A woman once came to one of our services hoping to be ministered to because she was very sick. Her friend had told her that Pastor Deon ministered to the sick regularly, so she felt it would be easy to receive ministry that Sunday morning.
Well, I was in church, but I wasn’t feeling too well myself. We had just ended a week of very demanding ministry outreach. There were so many things to do and I was at the forefront of everything. By the time we ended, I was exhausted. I could hardly stand for five minutes without feeling dizzy. My voice had gone hoarse. The bible says we should pray without ceasing, but I had to do all I could to pray without sneezing!
When the service ended, this woman dragged herself towards me. When she looked at me, I could see the doubt in her eyes. I don’t think she was doubting God though; she was only doubting me. She later said while sharing her testimony that she almost turned back. She said she was asking herself, “How on earth is this man going to minister healing to me when he looks so sick himself?”
I don’t know if you have ever experienced the healing unction of the Holy Spirit before. That grace doesn’t respect your feelings. I was indeed weak in my body, but the power of God in me was as extant as ever. Just a touch, and this woman was already charged. By the time she got home, she was perfectly healed.
But I was still weak! I overworked and I needed a good rest. I simply believed God for my own healing, rested and got well.
You see, people lose a lot when they fail to see the treasure wrapped in a package that isn’t as glamorous as they want. Sometimes a man who seems to be failing is just the person you need to show you how not to fail.
It seems most people would rather choose polished incompetence over rough ability. They often despise grace because it is carried by a man who lacks ‘packaging.’
Paul was in a Roman dungeon, shackled to immovable posts, yet he was filled with the Word of God; he said, “The Word of God is not bound,” even though he himself was bound.
He was just as anointed in prison as he was out of it, yet many of his ignorant converts abandoned him because of his chains.
Troubles don’t diminish the anointing. I am rich in divine grace when I have money, and I’m just as rich when I don’t have any. What I have doesn’t make me who I am; I am who I am because of Whose I am.
Jesus was on the cross, the perfect picture of incompetence and failure, yet He was God’s solution to the world’s woes. He didn’t look one bit a savior of anything, let alone of the world!
Two thieves were there, and one of them was very smart. He though Jesus was in his class just because He was hanging on that stupid cross like him. He said some stupid things about Jesus, but Jesus ignored him.
Now, the other thief knew that gold lost among stones will never become a stone. Jesus was hanging between thieves, but He wasn’t a thief. Even on that cross, in that massive agony, he opened the gates of paradise to the second thief who knew that the Lord was the Lord even when nails were tearing the tendons of his arms and legs.
I don’t know what you are going through today that seems to be threatening your calling and making you feel like you aren’t anointed anymore. Call its bluff. Get up and do what you can do by faith.
Paul wrote most of his epistles in prison. There he prayed immortal prayers that we are still repeating today. He was the prisoner writing to those who are free to “rejoice always.” He knew the prison doors could hold his body, but no walls could contain the freedom of his spirit.
The anointed doesn’t seek to be understood and beloved by everyone. We know that to the world we are sometimes “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” (2 Corinthians 6:10)
The challenges you face do not necessarily mean you cannot be of help to others, and they certainly don’t ultimately define who you are.
God doesn’t reduce His presence in your life because you are facing challenges. God’s people doubt God’s presence in times of trouble because they have wrongly learnt to equate ease with God’s presence, so when tough times come, they think God has departed.
I say to you today my brother, you are still anointed; do no stop blessing people.
Sister, God’ presence hasn’t left you; don’t stop doing good.
The Divine Presence is always stronger than the demonic storm.
No river of trials, no matter how great, can wash away the tiniest drop of the divine unction. No challenge, no matter how great, can scare away the Spirit or cover His presence.
Bitter criticism by envious, bloated armchair critics don’t affect the anointing upon you, unless you decide to respond in the flesh and live in sin.
Arise and do good. You are still anointed.
From “Divine Intimacy” by Deon Akintomide
Photo by Noah Busher on Unsplash
