Hello Greatness,

I’ve got to tell you, this year has been such a challenge for me, but I’m glad that through the very many hurdles, God was right beside me. Don’t get me wrong, I had my moments of weakness where I seriously questioned my stand with God. Thankfully, a friend sent me a message by Pastor Laju Iren, “Where is God in my Pain?” Have you ever studied a Bible passage multiple times and suddenly, it begins to resonate with you? Well, that happened to me a couple of days ago when I read Colossians 1 again. There, I saw Paul’s prayer for them in verses 9 to 14 and I was like, this God is way too sweet. Everything we could ever need, He’s accounted for. There’s a part of the prayer that talks about being strengthened by God to be able to endure difficulty with joy. Then I began to piece some of those prayer with other Bible scriptures, like Isaiah 40:31 where God promises to renew our strength when we wait on Him. The day my answer came, I was prepared for it, because through the moments of waiting, God was working on me. Now I’m glad to announce that the enemy is shaking at the mention of my name. Like my Pastor said two Sundays ago, I’m a high risk for the devil (kaya, that was such an enlightening moment). The point of this is to encourage you to hold on to God’s promises, He never fails. One thing I can brag on is the immutability of God.

The point of today’s post is to share a simple nugget I learnt when I was in Bible school. I had asked one of the pastors a question and his response left quite an impression. He was teaching based on James 3:13-17 where he listed the four kinds of wisdom- earthly (common sense), sensual (intellectual), diabolical, and divine (wisdom from above) wisdom. I wanted to know how easy it would be not to trust in wisdom I had spent time acquiring over divine wisdom which doesn’t always make sense to the human mind. I had my make it make sense moment. He responded with a verse I only used to attribute to trust (I know you’ve already quoted that verse too)- Proverbs 3:5…..

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” His emphasis was on the last part, trusting God with all your heart means going beyond what your wisdom dictates. For some reason, I kept meditating on what he said for such a long time that I started to look at the Bible this way. One of the basic requirements of a believer is to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corintians 5:7), and that means following God without reservation. That was when I began to see some things in scripture we believe, that to the ordinary human mind, seems foolish.

• My favorite of all time is found in Proverbs 11:24, “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” Aren’t we supposed to be saving and be wise in the way we spend, even when it comes to giving? How come the person that keeps giving increases, but the one who decides to save tends to poverty. That was how I felt the first time I read this verse, but thank God for the Holy Spirit and for different translations. I realized that the verse does not mean scatter literally, but giving to others freely. It does not talk about being careless, but about being able to meet the needs of others cheerfully.
• I don’t think I can mention things that don’t seem to make sense in the Bible without mentioning some of Jesus’ miracles. Starting with the first one, I would like to know the science behind turning water to wine (John 2:1-11). As an intellectual, I want to know how the water the disciples fetched changed into wine without Jesus even touching it. Or is it the multiplication of the little boy’s fish and bread that fed thousands that I want to understand? Matthew 14:13-31 Okay now we can even get behind that. This one blows my mind every time I read it… how do you tell someone who is blind to go and wash in a river? John 9:1-7 How do I get there? My obvious problem is that I can’t see, which is why I came to You, and you’re sending me somewhere else?
• This list can’t be complete without some of the Old Testament stories— If I were a civil engineer or an architect, I think I would want to know the science behind walking around a strong, fortified wall falling just because some people walked around and shouted. Maybe doctors can explain how Sarah, whose womb was clearly dead and was way past menopause could bear Isaac.

I write all this to say this– three factors were important in making all these things work.

• Trust-they all had to trust that God had their back.
• Faith- well, it will be impossible to follow the word of a God you don’t know and believe
• Obedience– some of them were told to do seemingly stupid things, and their obedience yielded fruitful results.

Our decision to trust God does not mean we neglect what we know. God often uses what we know to bless us. That’s why you hear when people talk about purpose, they ask what you’re good at, or what you’re passionate about. God does not deny the existence of the other wisdoms at work in our lives, He just wants to take us a step ahead of what we know. He wants to give us an edge, and I would advice you take it. The next verse of that Proverbs 3 says to acknowledge God, and He will direct your paths. God is not asking for too much, just acknowledge He knows better than you and take advantage of it.

Are there any stories, verses, or miracles in the Bible that don’t seem to make sense to you but you know that it just shows how powerful God is? You can leave some in the comment.

With all my love,

Mz_Ola

P.S; This Paul’s prayer will bless you tremendously:

 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^[a]10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father,who has qualified you^[b] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darknessand brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.