Report from Chad
Pastor ‘Mbarra,’ our ministry partner in Ghana, recently visited a very poor community in Chad:
I preached to about 1,000 believers, encouraging them from Jeremiah 1:1-19. I reminded them that the prophet’s father was a failure, a rejected priest from Anathoth, a town reserved for rejected people. Yet God called the prophet from this rejected town to speak to five kings! When Jeremiah lost everything and was persecuted, his only encouragement was God’s promise (v.8): ‘Don’t be afraid, I will be with you and rescue you.’ Age, gender, tribe, experience, etc., are not the most important things. What matters most is God’s presence in our lives to accomplish great things to honor Him!
Even though it is not wrong to feel inadequate, our inadequacies should not lead us to despair. God chooses us to qualify us for what He wants us do wherever we find ourselves. Wherever God’s finger points, His hand will provide. But we all need to take heed of two cautions in the passage before us:
1. Never underestimate God and His Word. God’s word would surely come to pass. God never goes back on His word. Jesus is coming soon! We need to be ready!
2. Never overestimate evil. Evil cannot triumph in the end. Evil will disappoint us. It does not last. Clever alliances, cheating, and cutting corners will not help us.
If God gives the strength, no power of the enemy shall overcome (v.18). Like Jeremiah we should never fail to share what God has given us. We must be engaged in organic evangelism, having intentional love for others to bring them to Christ, making sure everything we do is an act of worship to God.We need to engage in critical thinking and be creative. Plan for the future. Take risk. Diversify the use of our resources. We need to work hard and depend on God until Jesus returns!”
To crown my sermon, I told them the story I heard about a king, who had an assistant who saw something good in every bad situation.
One day the king and his assistant went hunting in a far-off country. As they pitched their tent, the king buried his gold pot in the ground. They hunted several days to no avail. Then they had an antelope. In attempt to cut the tail of the animal, the king cut his thumb off. Guess what the servant said? He said: ‘It was very good you cut your thumb!” Furious the king insulted the servant and drove him away. Later that night, some armed robbers attacked the king and stole his gold. Before they left, one of the robbers proposed that they sacrifice the king to their idol. Just before they slaughtered him, they discovered his missing thumb, and decided it made him unsuitable for sacrifice. Thus the king’s life was spared. When morning came, he went searching for his servant. Seeing him under a tree, the king begged him to forgive him and recounted how he was spared by the thieves. The servant asked the king to stop thanking him! Instead, the servant thanked the king for insulting him and driving him away, because otherwise the robbers would have sacrificed him to their idol as he had both of his thumbs!
Whatever happens to us in life can be used for good if we walk with the Lord. It was no accident for Jeremiah to hail from Anathoth – a town of nothingness. And just as the Lord changed Jeremiah’s situation, in the same way He can help us today! We can be the Jeremiahs of our times!