Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Faith vs Foolishness

I am one year older today, November 27 th . As I reflect on how God has been so awesome, I remember how not so long ago he asked me to take a step of faith (human foolishness) for my future. I struggled and wrestled with the instructions. I asked for a better job (I already had one) that would be more fulfilling, He asked me to quit the one I had. I wondered how this could be. It does not make sense; I need to hold on to this one till I find something better. It still paid the bills, Lord, I said. Yet, I had no peace till I finally obeyed and handed in my notice. Weeks later, I was getting calls from top industries in the fields I loved. I traveled to 3 states within 1 weeks attending interviews. I had 1 job offer from a company in Boston and 2 job offers from companies in Baltimore. Then the hard part (ya... right) which one to choose. They all wanted me! (To God’s Glory). The rest is history!

But my dear Father is not yet done with me, I have yet again asked to take another step of faith which when I accidentally share with colleagues I am pulled aside for a temperature check or literally called stupid. Needless to say, I stopped sharing. They do not understand how my Father works. Tell you the truth… neither do I. But I only obey and leave the consequences to Him.
So what is your step of faith in God or human foolishness? I’ll like to hear about it…

17 comments:

Akin said...

Faith is stepping out when there is nothing to step on. It is easier for the human mind to embrace what makes sense - logical thoughts and events. Events and acts that defy logic are considered foolish and crazy. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

Now do we do dumb stuff in the name of faith? Absolutely. Where do we draw the line, and how do we tell the difference? I recommend the book "Faith, Foolishness, or Presumption" by K.C Price - the bible of course is our first and primary source of knowing what to do (the footsteps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord).

Akin said...

Oops! I forgot to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! So how many candle sticks do you have on the cake?

simplynues said...

Candles on cakes? I tried to light tongues of Holy Ghost Fire on unleavened bread instead...!!!!It is healthy too...lol
I need to read the book. From experience tho, I can say that foolishness is going about your own personal desires without clear instructions from God. Yes, we do do dumb stuff in the name of Faith. But if that Dumb stuff was a clear instruction from God, then you have to obey...right? I think what is foremost is discerning if one is stepping out on personal assurance or blessed assurance.
1 Corinthians 25-31 Says For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, he things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in hrist Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

Now if you do not read vs 24 "but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God"
Therein lies the problem ( or it is solution); "to those who are called." Thus do not step out on the ledge (right spelling?) without clear instructions!
For consider your calling, brethren...
Let's heard the story people...

XtianDoctrine said...

I'm not sure I worry so much about us (Believers) having difficulty distinguishing between faith, foolishness, and presumption. What I'm more concerned about is that very few of us do actually have that struggle. We mostly live our daily lives, and make everyday decisions based on what makes sense. With due respect to Simplyneus, how many of us really take huge steps of faith? Don't we always have a Plan B in case God does not answer? If we are really honest with ourselves and critically examine the decisions we make on a daily basis, we'll all agree that they are mostly far from being inspired or guided by faith.

How many of our sisters will marry a man that has nothing to his name, speaks bad English, wears green socks on red shoes, and probably has tribal marks? How many brothers will marry a sister who earns much more than he does, has a child from a previous marriage, is of a different ethnic background, a lousy cook and has hemoglobin SS? And the list goes on....

simplynues said...

It is scary to obey. I am some what of an obessive planner (yes I said). To obey and submit to the will of God which takes me out of my loop is definately difficult. I have notice tho that He is increasing the level of testing and thus dealing with different aspects of my life. Faith in God for me is trusting and not having a back-up plan. I have bitten my tongue and put all my eggs in one basket. In this case I had only one egg and a very small basket. There are plans B and C but when you hold out on those trusting that God would come through with HIs plan A. Is it hard? Yes!I would also like to add that sometimes it is easy to obey when you are already at the point where you do not have a back-up plan. All other plans have failed and not you have to surrender to the inital plan God had. That is not a test of faith. God uses that method to bring people back to Him

simplynues said...

Oh... my handsome dad has tribal marks and my mom married him (I heard he was a great catch on campus), wears bifocal since age 30 but is definately not color blind and his english is well polished.

Akin said...

Then it was culturally fashionable for men to have tribal marks.........in fact the more and the thicker the better....it was their own form of accessorizing.....

But would you marry one.....ah ah..?

simplynues said...

