“David said to Ahimelech, Do you have at hand a sword or spear? The king’s business required haste and I brought neither my sword nor my weapon with me.” 1 Sam.21:8 (Amplified)
If, God forbid, your house were to be on fire, what would your response be? Will you ignore it as the noisome nuisance of pranksters and sit down to watch TV or brush it aside as something of no consequence or will you run out of the house as quickly as you can? I know what I will do and I think I have a good idea what you too would do in a similar circumstance. The urgency of the moment dictates that we respond as quickly as we can in order to save our lives. If we can escape with our lives we will count ourselves blessed and rightly so for things can be replaced, but not our lives.
In the above passage, David’s house was sort of on political fire. He had to make a quick escape from his father-in-law’s design to kill him and from that moment until King Saul’s death became a fugitive who was always on the run for his life. He was so much in a hurry that he could take nothing with him when he escaped through his window in order to avoid Saul’s assassin. Not knowing whom to trust, he pretended to the priest as if he was on an errand for the king and conveyed the urgency of his situation by uttering the above statement.
It is a fact of life that nothing important gets done unless it is accompanied by a sense of urgency as we tend to vacillate when we deem nothing of importance is at stake. The danger for the Church is that this attitude has become rampant amongst us as we have become far too comfortable in our disposition and are increasingly resigned to accepting whatever comes our way. In this way we are making Satan’s job easier for him and are failing to function and become what God originally intended us to be.
God is about to move in an unprecedented way in our time and the challenge before us is to prepare ourselves to be the conduit of His power. This will require us to move from our complacent and patently indifferent mode to praying for this move so that God’s power can be displayed for the world to see and His name glorified. It will require us to earnestly pray and seek God’s face just like the saints of old. It will require us to reprioritise our lives and programmes so that God becomes everything to us. It will require us to develop that necessary sense of urgency and remind ourselves of what is at stake. It will require us to don our spiritual battle gear which has so far been gathering dust due to disuse and our lackadaisical attitude. It will require us to, like the prodigal, come to our senses, since the King’s business is the only reason why we are still in existence. It is time we allow the Holy Spirit the opportunity He seeks to stir up the giftings He has already deposited into us so that we do not fall victim to complacent ignominy. Remember, there are different ways to fight a war. Satan may launch a full frontal attack or adopt a cunning tactic of killing you with ease. Either way, don’t fall victim to his antics. Get up and fight, for you are a winner.
Prayer:
Lord, give your Church and myself as a point of contact, a sense of urgency, so that we will not be lulled into missing out on your good plans for our generation. I enlist today in your army to fight the good fight of faith. Open my eyes to your wondrous truths and inspire me to take the battle to the enemy and win in Jesus’ name. Amen.