THE FAITH LADDER

Dear diary,

"The substance of things hoped for

 The evidence of things not seen

 Without it no man can please God

 It was by it the men of old pleased him."

As a child, yours truly watched a lot of cartoons, the likes of power puff girls, courage the cowardly dog and dexters laboratory were my favorites. They made me laugh at the time and I can still remember some episodes even to this day. One of such cartons was Super book. It tells the story of two kids and their Robot friend on an adventure with the people of the holy book (do I have a witness in the house?). One beautiful episode I remember is the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac.

We have all heard the famous story of Abraham and his son, Isaac but have we really put it in perspective in relation to our daily lives?

Abraham was 100 years old when Sarah his wife gave birth to baby Isaac. First off, in a typical Nigerian setting, Sarah wouldn't have lasted that long as Abraham's wife. I mean being barren for such a long time? Abraham's people would have gone to marry like 2 more wives for him. Haba! Being rich without a heir?! It's unheard of.

Even before Isaac was born, God was always telling Abraham "I will make you a father of many nations, I will bless you..." And Abraham waited upon God still. Some of us in this present day would have gone against God's will. It sounds ridiculous to be waiting upon someone you cannot see but that was how strong Abraham's faith was.

And when Isaac was born, God now told him to use him as a sacrifice unto him. Chai! He waited for more than 50 years to have Isaac and now God was telling him to sacrifice him?? Sounds absurd yeah? But Abraham did not waiver one bit. He got up the next morning and set out for the mountains with Isaac and two servants. Along the way he told the servants to wait behind while he continued with Isaac. 

As they journeyed, Isaac asked his Abraham, "father we have the wood and the fire but there is no lamb." Abraham replied "The Lord will provide."

           

Yeah you can close your mouth now, I was also surprised too. He wasn't even sure how the day would end but still he trusted God. Let's continue.

When they got to the place of sacrifice, he built the alter and tied Isaac to it. As he drew the knife about to slay him, an angel of The Lord called out to him, 

"Lay not your hand upon him nor do him any harm. For now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your only son from me."

Abraham looked back and saw a ram tied by its horns in the bush. Indeed, The Lord did provide!

So much faith!!! 

Is there anybody in this day and time that will offer up a child that they've be waiting for 15-20 years old for sacrifice? We normally hear people say "that was in those days, it cannot happen now..." But we still worship the same God of "those days" so what has changed? Certainly not God. 

God blessed Abraham for every step he took on the faith ladder. His blessings were so much that every time someonevtried to hurt Abraham, such a person was visited with troubles and plagues. Abraham believed God even in the most impossible situations and God never failed him. 

If he could have faith in those times when there was no insurgence, wars and insecurity how about us in this day and time? We have troubles and instead of us to trust in him we prefer to go to one native doctor that cannot take care of himself to make us rich. Like Dr R will say "Really?!"

Then again we say we have faith and we refuse to work *sigh*. Human beings have too much issues but still he loves us anyway. The good book says faith without works is dead. Abraham showed his faith through his works therefore if you want to show forth your faith, do it in works!

On a lighter note, what an awkward moment it would have been between Abraham and Isaac on their way back home after Abraham tried to kill him. 

I have shared my 2 cents on one of the things I learnt from one of my favorite cartoons. I hope you have learnt something too.

Gracias.

THE MILITARY IS RECRUITING!!!

Dear diary,

Have you heard? The military is recruiting!!!

The military consists of the navy, army, Air Force et others. They go to war and try to defend their territory. They know they may die in the process but still, they are willing to fight. They leave loved ones and families at home to go to different parts of the world to fight.  Yours truly has always dreamt of one of them as the rib finder seeing how brave et courageous they are. Now, she's no longer sure. Hypertension is not that easy to manage and having le boo out there exposed to any and all sorts is sure to raise the pressure.

I never really took time to know so much about them in the past but now I'm glad i did it because it has helped me to appreciate them more. There's a lot to learn from them. 

Their courage: even after being wounded and shot so many times, they still fight. They never go down easily, it's a fight to finish. That is pretty much different from they way we live here. The moment we see a little problem rear it's ugly head, we retreat and cry. We feel God is punishing us for our sins forgetting that nothing can ever separate us from his love. We should learn to face our challenges and problems squarely. If we run away from them, they'll come back to hunt us someday. Deal with today's problems, today.

Their unity: no matter what they go through, they stick together. They are not born of the same parents but when they are on that mountain, air or sea, they become brothers. Even when one of their men is down or wounded, they don't leave him behind. They carry him along and still fight back. In our own little world, we are not even at war with anybody and yet we are not unified. We fight with ourselves at any given chance when we should overlook the wrongs and tolerate each other. Giving our poor hearts aches and troubles when should be at peace with ourselves.

Their service: yes, they are getting paid shouldn't they serve well? But we forget that money is not everything. They remain dedicated to their call of duty which is to serve and protect. Some of us think service is about house boys and house girls but it's far from that. We can serve by helping that old woman or those little kids to cross the road. As little as sweeping your compound on a Saturday morning instead of waiting for neighbors to do so when you know they will end up not doing it, is a form of service. It's not always about how much or how far but how well. It's the little things that matter.

 

They are not all perfect as it's with other aspects of life, there are bad eggs amongst them. Try to emulate the good ones and you'll learn a lot.

Then again must we even have wars in this world of ours?! That's a story for another day.

I pray for Gods protection upon them wherever they are, may they return safely to their friends and family. Also remember that no matter the challenges you face in life, Never under fight!!!

P.S: how many of you will like to join the army? ;)