WARNING SIGNS (10): WHEN YOU FORGET HOW WEAK YOU ARE

I still remember where I was standing that day some years back when my Sagem phone rang. The voice on the other end was sober. It was that of a dear brother.

He said in hushed tones, “My brother, I have sinned against God and disappointed you”. My heart skipped when he told me how he had impregnated a girl he could not even dream of marrying.

We both went silent and then I said to him, “I do not condemn you, my brother. Your fall reminds me of how weak I am also. It could have been me. We will take this walk together”.

My dear one, if the devil or life makes you forget how weak you can be, it is a warning sign. When you throw stones at others who are weak thinking you are stronger, it is a warning sign!

People who relish in the skeletons hidden in their mental cupboards or secret compartments of their hearts or at times locked phones that no one can access but the Holy Spirit can see will throw stones at the “serious sister or brother” who fell into sin.

Judah had just taken a trip out of the place where a lot of people know him as a Patriarch. He sees a prostitute by the way. He negotiates for sex. He cleans his mouth as though nothing happened.

When the prostitute requested a young goat as payment. Judah did not have it at the moment. He left his seal and symbols of identity as collateral for a few minutes of pleasure.

When his friend returned with the goat. The prostitute had disappeared. It would be a shame to ask, “We are looking for a prostitute. We owe her”. So Judah and his friend kept mute. Yet, his identity and seal were already gone.

He returned to life as the Patriarch. People respect and honour him. Then news comes- “That your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot and she is pregnant”.

Judah in his hypocrisy said, “Good riddance to bad rubbish. Take her out and stone her to death”. The Patriarch who fell has become the judge of the “prostitute” he fell for. What an irony.

Tamar had proof. Here is Daddy Judah’s identity card and his seal. Tell him the owner impregnated me.

At that moment, all self-righteousness ended. He realised he was not better than her. He was even worse off. He said, “She is more righteous than I am”
(Story ref: Gen. 38)

If you are not careful, “It can never happen to people like us” will become “I did not even know how it happened”.

The fall of a brother is a warning and not an opportunity to point fingers. In battle, when the bullet hits a fellow soldier, you don’t laugh or point fingers.

While you laugh, you lose sight of the enemy. The next bullet may be coming for your head. You improve on your guard! You strengthen the wounded.

Hear Paul: These are all warning markers— We are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
1 Corinthians 10:11,12 MSG

temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa.