"Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity."- J.I Packer
High highs and low lows
The summer of 2024 is up there amongst some of the hardest I've ever lived through. Frankly, I don't think I did much living... I was merely just existing. I struggled a lot with a lot of things. The transition to post graduate life was not as seamless as I had hoped. The year in general was not going great. I couldn't find much stride spiritually either. I told my dear friend, "it feels like something or someone else has been living through my body... I don't recognize myself." When August came around, I was tired to the bone. Something had to give and I had had enough.
You see it takes you going through certain life experiences to truly comprehend what a particular verse or passage of scripture actually means. Paul writes in Philippians 1:6 (AMP) that "I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return]."I have always understood and spoken about this verse but this summer made me fully grasp it. You see through this time, I had heard clearly the Holy Spirit instruct me to return to my former university for another year to complete my masters. For a host of reasons, I had fallen out of love with the school and it was the very last thing I ever wanted to do but it was too clear to ignore so I obeyed and here I am.
As the days turned to weeks in August, I became determined to right the ship. I couldn't continue to live as I had all year. In that same phone conversation with my friend, she listened to me detail all that was going on and I remember it like yesterday, she said "Pelumi, it seems as though you are forgetting who you are and to whom you belong." That statement led me to begin to study Romans again. You see we have a tendency as believers who have been in the faith for a time to know scripture but lose sight of them when we need them most. I had to go rediscover what it actually meant to be a CHILD OF GOD as well as WHO GOD IS and what a journey of rediscovery it has been. J.I Packer writes in his book KNOWING GOD that "disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you."
In this time, I feel truly born anew. I may compare it exaggeratedly to being blind for a long time and having literal scales falling of and being welcomed to a world of color and splendor. There is a significant difference between knowing about God and knowing who He actually is. It transforms our approach to everything. Learning about who God is makes you understand why it was easy for men like Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego to openly stand their ground about what they believed. It becomes easy to see why the Apostles and Christians in the early church were so willing to give up their lives for what they believed. Understand that these things are not normal. In my study of J.I Packer's book, I rediscovered Philippians 3 vs 7-10 and it sums up beautifully the kind of lives people who KNOW their God lead:
Philippians 3 vs 7-10 (NIV)
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
"Knowing a little bit of God is better than knowing a lot about Him" - J.I Packer
If there is anything you leave with after reading this, I would like you to reflect on the fragility and fleeting nature of the life we have. I would like you to sit with your thoughts and understand that the work we do, the clothes we have, the money we save, the cars we drive, and the places we travel to are all great blessings from God BUT are material and ultimately will not matter in the grand scheme of things in eternity.
We are given all these things to lead lives that are a reflection of the God we serve NOT for the comfort of it. Why would a mighty king dance with all his might like David did? Why would a man be willing to sacrifice his only son like Abraham would've? Why would a man have the courage to speak to the sun to stay in place like Joshua did? What did they know; rather, HOW MUCH DID THEY KNOW about our God that inspired such a lifestyle? The deeper we search to understand who God is, the clearer it becomes that this life we live is truly not our own (Offered to a Deity by Theophilus Sunday).
Here is a custom playlist; "I won't lose, I won't lose Faith."
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