Every once in a while my pastor, Bishop McBath, says something that make me wonder how in the world he comes up with such phrases. Last Sunday was no different. “Not enough tissues for my issues” was a phrase he used in reference to how, if we as Christians do not understand our fundamental purpose in life, which is a relationship/friendship with God, we will be Christians who are trying so hard to fulfill our purpose the incorrect way. In short, wanting to "play" God. This in the long run will cause heartaches for ourselves and others, that we will not have enough tissues to address our issues. As I pondered on the entire sermon with a few chuckles picturing Bishop making this statement and acting it out, I have to admit, we do not have enough tissues for our issues. Our issues, as Bishop explained, stem from our lack of developing our relationship/friendship with God. This leads us to being so caught up in our own insecurities, competition with others, jealousy, anger, to mention but a few, that we become a liability in God's kingdom. And when these emotions begin to take root in our hearts, no amount of tissues will wipe them away unless we return to our fundamental purpose, which is developing a friendship with God, because it is in this fundamental truth that we find our identity.
Granted, we cannot be oblivious to the fact that in as much as we need to develop our relationship with God, we are also human and prone to manifest other issues every so often. However, the major issues that tissues cannot wipe, not minimizing the impact of the other issues, are those that deal with our purpose and identity in Christ. Should we choose to settle that dillema, we will need to be aware of what other issues to avoid-those that linger in the background, waiting to resurface at an opportune time, because they too can cause a whole lot of problems.
Granted, we cannot be oblivious to the fact that in as much as we need to develop our relationship with God, we are also human and prone to manifest other issues every so often. However, the major issues that tissues cannot wipe, not minimizing the impact of the other issues, are those that deal with our purpose and identity in Christ. Should we choose to settle that dillema, we will need to be aware of what other issues to avoid-those that linger in the background, waiting to resurface at an opportune time, because they too can cause a whole lot of problems.
1. Time: The writer of Ecclesiastes states, ‘There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. (Ecc 3:1). Some of our issues deal with timing. We are either too slow to step out in such a hurry, we leave God behind. However, we need to be mindful when God says, “Go,” “Wait,” and “No.” In His time He makes all things beautiful. There are major consequences of failing to understand the times of God and this is when tissues becomes scarce to come by. Praise God that He is a God of a second chance and He can redeem time. But what better place to be in than to discern His timing always. Listen to that small voice. It pays to listen to it every once in a while, actually, always!
2. Self Reliance: As Bishop talked about David and how one of David’s DNA/purposes from God was that of a fighter, I was struck by the fact that David always went to God, submitting his DNA before His maker before every fight. (I Sam 30: 8) The times when David was quick to rely on his own strength, his conscience was quick to condemn him (I Sam 24: 3-7). The times when he completely ignored submitting his DNA before God, it was disastrous (II Sam. 24) Seventy Thousand men died that day because of David’s self reliance and his refusal to listen to godly counsel. Talk about the responsibility one feels knowing they caused all the heartache. May we never be self reliant in the giftings God has endowed us with otherwise we may not have enough tissues to wipe away our issues because we destroy people's lives.
2. Self Reliance: As Bishop talked about David and how one of David’s DNA/purposes from God was that of a fighter, I was struck by the fact that David always went to God, submitting his DNA before His maker before every fight. (I Sam 30: 8) The times when David was quick to rely on his own strength, his conscience was quick to condemn him (I Sam 24: 3-7). The times when he completely ignored submitting his DNA before God, it was disastrous (II Sam. 24) Seventy Thousand men died that day because of David’s self reliance and his refusal to listen to godly counsel. Talk about the responsibility one feels knowing they caused all the heartache. May we never be self reliant in the giftings God has endowed us with otherwise we may not have enough tissues to wipe away our issues because we destroy people's lives.
3. Unforgiveness: One of the reasons I believe we find it hard to forgive is because we try so hard to make the other people "suffer" the consequences-the cold shoulder syndrome. No amount of "justified" unforgiveness will get God to side with us. One of the benefits of being a friend of God is knowing that we have the ability to walk in forgiveness to forgive othes. Take for instance the dispute between Paul and Barnabas over Mark (Acts 15: 36-41) Paul did not want to take Mark on this particular journey whereas Barnabas wanted him to come along. Regardless of the reasons of why Paul or Barnabas felt differently about the situation, one thing is clear-they both went their separate ways. Even though we are not told of how this situation was ever resolved, it is clear that Paul needed Mark during the later part of his ministry journey. II Tim 4: 11 says this of Paul referring to Mark, “Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.” Paul had to acknowledge his wrong, forgive himself and Mark before he could request his help. How many relationships are destroyed because of unforgiveness because we choose to look at things from "our" point of view and disregard others? If Paul was unrepentant, he would have been a man of many sorrows and never having mad a lasting legacy like he has done for the Christian faith.
The list is endless of issues that we can ignore that can affect us greatly in fulfilling that which God has called us to become. It is not too late though to turn the situation around. What we need to do is simple. It starts with God:
- Ensure that our greatest desire is to be a friend of God. This relationship is one that needs to be cultivated every day through prayer and reading the Word. Once this relationship is on the rise, we are more apt to walk with the mind of Christ and our actions will reflect such a transformation.
- We will also need to be honest with self and deal with issues as they come. Just because we have began a journey of developing a relationship/friendship with God does not mean we are issue free. For as long as we are in this body, be assured that we will need to go through classes designed by God which enable us to address issues to make us better, loving, caring, forgiving, and merciful people.
