the Lord” is the key to unlocking the transition and the transformation. It doesn’t matter what others says, including your reasoning, what matters most is what the Lord says. What you are saying, what friends are sayings, what doctors and scientists are saying are only hypothesis, its only God who have the final say. What God says will surely stand, and no one can decrease what God decrees. We shall believe the report of the Lord and not the comments of men, for God watches over His words to fulfill them even to the punctuations. Divine submissions may sometimes not fit well into your human “logarithm” of doing things, it can simply blow up your mind. The unnamed senior minister of Samaria who disbelieved was cut off the provision of God because he ignorantly underestimated the divine ability. You can not figure out what God can do or limit Him based on your human understanding. He works beyond the locus of human reason.

Tomorrow by this Time – No matter the situation, if you are by God’s side, there will surely be a dawn of a new era, a new beginning and a turn of the tide. There will be a sanction from heaven, that your sorrow must end with an immediate effect. God gave a 24hour ultimatum to the Samaria’s sorrow, and that settled it. Be rest assured, no matter how humanly absurd it may sound, God will not start a thing He has not finished. What is written in His word is settled and finished already, it is only left for you to proclaim and claim the provisions in His word. God is not limited by time or by space, but because we live in time and space, He has married His purpose with His time. To experience God, you must know Him, know His purpose, and understand His timing. You need to wait for Him for he will not tarry. Hasting brings wasting, but those who know their God will patiently wait on Him for He makes everything beautiful in His time.

Lepers by the Gate – One of the things we do when we encounter difficulties is to compare and complain. We are tempted to think that we are going through the most difficult situation in the world, but the truth of the matter is that we are not alone, there are people with bigger trouble than we have. We have a lot to discover and learn from the situation and action of these 4 lepers by the gate of Samaria. There are some key things we must discover from the lepers before we can recover the divine supplies for us. Lets examine them succinctly –

Ø Their Situation – We must first note that the lepers seem to be the most disadvantaged. They couldn’t stay in the city because they are socially unfit to even stay inside the besieged city. Their problem seem to appear in the capital letters. They are outcast, voiceless, and in human terms most hopeless.

Ø Their Location – The issue of location is of a great importance when it comes to receiving your divine allocation. Transition, and transformation are relevantly related to locations. In human terms, the lepers were in a more dangerous location, giving the fact that they were not within the security of the wall of the city. In reality, although they stand the danger of many things, they were closer to the blessings than those within the walled city. Strangely enough, the first hard lesson we have to learn here is that most of the things that keep us from God’s touch are things that we rather think secure us from danger. We are not yet ready for the divine move until we are ready to let go our “self”, “shell” and “wall”. The confines must be removed to enjoy the divine. There is nothing more limiting than the self made wall we have constructed around our own selves. The threat of the enemies without is not as powerful as the wall we build around ourselves. Deliverance from self is more challenging than deliverance from demons. What you seriously need to urgently discover as an individual is the self made wall you have made around yourself. It may be an ideology or an habit that God will first want you released from.

Ø Their question – The lepers engaged themselves in self interrogative conversation. They questioned themselves, their actions and values. The popular saying that an unevaluated life is not worth living is a strong assertion. You need to ask yourself questions about your values, position and actions. Sameness is a cancer that must be eradicated for progress to commence. Some of the problems we have are problems of the mind and perception. Some of us need a complete overhauling of our worldview, mindset and perception. Why do we do what we do? Why are my not getting results? Instead of asking ourselves questions we are comfortable with shifting blame of our failure on others. Any time there is a problem we tend to immediately look without instead of first looking within. The lepers did well in that they were frank to challenge themselves instead of blaming others for their woes. Their question was not about the city that is closed against them, or the army ahead of them but rather about their own action and position. You are your own biggest enemy, and not until you conquer yourself, you will not be able to move forward.

Ø Their Options – Every day we make choices, and it is these choices we daily make that determines the direction and situation of our lives. The fact still remain that you choose what you become. Even when the beginning is rough, you can maintain the roughness or change the tide with your choices. You can choose to be a looser or choose to be a champion. The lepers had three options, to go back and force their way into the city and die of famine, to sit still and still die or to move on and either be killed by the Syrian army or be spared by them. Usually, in most situations, we are faced with similar options, to move on, go back or do nothing. It will interest you that indecision is also a decision, it means you have chosen to sit still. When you withdraw into yourself the meaning is that you have gone back into the city where you stand the danger of being killed by famine. Some people, when the fall, they make their falling ground to become their burial ground, they throw up their hands and easily give up any attempt to get up and get going. Life is about challenges, options and choices and it is your decision that determines your direction and condition in life.

Ø Their action – We sometimes fail not because of lack of dream or vision but because of lack of action. It is not enough to wish or dream, it is necessary we take action when required. Large number of people are still where they are because they are living in the dream land and busy planning to be and to do without actually reaching out to work out their dreams. Procrastination is a liability that disguises as an asset. It has been described as a thief of time but it is also a destroyer of vision and aspiration. It is a waster that must be fought with all whim. The lepers were not just day dreaming, but in a twilight, they really got up and practically went forward. There is an action the Lord want you to take now and you must discover it NOW!

Ø Their assumption was an Illusion – Do you know that most of what we are afraid of, in reality don’t even exist. What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of being afraid or trying out a new thing? Do you know that those who are afraid of death are not qualified to live? What is stopping you from reaching forth is not in existence, it is a fiction and figment of mere imagination. The reason why you don’t know it does not exist is simply because you have not yet taken a step forward. Your fear will fizzle out as you reach out of your cocoon. Hear this, “And when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria , behold there was no man there”. What a great discovery to the lepers! Your fear do not exist, that is the reality, but it will take a walk of faith forward to discover this. You can not know until you move.

Ø The ally’s Intervention – It is most soothing to know at the time you feel most lonely that afterwards you are not alone. Before you set off the Lord has set in already. In this journey of life, you must know that you are not alone. There is a power beyond you that is around you to both protect and fulfill you. The Lepers were not alone, for the Lord had already fixed the problem before they reached the camp. What was the arrangement here? God made the Syrian go round, gather a lot of resources from nations around, and dump them at Israel’s door. When God sets into a negative situation, He turns it around for our positive promotion.

Ø The Lepers’ Propagation – It is not enough to be blessed by God, the blessing must make you go beyond yourself. Life is what you can give and not just what you can grasp. You must be able to impact others with what you are given by the Lord. Have you ever thought of what you can also share that you are not sharing? You must proclaim what you have discovered, recovered and acquired for the benefit of the whole humanity. Not until you begin to proclaim and impact others you have not yet attained.

STRATEGIC DISCOVERY PRAYERS

Based on what you have learnt so far from the passage, navigate in prayers to appropriate divine touch and blessings in the following prayer points –

ü Lord help me understand who I am and what I am going through currently.

ü Help me see the positives in my negatives

ü Speak into my situation oh Lord!

ü Bring an end to my pain and sorrow.

ü Help me oh Lord to make right decision that will accelerate my breakthrough.

ü Let all set backs of my life become setup for my greater breakthrough.

ü Take me beyond myself and make me positively relevant to others.