God’s Overturning Grace

How do you feel when you read that God judges the heart and its intentions? Does it offer you comfort or dread? Does it make you more confident or do you start walking on tip toe?

Yet this is the reality of how God deals with us and the way He rewards us.

I want to use this argument (or reality) to point out a few instances where God worked in ways that might look illogical, yet perfectly logical when we get to understand Him and His word. I will hasten to add that the reason He released His word (The Bible) is for the same purpose.

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1Corinthians 10: 11 – 13)

Nothing God does (or allows to happen) is without reason. And nothing He has recorded in His word is not worthy of instruction. We therefore need to appropriate the Word for ourselves to be able to come out as God intends which of course is for our very best.

That God starts from the end in His doing is evident when we read the Bible. He therefore sees the outcome of our intentions and attitudes long before they become actions.

That is why He will release overtaking grace on those whose hearts are rightly positioned, wherever they may be.

He is looking to raise a womb to implant His Son through the ages, even before creating the world.

Isn’t it amazing that He locates a Moabite woman and a Canaanite harlot as befitting that honor?

Yet I want us to look at individuals in Israel to put this point across.

David was number 8 in his father’s family, and that excluded his parents and sisters whose children we find in his army. He was the smallest, the youngest and the most insignificant of the whole family. So much that when his father is asked to parade his sons he either forgets or overlooks him. The sensitive prophet was able to see the dilemma God seemingly was in; He had chosen somebody who was way off the radar.

Remember also that there was a king, a reigning king for that matter.

Yet God overthrew all those structures when He found the man for the job at hand. And where did He find him? In the unlikeliest of places; shepherding sheep. And the quality He required is an unwavering desire to know God.

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42: 1, 2)

It did not take very long before it became evident to all that David had overtaken the legal and filial structures ahead of him. Though some of those who had been overtaken protested and some even fought the overtaking, it was past anything they could do.

Eventually David had to look for refuge for his father and the rest of the family when the overtaking became too hot for the overtaken king and his court to handle.

One person who impresses me in the story is Jonathan. As the one whose fortunes that overtaking drastically affected as it was his kingdom David was taking, he simply seeks to flow in God’s new thing, even offering to willingly serve under the new order God was establishing. I hope you realize that Saul was actually fighting for Jonathan’s kingdom as he himself said. Jonathan was simply in the spirit and totally surrendered to God. He therefore could hand over a kingdom that was legally his as the crown prince because he was safe in God and His revelation.

Joseph was number 11 when we exclude his parents and sisters. And we see the same thing with him in that even in extremely difficult circumstances in a place most people would want nothing to do with God as the circumstances seem to point out a God who is not only uninvolved in what we are going through but whose involvement can either be denied or He is looked at as a sadist.

Look at his response to temptation that could have opened his doors to greater promotion and favor.

How can I do this and sin against God?

Is it a surprise therefore when we see him overthrowing everybody in that household of faith to become the custodian of God’s promise to Abraham?

Moses was instructed in the Hebrew faith for the shortest time; as he was being breastfed, and otherwise raised as an Egyptian prince. Imagine God overlooking all those stalwarts of faith to pick on him to set Israel free?

Lest we think his parents were exceptional at raising him, do you forget that Aaron and Miriam were older than he was? And they were raised in the faith for over eighty years by the same parents.

He overtook them because he had something extra, a heart that was desperately seeking the revelation of God, even if he may have been barely able to remember clearly because after weaning he went to the palace. That is why the Bible records that God has never talked with anyone as He did with Moses; face to face as a friend to another.

In the New Testament we have Paul who had been persecutor in chief.

He became an exceptional Christian just as he had been an exceptional Pharisee. He never moved in half measures. He was either completely in or completely out. Does it then surprise us that almost half of the New Testament books were written by him? And when you read the book of Acts you are amazed at how much ministry he was able to accomplish in the short life he lived.

One incident always amazes me. At one time he is stoned to death. Then brothers pray for him and he revives. Yet instead of whining and looking for sympathy or treatment he just moves to the next town, to preach. Do you remember him singing in jail when he was on the stocks, illegally? Remember the magistrates trembling when they discovered their error? Yet in spite of the pain he was in he was able to lead to Christ and baptize the jailor’s family, in the middle of the night. In 2 Corinthians 11 and 12 we see what he prides himself in, suffering for Christ

He ‘overtook’ those who were in Christ before him because of his focus on the pursuit of God.

And God has not changed.

Why does someone stay saved for decades yet is unable to show any spiritual fruit of all that life yet someone gets saved and in a very short time has flocks flowing to Christ through his effort? Why do we have believers who have been in the faith for the longest time who have never gone through the Bible even once yet someone gets saved and in a short while reads through the Bible two, three times yearly, consistently, and enjoying it in the process? Why does someone stay in a workplace for the years and nobody can tell that he is a believer yet someone is called a pastor immediately he gets to that workplace?

