A LAUGHABLE STRATEGY : 3 of 3

1 Samuel 2:28, Luke 15:11-32, 1 Corinthians 13:13

The bouncing baby boy was a dream come true for the parents whose other child had been called to heaven from the womb rather than the world. Soon they discovered the beauty of life in Christ and dedicated their most prized possession to Him. As sanctified in private as they were in public, the parents nurtured the one given over to God, more as a ward of heaven than a son. The Father taught him the power of kindness and hard work to vanquish selfishness and dependence, while the Mother instilled in him confidence and aspiration, unrestrained by voices of apprehension or acquiescence.

While he’d always believed in the deity of Christ, a predilection with religion failed to connect with the call of God he felt so deeply in his heart. However, religion would prove a perfect soul mate for intellectual, professional, social, and cultural enlightenment. This new hybrid-god of enlightenment received all the praise for his many, varied, and significant accomplishments. The son given to and gifted by God preferred the prodigal lifestyle of works to the laughable strategy of faith.

In time the opiate of enlightenment proffered by the hybrid-god, loss its potency to silence the call of God pulsating in his heart. The prodigal was compelled to search out just enough religion to restore the opiate of his addiction to sufficient potency. While he was looking for religion but loitering in the spiritual, the Holy Spirit illuminated the Word, revealing the emptiness of enlightenment and futility of life apart from Christ. Though the son given over to God had in fact reconciled with the true inspiration of his calling, his mind held fast to a preference for objective initiative over the laughable strategy of hope.

God reprised the call on his life with marked clarity by the Word, divine inspiration, and prophetic counsel. He embraced past successes as building blocks of the prophetic vision God had spoken into his spirit. However, the more his love of the Lord grew, the more pronounced seemed the set backs he experienced. While the disintegration was broad, personal, persistent, and painful, the son given over to God experienced joy and peace that surpassed his understanding. Notwithstanding, he envisioned and longed more for prophetic performance than the laughable strategy of love.

By grace and growth his gifts kicked their enlightenment addiction, aligning instead with faith. His initiatives were liberated from blind objectivity, qualified instead by hope. His expectations now found focus beyond circumstances; his heart given over to the love of God alone. Clarity! His ministry and profession were divinely conjoined. The Call he felt so deeply would require complete surrender of all the currency of life: emotions, possessions, potential, and passions. The Spirit of God illuminated a course of action, where the most comprehensive was also the most improbable. The call came quickly, confirming that the Word yet held the power to part seas of impossibility.