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Taking your gift on a daily walk - Part 1
by theburningbushboy Solanke I have met him and I know him so well. He is always disgruntled and never appreciative. He murmurs about his lowly position in life and complains of his slow movement up the ladder of life. For him, if God is not sleeping, then He's working too slowly to bring him into the glorious future He promised. Beloved, why do we give so much attention to our future that we no longer appreciate today's opportunities? Why do we despise the deposit of tomorrow's glory begging to grow in our hands? Is it not an illusion of life to think of walking into the future when we keep missing our daily steps? The more of your daily steps you fail to take, the more you widen the gap between you and your future, which you've learnt to describe so awesomely. When King Saul was rejected by God, David was anointed to quietly replace him. However, the journey to the throne was not designed to be smooth and easy. There wasn't going to be an immediate coronation for David. There is the first hurdle of getting David to have a feel of the palace. His father was not a traditional chieftaincy holder, so he could not just walk in and out of the palace at will. David, however, had a passion. He had always been joyful whenever he used his gift to the admiration of his audience his sheep. Being able to play the harp may be something too insignificant to celebrate, but David considered it a gift too great to despise or ignore. Without a prior knowledge that it would earn him a royal invite, he learnt to be skillful at it. He never knew someone was watching or appreciating him. He didn't even have the mind to impress anyone. He took his daily walk of playing the harp, not in any of the city halls; not at any notable city concert, but right in the bush with and for his sheep. They were even too dumb to appreciate him! He could have belittled his gift, but he held himself in high esteem. He didn't become a frustrated musician for not being able to make it to the height of playing side-by-side with the well-known palace musicians. The king and the noble men in town had no idea he existed, but for David, the sheep were noble and honourable enough to play for. Eventually, the day of his showing forth came. His name was mentioned when and where it counted the palace! Someone who had spent time observing David put in a word for him and 'lojiji' (suddenly), the palace gates were lifted for him. Here's the setting: An evil spirit from the LORD had been troubling Saul and his servants said, "Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you and you shall be well." I Sam. 16:16 Without knowing what would be Saul's response to this strange solution to his ailment, the silence that ensued was deafening. "How thoughtless are you to suggest that ordinary harp playing will heal me of my madness. Don't I listen to music from the palace musical team daily?" They expected Saul to flare up. He, however, surprised them. So Saul said to his servants, "Provide me NOW a man who can play well and bring him to me." I Sam. 16:17. The NOW in Saul's response made it an order that must be urgently carried out. They could not afford the pleasure of searching from house to house or from Church to Church for this skillful player. The king wanted this skillful player brought before him NOW (immediately). Time was of serious essence. Just as the servants were beginning to wonder if they had not gotten themselves into trouble by trying to help the king, one of them had a way out of the problem created by the urgency in the king's response. Then one of the servants answered and said, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valour" I Sam. 16:18. When this servant said, "I HAVE SEEN," he meant to say that he had seen and observed David long before now. For him to have known so much of David, suggested how much time he spent taking note of him. Unaware that someone was taking note of his life, David took his daily steps and with those steps, he bridged the gap between his today and his future. While he got busy being a shepherd and a musical instrumentalist to his sheep, someone afar was recommending him for a key position in the palace. (You only rob yourself when you quit!) The gift of playing the harp, which he could have despised, eventually became the prominent requirement to serve the king. This 'small gift' brought David nearer to his future. Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin. Zech. 4:10NLT. There is always the tendency to look down on the days of small beginnings, yet all great things you see around started small. They all had their days of small beginning. If it has life, it must start small and later on, it will grow. Life grows! Paul admonished Timothy: Therefore, I remind you to STIR UP the gift of God which is in you, through the laying on of my hands. 2 Tim. 1:6. Beloved, whenever you write off God's gift in your life, you end up sacrificing your future. - Burning Bush Boy Taking your gift on a daily walk PART 2 (Next week) Burning Bush Boy (Moses Ayodeji Solanke) an Asst. Editor-in-Chief with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN); a Gospel Writing Minister - www.theburningbushboy.wordpress.com. He has great passion for enhancing the Christendom with media tools. He is married with three children. Email:[email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |