The Overshadowing

“Do you think what God asks of us is easy?” The man asked as he walked around in the tent, weaving through chairs and tables.

Different scents assailed his nostrils. The aroma of luxury thick in the air, but he refused to be distracted as he listened to the one who gave him utterance.

The people listened, the silence thick. For some, it was a time for a change. For others, just another message.

“It cannot be. Who can stop worrying about life just like that?” He said, continuing as he stared at people, praying their ears would hear. “Who can stop thinking about what they’ll eat, and if not for them, for their families? No, it’s not easy, but it’s also not impossible.”

He walked to the front of the tent, where a table lay with his iPad and reading glasses. He heaved up and sat on the table, next to his things, ignoring the chair set for him, and smiled at the group.

“The eye.” He said, looking around at the well-dressed people who had gathered to listen. “What do you see? What informs the way you live? If you see only this world and what is happening in it, then your eyes are bad.”

“Man of God, what else are we supposed to see?” Someone from the back asked, triggering nervous laughter from around him.

The man smiled as well. “I’m glad you asked.” He said, jumped down, and made his way to the area from where the question had arisen. “God’s word is the lamp for your feet and light for your path; focus on the word.”

He turned back and headed to his table. “The Holy Spirit.”

He sat on the table again and looked at the crowd seated before him. “The overshadowing force is available. He is here right now for whosoever believes. What do I mean by that? When He opens your eyes to the truth in the word of God, it becomes life. You are enabled to live above life here on earth.”

“Is it magic?” The same person asked. More laughter ensued, and this time, they didn’t try to subdue it.

The man shook his head, amidst the noise. “No, that’s the truth. We will never stop worrying or trying to address life on our own until God opens our eyes to the possibilities abundant in His grace. Grace, in my humble definition, is enablement. Our ability to see the truth and live it by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“How many people can live like that? Didn’t God make it available for certain people?” An older man seated in the middle asked.

“Seek first; make priority; focus first, on God’s kingdom. If that is so, He must have made provision, which would enable us to seek Him and not go crazy. The search for our own needs is enough to make anyone go mad. If you add searching for the kingdom of God as well, we would all bottom out. God had a plan. He gave us His Word and the power that gave it life from the beginning to allow us to soar.”

“What’s it like, this enabled life you speak of?” A well-dressed woman asked from the front row, a half-smile on her lips.

The man smiled back. “I wake up not worrying about tomorrow. I take everything God makes available for me today as part of His grace, in gratitude. Not just the good, but those we humans define as bad as well, because I understand all things are working together for good. You see, if it means focusing on today alone, I do it. God created today, and it is a day for rejoicing. Why rejoice? Jesus died for me and set me free from the power of darkness. I have the light of life and the power to live the God-life here. The overshadowing power of God is available every day to enable me to live above the issues of life.”

“How do you know?” A man asked, standing up. “How are you sure these things are so? When I wake up every day, life remains the same. Same life, same people, same problems. What makes it different?”

The man stood as well. “I believe it. For a long time, the verses in the scriptures remained as head knowledge for me, but now the Holy Spirit illuminates them daily as I hear Him speak. Once enlightened, I choose to live in the truth of the kingdom I cannot see and not wallow in the darkness of the world that I can, my choice. Sir, it is your choice as well.” He said, looking at the man intently, then he looked around the room.

“We can all decide how we live. Filled with the light of life and enabled by God’s Spirit or to continue in the lie painted by the enemy, the God of this world. He can paint various pictures that would seem real but are lies. God allowed it in the life of Job. The pictures were vivid and filled with life, almost to the point where most of us would be consumed by them, but not Job. How many can withstand all that and live?”

Murmurs from the group erupted like a choir singing, and the man smiled and returned to his table-seat.

“Now that you are thinking about it, know this, God is ready and can use anybody here. As a Christian, your life is pointless if all you can see and live for is here on earth. Your priority is the kingdom and your part in it. Don’t be deceived; you cannot mock God. Whatever a man sows that he will also reap.”

Till next time, be transformed!!!