DEFYING THE ODDS
In 444 BC Nehemiah, a Jewish official in
the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes, led in the rebuilding of the wall of
Jerusalem. They were opposed by Tobiah and Sanballat, some of the king's
representatives in that land. They used such weapons as lies, intimidation,
misrepresentation before the king, and ridicule. At one point they even resorted
to the sacrilegious tactic of hiring a prophet to prophesy against him. Shemaiah
the prophet, purporting to have received a revelation from God, sent to call
Nehemiah to join him in hiding in the temple of God because some people were
after him to take his life. To this Nehemiah replied,
"Should a man
like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I
will not go! I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied
against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him "(Neh. 6:11,12 NIV)
Neither
Nehemiah nor his people caved in to the weapons of their enemies. They defied
the odds and persisted in their mission. After 52 days, their mission was
accomplished.
Various
things often come our way which seek to hinder us from pursuing our respective
assignments. Apostle Paul sums them up as, trouble,
hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword. He continues the
list by adding such facts as, life, angels, demons, the present, the future,
powers, height, depth, and anything else in all creation (Rom. 8:35, 38-39).
Throughout
history many people defied their own kinds of odds to do what they believed to
be their divine assignments or duties. Abraham defied an uncertain future to
leave all to undertake the journey which finally landed him in Canaan. Moses
risked royalty in Egypt to identify with the people of God. Mordecai, Daniel,
Shaddrach, Meshach, Abednego all defied related odds in connection with their
faith. In what appeared to be foolhardy stances, these people saw death and
destruction pass by with the doors of promotion and exaltation opening to them.
Not
everybody had the testimony of having their godly defiance being rewarded by
extraordinary turn-arounds in their situation. Hebrews 11 tells us of those who
refused to give up and suffered all kinds of tortuous deaths. Yet, even in
their dying moments, they rejoiced.
What
were their secrets? Basically they knew their God. They knew what He required
of them. They knew what He had called them to do or to accomplish. Anything that
came between their God and themselves or what He had called them to do was the
"odd" thing; and it had to be defied.
May
children of God, like Nehemiah who referred to himself as "a man like
me", know who we are in Christ. Don’t forget how Joseph bluffed to his brothers,
“What is this you
have done? Don’t you know that a man like me
can find things out by divination?” (Gen. 44: 15
NIV) Let us not desire too much the easy lifestyle and assume it is
the sign of God's blessings on our lives. Neither should we compromise our
positions when faced with any odds in life nor lose heart when such odds
surface, assuming we have been abandoned by God.
So
then, defy every odd with the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit. As much as
is possible, keep doing what God has called you to do. If this is not humanly
possible find alternative ways of discharging those things. You remember what
Jesus said, “Occupy
till I come” (Lk. 19:13)
Remember, "a man/woman like you" should never give up or be cowered into a corner by any situation or circumstance.
Applying these lessons to myself as
I await my miracle, I remind myself regularly in the words of Nehemiah that, "A man
like me should/should not ..." Through the power of the Holy
Spirit, I am determined not to allow paralysis to hold me down. With the little
mobility and functionalities that I have, I endeavor to “keep on keeping on.” For
things I am not able to do, I endeavor to find other means of doing them.
One
of my greatest personal philosophies now is, "Where my feet cannot carry me, my prayers and writings must go"
