2 Kings 7:3
"And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?" [KJV]
As Jesus was teaching, one day, the room in which he was teaching was full to brim. Four men arrived carrying a man that was invalid, they tried by all means to get in to where Jesus was but they could not because of the multitude. But they did not give up at that, or say, "Let's wait until He is done and everybody has gone home", no! They carried the man to the roof, destroyed someone's roof (may be with intentions to pay later) and lowered the man down so that Jesus may heal Him [Mark 2:3-11].
What a resilience!
I was looking at my life today and I thought, "By all means I must be the invalid man!" I cannot be anything else in this set up! Many times, we look at men of God and think, "well, he is the anointed one, he doesn't need to meet with Jesus as much as we do! We are the sick ones!" But Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs" (Matthew 5:3). He told the disciples, that, "whoever wants to be great, must be the least".
One thing I have learnt from all this is that, the competition we should be havimg is of who is lesser than who, not of who is greater than who. I have learnt that any man of God that does not see themselves as the one that needs help to meet Jesus and only views his congregation or followers as the only ones that need him to meet Jesus, fails in this elementary entry level into greatness.
I therefore tell my sons, I love it more, when I am teaching, to view myself as a receiver of the same word I am teaching. I love it when I am not preaching from a high place and directing people what to do as I watch, but when what I am telling them to do, is the same thing I am hearing the Spirit of God telling me to do. Therefore, much of what I write, even on this platform, are not directives from a superior to some juniors, but what God has told me to do, yet, I deem it fit to share with my brothers and sisters and see if they see it as I see it.
I am saying this to help you understand why, today, as I was praying, I viewed myself as the man with palsy, that needed four resilient men, who could not give up for anything until he was at the feet of Jesus!
I always tell the young ministers under me, that 99% of the rogue men of God that we have right now in the world, started well. They loved God, loved ministry, wanted to serve God and preach to the ends of the world, but, when tough times came, they could not hold on until their four lepers brought the spoil home.
Let me give you a background story of what was happening in Samaria, before the story of the lepers came by. There was a man-made draught. The draught was not caused by lack of rain or lack of a harvest, no! The enemy had surrounded Samaria, so much so that, there was nobody going into Samaria or coming out of Samaria. Whoever got out was killed and so, they stayed in the city until they depleted every food they had. They started eating donkeys and even children. This is when the king summons Elisha, with an intention to kill him if he doesn't offer a solution to the stalemate! Long story short, Elisha prophesies, God uses the lepers and the city is saved.
These lepers were outcasts! Nobody knows their names to date. The four men that brought down the man with palsy through the roof are not known to date. But they had a heart to make sure that they connect the man with his miracle.
Some of the people you view as nothing, as nuisance may actually be the people holding your life up; they may be the people always carrying you down through the roof to Jesus' feet. A story is told of a certain man of God who had a church. In that church there was this old lady that nobody really paid too much attention to. She had no significant role in the church and never needed or asked for one. The church started doing well and new people would come, the pastor would give them leadership positions, praise them and how they hold up the ministry. The old woman was never praised even once nor recognized in any special way. Then, she died.
After her death, things started going wrong in the church, everybody was leaving due to this reason or another. Things got really bad and the pastor had to ask God what was happening. Then, God sent a prophet to the church who told them that the reason they were in such a mess was because the person who was holding up the church all by herself in prayer was now dead. People were shocked! They thought the church was how it was because of how strong the pastor was! Or his charisma, wisdom and all that pertains to ministry! But no! There was one woman who all by herself held the church up in prayer and nobody noted or noticed her.
Same thing, you may be an ardent follower of pastor Nesh's write ups, you are always blessed and may be says, "amen!" from time to time or never does so, yet, because of your hunger that cannot be filled by anybody else but my write ups, God will always supply new wisdom and revelation to me! There are a few people that have confessed to me that what I write is the spiritual food that feeds them better than any other source. Believe it or not, much of what I get is delivered, not because I prayed for it, but because ten people out there that are always waiting for what I am going to write next, they pray and show hunger and God has to feed them.
The day Lazarus died, the rich man also died. There are some people who if they die, you also do not have any other business living because your existence was connected to them and their existence to your ability to feed them. If today I stopped preaching and said, "I've closed everything down, and I am joining the corporate world as a businessman". Some people would praise me and even may be use me as an example. But what you will never know, until may be you go to heaven and ars shown the spiritual arrangements, is how many lives, businesses, families, etc, that would die. I am not saying that to claim an all-powerful stature and thou-shalt-not-touch-the-anointed attitude. No! Far be it from me! I just want to telm you that there is more to life than your naked eye can see. Some of the people, careers, occupations, etc you see as insignificant, are the ones that keep the world in balance. There are some people who, if you sack them from your company, your company collapses. The Bible says that, "Where there is no vision, people perish", let me remind you also that, "Where there is no people, a vision perishes". I acknowledge that, I am alive because someone out there still needs what I do for them to continue living. The day there will be nobody else needing my service, I'll have no more need to be around.
By supporting my ministry in any way, you may not know it, but you are supporting many other lives out there. The men of God who went rogue, many go rogue because they felt they were all alone. They therefore find themselves looking for a way out, a shorter route to a comforable life. And they give up on feeding the sheep because they feel nobody is feeding the shepherd and they in turn, start either eating the sheep or feeding the sheep to the wolf in return for favors from the wolf.
The doctor also needs to be treated, the teacher also needs to be taught. You may not be the strongest, the richest or the best, but the city of Samaria was saved by four leprous men. The man with palsy was brought down to the feet of Jesus by four men with an undying spirit. That is all that is needed, a spirit that says, "We will not sit here and die!"
Many of the people that support my ministry are not the richest in the sense of possessions. Many have shared stories with me of how challenging life is to them. All this to them is what you'd call, "leprosy". In normal circumstances, they shouldn't even be thinking of helping pastor Nesh or holding him up. But, their spirits say, "No! We cannot sit here and die! If there is no way through the door, we will create a way through the roof!" They do not care what the owner of the roof will say! They will cross that bridge when they reach it.
God has never sent men of God to palaces and mansions for support. He will always use the simple to shame the wise, He will use the weak to shame the strong. The day you feel like you are the weakest that God should use to hold up His work, then, that same instant you are the best candidate for the same. Because in your weakness, His glory is made manifest. If the gospel was funded by the rich, they would deprive God of all the glory. They'd tell pastor Nesh, were it not for me, this ministry would not be where it is. But God wants His glory, this is why, He will use those whose gifts, even to to they themselves, look insignificant! The first step being a partner with God in His kingdom is to view your input as nothing, negligible, insignificant, not note-worthy. This is what made Jesus say about the widow that gave two coins into the offering basket, that she had given the best! The moment you see like you are helping pastor Nesh so much, that moment right there defiles your offering.
Flip the coin! The moment I feel like my ministry is helping you more than it is helping me, I have defiled my sacrifice. This is why I am not worried or stressed even if nobody claps for me. All that, adds into telling me how insignificant, negligible, my offering is! And in the silence, when I see my four lepers bringing in the spoil, people that are dealing or should be dealimg with their own issues supporting my cause, then, I know I am in the right company. If you are reading this, and you have been looking at what you could give to my ministry and see it as insignificant, you are exactly what God wants! Come and be one of the four men ready to lower this ministry to His feet no matter what. Come and be one of the four lepers that won't care about their own painful wounds and weaknesses, but will bring in the spoil. Come and be that poor widow that gives her pieces hiding, yet God shouts it proudly at the roof tops. Come and be the reason God needs to keep me breathing.
May God bless you and keep you and lift you higher than I am. Shalom and keep the faith.
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