When one of my relatives found out that I was in a cross roads in my life, plagued by personal problems, she did what any concerned Christian family member would do, that was to invite me over to attend a chapel service and raise my troubles to God.
I was pretty skeptic about the whole born again scene and have honestly not attended church in a long time, but seeing how there was nothing to lose and I didn’t want to be rude, I agreed to attend.
During the altar call, which was that part of the service where they invite new attendees over to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior, I was ushered over in front of the congregation where the pastor laid his hands on me and said, “Lord I lift up brother Tek to you and his problems and pray that you anoint him with your Holy Spirit so that he can live his life to serve you...”
There was accompanying soft evangelical music playing in the background and I could hear several church members saying, “In Jesus’ name!” as they were laying their hands over me while I had my eyes closed and head bowed down. In the middle of all this I was thinking, what’s going to happen next, is God going to send some sign that he actually acknowledges me heeding his call?
To my surprise, something did happen. It suddenly started raining outside. And as I had my head bowed down I felt drops of water gently dripping on my head. As it turned out, I was standing right smack underneath a leaky ceiling.
As soon as I realized that, I had goose bumps all over my body. Was it mere chance that I just happen to be standing underneath a leaking roof during altar call, or is this precipitation actually God’s holy anointing benediction?
Possibly because I was in a very vulnerable emotional state and was carried away by the music and the chanting people in the background, I considered it to be the latter. Because after all, that’s what the pastor exactly said, “anoint” brother Tek. That experience was all it took. Shortly after, I attended the preceding chapel services, I became part of the church’s music ministry playing bass, I attended the youth ministry meetings, and yes I enrolled in a seminary with the sincerest intent to study the word of God to become a pastor.
Hook, line and sinker.
Looking back at all of that, I will admit that I honestly feel a little embarrassed telling that story. I actually feel foolish thinking that I am that important to God that he suddenly made it rain just to send me a message. I totally dismissed the fact that there were probably people outside that didn’t have any umbrella with them during this sudden down pour and they got all wet (and possibly even got sick). Or that traffic would be extra bad for commuters because of the wet streets. Or that someone somewhere was probably having an important outdoor event like a garden wedding and it had to be ruined by the rain.
Nevermind your soaking wet clothes, you should have brought an umbrella. Who cares about your wedding, you should have booked an indoor venue. Screw the traffic, you should have left earlier. It was God’s plan to make it rain so that he can send me a message! As a theist at that time, the implied arrogance of those assumptions were obviously not apparent to me.
So the next time you thank God for sending you a message, the next time God answers your prayers on trivial things, go ask yourself, what makes you so important that God ignored all the other sufferings in the entire world so that he can help you find your car keys, so that you can pass a calculus test, so that you can get a sign to start fixing your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment