My dear friends
You probably have experienced that a day or a period of time
seems to usher in a constant theme in your life. That's what happened to me last week. And
the theme? TODAY.
A few days ago three ministers from the Witbank area in the
Mpumalanga province paid me a visit. Pastors Ledwaba, Masango and Mvango are with the
Assemblies of God. Pastor Ledwaba's late father, an Assemblies of God minister as well,
was a dear friend of KwaSizabantu Mission.
Before the three brothers prayed with me, Pastor Ledwaba
shared a precious word with us about God's mercies that are new every morning. The idea of
perpetual daily newness seemed to fill him with wonder. He added that angels in heaven are
exposed to the forever unfolding of different facets of God's glory and holiness; that is
why they keep on crying, "Holy, holy, holy!"
As he was speaking I was reminded of the daily fresh manna
from heaven's ovens that God used to feed the children Israel in the wilderness for 40
years. Mind boggling!
God forbade hoarding because He could be trusted to supply for everyday, one day at a
time.
The one side of God's mercies being new everyday is the
daily grace He gives us to face challenges that come our way.
Some of you are well acquainted with the Roosemonts of
Belgium and their special circumstances. Lionel and Renate are blessed with four children,
a boy and three girls. The youngest girl, Tikvah (jewel), was born with severe brain
damage which resulted in serious handicap.
It's one thing to hear about the costly love the parents and
siblings shower upon eight year old Tikvah, but the few minutes I was privileged to spend
with the whole family in my room during their recent visit gave me a glimpse of what it
takes to keep up with Tikvah's needs.
After early diagnosis during the pregnancy there was
pressure from some medical quarters on the Roosemonts to have Tikvah aborted. Since her
birth there's no shortage of those who claim that her quality of life is nil and the most
sensible thing would be to euthanise her. The Roosemonts' resolve to give their best for
Tikvah is known in Belgium and beyond the borders.
On the other hand Lionel and Renate admit that the challenge
is beyond what their human strength could cope with; they look to God on a daily basis for
grace to carry on. Lionel said that sometimes one prays for hourly portions of grace.
Remember the song,
"I need Thee every hour, most gracious
Lord ..."
The other day I was discussing with the Romanian couple,
Marius and Angela Morar, about the deep desire we have as children of God to walk
faithfully before Him to the very end of our days. Sometimes a subtle fear plagues us; we
wonder if we'll endure to the finishing line.
That brought us back to the topic of daily grace. Ours is to seek God's face each day for
the grace to run the race successfully today.
Sometime back some young people shared with me how
encouraged they were about something that came to them as a revelation. There was no doubt
in their minds that they wanted to keep themselves pure before the Lord but sometimes
questions arose in their minds about the 'length of the journey.'
Isn't it unfortunate that some people advise young people to
delay the decision for Christ because with the journey through life being so long an early
start will very likely result in early fatigue. It's common to hear them say, "Kodwa
uyofa nini?" (literally 'When will you die?' but the true meaning is 'Death is SO far
away')
Needless to say that such reasoning has fatal flaws.
Who on earth know for certain how long they or anybody else will be around?
When God tells you not to harden your heart when He speaks to you today who dares to say
that you have the option to soften your heart tomorrow?
If an early start in what people consider as profitable areas of life is recommendable why
should it be different in the most crucial business there is; the one that pays dividends
this side and beyond?
Why are there no 'child prodigys' in the faith?
Back to the young people's revelation.
What dawned on these young people one day is that theirs is
not to worry about the unknown length of the journey. God has given you today. Pray for
grace to be pure today.
Let me end with another angle to this theme.
Pastor Hans Koller once expounded on the portion about God
giving us His children a new song. In his study he discovered that the newness had
something continuous about it. In other words, there should be daily newness to our new
song.
There is something refreshing about a genuine personal
testimony of how a person met with the living God. However, if the story ends there,
staleness or backsliding are probably the tragic epilogue.
Hans told the story about the fisherman who one day caught a
record big fish. The man and his extra-ordinary catch became the talk of the town. Crowds
gathered at his favourite spot to hear him retrace his steps to the big moment of his
life. To his surprise, however, with time the crowds dwindled. Their initial interest had
worn out. Poor man! He basked in his past glory and forgot his livelihood - fishing!
Only by picking up his fishing rod and heading for the waters again did he stand another
chance of improving on his record.
There's a Christian whose popular phrase during testimony
time was "Mina ngazuz' umusa!" (I gained grace). Thanks for the grace you
received in the past dear brother, but have you sought God's face for His grace TODAY?
"I am still as strong today as the day
Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then."
(Joshua 14:11)
Have a blessed week.
Pressing on!
In His love
Fano Sibisi
