#BTColumn – God has spoken

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Dr André Symmonds

Let the Bajans say, Amen! Recently, an impassioned plea from Dr. Corey Forde, the Infectious Disease Specialist and Manager of the Isolation Facilities, caught the attention of Bajans from all walks of life. He petitioned us to offer special prayers for our healthcare workers, those who are ailing from the COVID-19 virus, families who’ve lost loved ones, and God’s guidance on everything being done to protect us as a people from the virus and its variants.

I was impressed by the alacrity with which persons complied and communicated appropriate prayer points synonymous with the appeal. I recounted some of the unconventional ways in which the God of the Bible mobilized different people to do a variety of things in short order.

What some pastors and intercessors have been pleading with their congregations to do for years, a medical practitioner was able to do in a matter of minutes. Interesting! I was equally encouraged at Dr. Forde’s willingness to trust his gut in deviating from his script, and to publicly bare his soul in the quest for divine help.

It takes courage to do that in the presence of colleagues, some of whom are incredulous and cannot imagine that God could actually be the answer to our dilemma. Notwithstanding the inferred appeal extended to other deities, as a Christian nation we have to believe that the God of the Bible has spoken. Before we say “amen”, permit me to proffer a few things that Yahweh has already said through His Son Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). according to His written word. A word which incidentally, He has exalted above His own name (Psalm 138:2).

An exhausted passage of Scripture like II Chronicles 7:14, where God responds to the plea of King Solomon to look favourably upon the newly built Temple of God, necessitates that it be kept in its context, without which we only have a pretext. We need to at least read from verse 13. The passage actually presents for us the very scenario that our generation has been saddled with, a pandemic. See the word “pestilence”, in verse 13.

Verse 14 charges those who profess to bear God’s name and or his character, to align themselves in at least four areas. When learning to drive a manual vehicle it mattered the order in which we depressed the clutch, changed the gear, released the clutch, and stepped on the gas pedal. We weren’t left to figure it out or arrange the steps to suit our fancies.

The instructor taught us the correct order to be used when manually changing gears. Similarly, the Instructor of the ages, has given us His manual and has taught us how to receive the favour of God upon our land. “God will hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our broken land” verse 14. Note the following mandatory steps in the divine order.

Humility: A call to prayer is great, but it is compromised if we have skipped step number one. Humility! We almost always sputter and stall in this first gear. Humbling ourselves is the opposite of everything that our fleshly prideful nature demands. Man has this inherent need to be always right, first, or best! Yet, this first step, even before prayer and repentance, is our ability towards humility.

Humility isn’t thinking less about yourself either, its thinking about yourself, less. Humility is foundational. Without humility there is no approachability. “God resists the proud but grants grace to the humble” James 4:6. Regardless of how loud or long we pray, God will not hear the cries of the proud. Per adventure that we humbled ourselves, and not waited on God to do it, the second step would be to pray!

This second instruction is what men usually try to start with. Many have strained their engines and compromised their clutches by moving forward from a stationery position in this second gear. It is possible to advance, but it is inadvisable. This second mandate from God “to pray”, is also the step from which we must seek His face. This is why it is imperative that steps two and three and four are predicated upon step one. If we start incorrectly, it will be problematic to end correctly.

The third mandate in verse 14 continues, “seek my face”. I firmly believe that this is a cordial invitation to fasting. This is not about going on a glorified diet or a weight loss program. We’re dealing with the fact that approaching a Holy God requires coming reverently, respectfully, positively, and prayerfully. In this mode we deny our fleshly appetites. The objective is to starve the sensual part of us and to feed the spiritual part of us. Consequently, we become more in tune with the voice of God thus, we are more inclined to obey and do His bidding when He speaks.

In Matthew 17:21, teaching on the subject of unbelief, Jesus challenged His disciples’ faith to the extent that they could do what appeared impossible. Then He provided a proviso saying, “…This kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting”. The inference being that fasting, and prayer yield ability and authority, not otherwise accessed.

Seeking God’s face means that interests aren’t limited to His hand for provision, or stay of execution, but extend to His face for discernment and direction. When men seek God’s face, they begin placing higher premiums on the more intimate attributes of Yahweh. They ready themselves for the next step, which would be impossible if the earlier steps weren’t taken.

More could be said about this third powerful step and gear in the cog of verse 14. However, God has spoken! The fourth and final criterion for the unmerited favour of God to rescue us from certain calamity, is true repentance. This mandatory step reminds those who call themselves by God’s name, or profess to be of His ilk, to turn from their wicked ways.

Now, I’d be the first to confess that it’s a little embarrassing to think that you and I could actually have “wicked ways”. After all, by this stage we have humbled ourselves, prayed, and fasted. Could we still at this juncture possess wicked ways? Let me assure us that we all have this bent, and the closer we come to God the more displeasing and rebellious our behaviours should appear to us. The prophet Jeremiah charged, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. God responded: “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins…” (Verse 10).

In this fourth gear, considerable quality-time has been invested in pursuit of The Holy. Here, we learn to value the Creator more than the creation. The Great Physician more than the good doctor.

The Great Shepherd more than the under shepherd. The Saviour more than the science. We learn to lose our lives in this life, so that we might gain them in the next, and the next is nearer than many may want to think. Getting into God’s presence with the intention of turning and repenting from our pride, helps us to see the many wicked ways that we do have.

Trust me. I’ve been there. I know how this works. Once we face the truth of our inherent sinfulness with all of its attachments, we begin the arduous but necessary process of turning from those reprehensible, punishable behaviours, that threaten to leave us in the same vulnerable crisis that we were in before we even lobbied for prayer in the first place.

God has spoken and He will help us. It is my prayer that this modest gloss of II Chronicles 7:14 will inspire us to maintain the Biblical protocol and follow God’s mandate for complete individual and national restoration.

Now let the Bajans say, “A∂∂men”.

Bishop Dr André Symmonds is senior pastor of Calvary Temple Community Church.