Many times the difference is in the commitment levels. The more sold out one is to their cause the more effective they are in their daily life. No wonder Christ said this

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9: 23, 24)

It was believers who had been running away from Goliath for forty days. Then David comes, a man without anything; from size to skills to experience to armor. But he is completely committed to God and His word. What the army could not do in forty days was reversed by a person, even a child, who took God at His word.

The three Hebrews did not overcome the fiery furnace because of their faith, though they undoubtedly had it. They overcame because they were ready to die in the defense of that faith in their God and His reality in a foreign and godless place.

Paul and Silas did not confess open prison doors, they simply decided that the God they worshipped was worthy of worship. They therefore started singing (I believe it was not mournful) and praying (not complaining or declaring and decreeing) to God. It was that focus that invited God’s power, especially because it was used to lead many to the Savior.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (2Chronicles 16:9a)

I want to hastily add that nobody overtakes because they are looking to overtake. That is why I am calling it God’s Overtaking Grace. In fact the only thing I am sure they were not interested in was knowing how anybody else was doing. Their only concern is God and what they know about Him, and especially the determination to know more about Him. They are simply running their own race.

That is why they stand out even before God decides to make them overtake the rest. But before the overtaking they are looked at as idiots.

Joseph was treated like trash by his brothers. He was simply the dreamer, which I suspect is a politer word for idler. David’s elder brother had some unflattering words for him when he was asking about Goliath. The four Hebrew lads must have been laughed to scorn by the other princes for eating vegetables and water instead of palatial delights. Of course we know that many pioneer missionaries were ridiculed, some even by the sending organizations and churches that they went out as fools because God had sent them. And to date radicals are ridiculed for taking God a little too seriously.

Until God showed up, and shows up for our generation of radical ‘fools’. Then it will be clear who the idiot is.

Remember Korah and his team challenging Moses by arguing that all Israel was holy? And he was not theologically wrong. God simply showed up. Sadly for them it cost their lives. The word was that God will show who are His. And that is what always bails out the radicals.

What do you do when you realize that you are being or are already overtaken in the spiritual realm?

Saul chose to fight and kill to maintain his position. Jonathan chose to join the radical as an assistant because he realized where the anointing was flowing. He therefore knew from the look of things that God had moved ahead of the anointing that he was waiting to inherit and decided that losing the kingdom was a small price to pay to join God in the new thing He was doing. No wonder his father also wanted him dead.

I rarely see any spiritual leader taking Jonathan’s position. Most will fight desperately to maintain their position long after God invalidates their anointing like He did with Saul.

But that is as vain as Saul’s attempts at killing David. Remember Job 42:2? Yet there is immense collateral damage as was with Saul. Remember the decimation of a priests’ city just because David happened to have passed over there?

I have seen a level of wickedness in the church leadership, especially when it concerned an overzealous believer who also happened to be having some impact and attracting some recognition or support. From fabrication of ‘sins’ to being posted out of sight to deception and exploitation, there seems to be no end for the suffering an overtaking minister can experience. And I am talking about mistreatment and deception from the Christian leaders, especially the ones who were entrusted with raising him. ‘Hibernating Ministers’ post deals with this scenario.

What is the solution?

First, agree that I have been overtaken. Second, ask why that has happened. And it is mostly because I have run out of fresh oil and am now relying on the momentum I established when I was vibrant, which will still appear fine to most; but not to God. Third, pray that God restores me to a fresh virility and a fresh anointing. And that can only happen when I am supporting this overtaking minister.

Probably I stopped being desperate in my prayer life. What do I mean? In the past I had to pray, not just to deal with the guilt of having a prayer-starved faith. I prayed because I needed God to intervene in my life. I prayed because I had to hear what He not only wanted to preach but also how He wanted me to live. Now I pray because I must pray, because prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. But I really do not need prayer as my life is pretty sorted.

Probably I do not read the Bible as I did. I know enough of the Bible even without reading it because I have enough resources at hand. Again in the past I read the Bible because I knew that if I did not my Christian life was in jeopardy. The Bible was my lifeline to effective living. But today I am too mature for that.

In short, most of the bare necessities that had to be had are optional as I think I have grown beyond them. My faith has more logic than mystery and expectancy as I know how everything works.

I might fight very hard if one calls me a backslider as I still am in the thick of ministry wherever I am. And that is the main reason God will bring someone to overtake me, if only to challenge me to go back to my past love like He told the church in Ephesus. And we are not talking of sinning or walking in sin.

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18: 3, 4)

That is where God wants to take us, where He started with us.

Where are you? Are you overtaking or are you being overtaken?

God bless you