Shortcutting a Blessing II

I had promised to further develop this message and am sorry it has taken so long. Many times other messages push and shove for attention that I have to listen to the exact one God intends for the particular day. But I did not forget.

Today we are handling the operational aspect of the shortcut, looking at things that make a shortcut that transforms a blessing into a curse possible. I will therefore use a lot of examples to get us understand the message. But it is important to go back to the first part of this message as this is its continuation.

I will start with a pastor since I also am a minister. Where does a pastor find the greatest ease to minister? Say you receive calls from two sick people. One is in a high end hospital and the other is at home since he can’t afford the cheapest hospital. Let us say you prayed and both of them got healed.

Their gratitude will know no bounds. The rich guy will have been saved a tidy sum and time through that healing prayer and will most likely splash some of it on you. The poor guy will be so grateful that he will be remembering you in prayer many times in a day though you will not know it. What will that do to you? And what will happen if both invite you for a thanksgiving meal? That may be the place two roads are ahead of you, the blessing and the shortcut.

Many pastors I know will not think twice about where they should go. They will even rationalize their choice by saying that they do not want to burden the poor. But the driving force may easily be that the poor may be unable to even fuel the pastor’s car.

Rationalizing the reason to avoid the poor may be a certain shortcut to your blessing, a shortcut that may wreck your future completely. And it many times it is a future beyond your lifetime to the beneficiaries of that shortcut.

I have handled people who are so broken because they waited for days on end to see a pastor who was completely unavailable, yet sadly was easily available to people of means. Some unsuccessfully arranged an appointment for weeks, even months, appointments that were broken at short notice, some as they waited to be called in. Yet a man in a big car could get into the pastor’s office simply by walking into that office. It becomes bitterer for these desperate people because it was evident that their appointment was cancelled when the big shot came in.

Or you are in a government or organization procurement department were you make decisions concerning were to buy. You have a very good friend who supplies what you are looking for that you really want to give the contract to supply. He might even have as competitive an edge as any other bidder. Yet he is your bosom friend and you feel he really must get that contract. You therefore give him leakage concerning how much money the government has set aside for that job and the exact requirements and so he really has no reason to lose the contract. In the process he may even become more expensive than the rest just because he knows the decision maker, you.

What do you think will happen to the other bidders? Suppose the one who ought to have got the contract fails to service a debt God had provided that contract for. He might lose his business and probably be declared bankrupt just because you had to help a friend and so gave him undue advantage.

Of course your friend will appreciate you immensely and may even give you a very huge gift, and not as a bribe. But someone’s children might be starving because you snatched the contract from them. Children might be chased from school because of that single act of yours. They might even be evicted from their residence because of what you did.

That is a shortcut to your blessing. Bending the law to favor a friend may appear very wise. But you see God retains the right to determine what it is and its result to your future.

You might occupy a very senior position in an organization that offers scholarships to the needy and you decide only you and your friends are needy and therefore siphon most scholarships there. Though your children may get to the highest levels of education due to that boost, there are other children who may cut short their education because of your wisdom. Again that is a clear short cut for your posterity that they will pay dearly for.

You could be a teacher in a public school who uses the money you earn to take your children to private schools that are many times taught by less trained teachers. The truth is that your teaching is substandard but you know that the government cares less provided you appear in school. You are preparing other parents’ children poorly even as you use the money they pay you to give your children an edge. You may even charge them for extra tuition because you do not teach adequately during the usual hours so that your children can afford even better schools.

The sad fact is that you are selling your children to the devil. You see even the poor cry out to God and their children have as much a right as your children. And God is a just God.

You may be a pastor who directs all gifts to your person at the expense of people you know are also ministering though not in as conspicuous a manner as you are. You may even block any gift from going towards those others as you are scared they may start ministering at their capacity and start accessing the support due them without your facilitation and therefore stop your facilitation allowance. It is a shortcut you will pay for dearly.

You could be a businessman who bribes to buy all the stock from the distributors so that the others have no option than buy from you at whatever price you will set, making them more like your subsidiaries. That again is a shortcut punishable from on high.

Or you may be a law enforcer who has an abundance of pardon for lawbreakers, but for a fee. Some very wise people might decide to buy that pardon in advance so that they will not waste their time negotiating for it. This is most visible with the traffic department as they interact with vehicles and drivers every single time they are on the road.

It is therefore possible for an accident waiting to happen to pass the traffic check without a fuss as the driver thought it was cheaper to buy pardon than spend on the garage repairs. The offender and forgiver have shortcut their futures as that transaction might end up taking the life or health of someone with nothing to do with the transaction.

You might be an expert at putting people in their positions, especially those who do not seem to recognize you or the position you hold. This may range from demotions to disciplinary letters to created scandals to bring those threats down to below you. That is wickedness, however effective and convenient it might be. Remember Haman?

You may be a walking hyena, looking to benefit from the carelessness or folly of someone else instead of warning him. You rejoice when someone drops his money in your sight, even thanking God for that miracle. That is also a shortcut.

And many, many other scenarios. Taking advantage to benefit self is clear evidence of a spiritual shortcut to your destiny.

I will not go on to document the results of such shortcuts as I believe I am not dealing with fools or children. I have also not included scriptures to explain for the same reason. But they are available.

And I have not talked about the openly sinful ones for the same reason. Like the rich philanthropists who finance the university education of young people for gratitude in kind so that they get excellent education accompanied by rotten morals. There are also those who give jobs, house rent and food under similar conditions.

But the safest thing is avoid shortcuts at all times, however appealing they might appear. Again I repeat this message does not stand alone as it is a completion on the first one, ‘Shortcutting the Blessing’.

Do you know the blessing God has for you? Do you know the requirements for your accessing it? Do you know the path you are required to follow to get to it? And do you know the shortcuts that may easily annul that blessing or exchange it with a curse?