Why not? After the honeymoon we'll schedule an appt with a plastic surgeon. LOL
But seriously tho, what's wrong with it?
I am yet to hear your story on Faith or Foolishness Xtiandoctrine and Akin

Akin said...

You want my testimony of faith? Here you go..

THE DAWNING OF A NEW YEAR…………MY TESTIMONY

When the clock struck, and the bell announced, the dawn of a new year, the year 2006, like every other family, me and my family had aspirations for a prosperous new year. Of course we made new resolutions, just like the lyrics of that old song, “…..to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly…..” We had dreams and desire that need fulfillment. Infact we were also expecting our daughter, Enioluwa, who’d soon arrive on January 31st. But a brand new house was never in the picture at all. Yes I wanted one, and I’d love to have one, but it was what it was…..a pipe dream.

We’d only been in our townhouse for about 2 years…..although I already loathed the neighborhood………and making the mortgage payment had been only by the grace of God. We just could not afford to buy a new house, I successfully convinced myself and my wife……although I’d move out of that townhouse in a hurry….if only we could.

The love lost between me and the townhouse was borne out of so many things, chief of which was the incidence that happened about a year after we moved in…….our minivan’s windshield was smashed and broken by some unruly neighborhood kids and none of those kids nor their parents ever owned up to doing so. That was the last stroke that broke the camel’s back. After that incidence, every single day we had to stay in that townhouse, was a torture for me. I hated my neighborhood and detested the townhouse. And I vowed never again to live in a townhouse.

But all I could do was to dream and wish. I dreamt that one day we would pack out of that neighborhood to one where neighbors are honest and their kids are under control. I dreamt of owning a 5-bedroom single family home with a two car garage and its own driveway. It was only a dream and I never thought it was going to happen so soon.

I believe in writing down the things I’d love to have……putting before my eyes the picture of my future has been my practice…….So I went and got me a picture of the type of single family house I’d love to have and together with a picture of my two kids dressed up for church and a fine luxury car, I created, using Photoshop, a picture of my two kids standing and holding hands in front of a single family house with a two car garage with a luxury car parked in the drive way. I made this picture the background of my desktop computers…….at home and at work….....So that every time I use the computer…..which is almost all the time…..I see that picture. In fact my kids would ask me, “Daddy is that our new house and our new car?” To which I’d answer, “Yes! It is our new house and our new car.”

That was I guess July, 2005. Then came February 2006. I was talking with a friend, who is a realtor, and of course, the subject of the real estate market came up. He told me how easy it was to get a single family house. Of course I brushed it aside, telling him he was only trying to make money out of me. I told him we couldn’t afford a $500,000 house at that time and also that no bank would give us that kind of loan with my credit history…..I had a lot debt, more than one credit card maxed out.

A few days after that conversation, I was, again, with my realtor friend as he went around showing homes to one of his clients. This client of his had worse credit history than myself and didn’t make much more, in terms of income, than I do. It got me curious. So afterwards I contacted mortgage companies to help run the numbers on a $500,000 home loan. One of them came back with the news that it was very much possible….if I was able to sell my townhouse and use the equity to payoff my debts.

The news pleased my realtor friend. So we started looking for a single family home in a very good neighborhood. There were many homes in the market and he showed me a lot of them, but one in particular caught my attention. It has 5 bedrooms, a finished basement, a two car garage, and a private driveway. The inside looked even better…the interior decoration was excellent and there was even an extra…the backyard has a playground with swings and all sorts for kids…..and the seller was going to leave them all. I loved the house, and so did my wife of course……but it was going for about half a million dollars, which to us was a lot of money. So I asked the realtor to put in a contract on the house. In the contract I told him to request for $15000 as closing help from the seller.

“You must be kidding me. No seller is ever going to give you that kind of help,” was my realtor’s response. Well I didn’t think so myself, I was only asking for that amount simply as a form of a “fleece test”. I was really very scared of taking on a home loan of half a million dollars but I wasn’t ready to let my realtor know that of course. So the only way I knew to back out of the deal was to ask for an outrageous amount as closing help, which I thought was going to be turned down. After much hesitation, the realtor put in the contract asking not only for a $15000 closing help but also that we would only close on the house if I was able to sell mine.

Lo and behold the seller agreed to both requests. If I was shocked you need to see my realtor’s reactions………he simply couldn’t believe it. Well now that I’m caught in my own tricks there was no backing out of the deal. I had already deposited $2000 and I didn’t want to lose it. So I asked the realtor to find a buyer for my townhouse. Within 4 weeks my townhouse was sold……and it wasn’t even listed on the market……I made about $45000 as equity on the house. With the money I paid off all my debts and still had a lot to spare.

Then the day for closing on the new house came, it was on a bright and beautiful day in April. The seller gave a closing help of $15,000 which covered the fees and all the charges for buying a house…..my out of pocket cost was only $1,300. Like a man in a dream we went through all the paperwork and was handed the keys to our new 5-bedroom single family house and we took ownership of the home of our dreams. It was much later that my wife pointed my attention to the fact that the house looks exactly like the one on my desktop computer…….Who says dreams don’t come true?

Within 8 weeks we had sold our townhouse and took ownership of a half a million dollar home, had all our debts paid up and we never once thought it was going happen so soon.

If you are looking for an example of a miracle, you need not go any further. This is the grace of God in action. God moves mysteriously to perform all of His wonders.

simplynues said...

WOW...
NO more roll house and town house shopping for me!

simplynues said...

Xtiandoctrine...care to share?

Akin said...

I guess Xtiandoctrine is silent because he is shy to share all about the numerous testimonies of faith he has experienced. The same probably goes for Adetayo and the rest of us..

adetayo said...

Not true, Akin...I'm silent not because I'm shy to share my testimonies of faith but because I'm busy with the business of life...I have tooooo many testimonies of faith to share...actually everyday for me is a walk of faith...I'll get round to sharing some of my testimonies sometime....testimonies full ground for my life...

XtianDoctrine said...

Shy? Me shy? Not at all. It's just that in the past couple of days I've had to travel in opposite directions with the winds of life.....Anyways that's quite a lame excuse.

I do indeed have a "garawa" - i.e a drum - full of testimonies of faith. But since everybody is giving a schpill on their faith in action I think it's good to show my own foolishness in action.

Very early in my christian life I did so many dumb stuff - and even now eons after - in the name of zealousness. One that stood out was the attitude to my academic work. I was in the second year of medical school when the Lord saved me. Right away I was head and feet immersed in college christian activities: weekend crusades, round the clock evangelism, all night prayer meetings, long hour quiet times, etc etc. Well these righteous activities took time - precious time away from my voluminous medical school work. I played catch up all the time, missed many lectures, had huge holes in my class notes, and did very little study. Well, as you may have imagined, I paid very dearly for my foolishness. To bring me back to my senses I escaped - barely - failing the 2nd MB (the 1st major exam in Med School comprising of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry). Unfortunately I did not give heed to God's warning signals. Continuing in my holy quest I refused to change course and face my studies. Well His rod of correction came down hard on my bare back in subsequent exams - Public Health, Pathology, Pharmacology etc. I banged, banged, and banged until I came to my senses. But it was really too little too late - wasted years, money down the drain, and gave the Kingdom of God a bad name.

As Believers in Christ we need to learn to balance our lives, maximize the 24 hours God has given us, and excel in all human endeavours.

Akin said...

Talk of foolish deeds...I am chief.

My own zeal was wrapped within foolishness....Zeal without knowledge the bible calls it. My uncle, with whom I lived most of my life, was a very early person -he left for work at 6am those days. Well it was at that same time I had my quiet time....well not so quiet because I was all over the place "cabashing" in a very loud voice. Now my room was right across from the dinning area and my uncle took a light breakfast before leaving for work. Although I knew he was there having his breakfast but I wouldn't come out of my room to give him the customary "Good morning Sir" courtesy, rather I would keep hollering away in tongues - binding and casting all manners of principalities and powers.

Well this continued on and on until my Uncle could not tolerate it any longer. I was banned from ever praying at home. My free access to the family car was withdrawn (that was actually another long story of my foolishness), my pocket money was slashed drastically and eventually suspended altogether, etc, etc, a very long list of consequencies for my foolishness.

I've learned a lot since then and I'm still learning today.

simplynues said...

Faith vs Foolishness...
Have you ever had to take a stand that the world says Foolish and the Lord says Faith.

john said...

Simplyneus I'll advice you to follow your guts and your convictions. Dream killers are out there ready to snuff out your dreams. The man that first came up with the theory that the earth was round was actually killed - the conventional wisdom at that time was that the earth was flat.