Tag: faith

Standing at the Crossroads of Logic and Faith

By Ife J. Ibitayo

When I say Ananias, your eyes might light up as you remember the dishonest landowner from the book of Acts and his wife Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). But there is another, lesser known Ananias.

On the road to Damascus, a brilliant white light blinded the religious terrorist known as Saul of Tarsus. Forced to his knees and rocked to his core, Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

Out of that light, a voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:5-6). The blinded terrorist was led by his friends into the city, where he remained for three days without food or water (Acts 9:9).

In that same city was a believer known as Ananias. In a vision, God commissioned him to go to Saul and heal him. But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name” (Acts 9:13).

But the Lord said, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to proclaim My name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:14).

Ananias now stood at a crossroads: Would he believe the voice of sound wisdom, reliable logic, and eyewitness accounts, or would he believe the voice of God?

The Logical Route

The strange thing about our expectation of God’s revelation is that we think He will tell us what we want to hear: “If you keep putting in the extra hours at work, you’ll definitely get promoted.” “If you keep swiping left on Tinder, you’ll certainly find your soulmate.” But, by definition, revelation is the impartation of a “surprising and previously unknown fact” that often runs contrary to the convictions we previously held.

Ananias’s trusted friends had told him how much damage Saul had wrought on the church. Logic told him that befriending terrorists is not the best way to live a long, pleasant life. But God had told him that this man was His “chosen instrument”, literally his “divinely selected vessel”, to represent Him before the entire world.

 So the question remained, would Ananias trust himself, or would he trust God?

The Faith-Filled Route

This same question lies at the heart of faith today. When God says the “last shall be first and the first last” (Matthew 20:16), the “meek shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 37:11), and “the greatest among you shall be your slave” (Matthew 20:27) we should recognize that these are illogical statements.

When God tells us that the best way to get ahead at work is to spend more time with our family or that the best way to find our spouse is waiting on His timing, our common sense screams foul. But scripture after scripture emphasizes that this is the very nature of divine revelation. 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.” From our limited vantage point, many of His plans look reckless at best and foolhardy at worst. Yet like a chess grandmaster, His methods are more brilliant than we could ever imagine.

The Path Forward

Ananias’ response to this terrifying commission was obedience. “[He] went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized” (Acts 9:17-18).

Everyone knows Apostle Paul, but the catalyst for his journey, the one who literally opened his eyes, was someone just like us. He risked his life and freedom for a God-given vision, and we’re still reaping the fruit of his courage today.

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”

(Isaiah 55:8-9)

The Heroine Kokofe

By Ife J. Ibitayo

My short story “The Heroine Kokofe” has been published and narrated in the 833 episode of Escape Pod! This is my first professional publication, and I especially enjoyed writing this story because it sits at the intersection of my two passions–faith and fiction:

Escape Pod 833: The Heroine Kokofe

Story Excerpt

Muhamolu clapped his hands together and said, “We have gathered here today for the Agba of Kokofe Lalarun. If she defeats her demon, she will be a full adult in our community when she returns. If she does not, she will be an outcast forever. It only remains for God’s Ori to provide her target. God’s will be done.

“Ori,” Muhamolu boomed, his voice echoing across the village square, “tell us your will!”

A faint, humanoid emanation appeared in front of the Kwanza’s head. It was the buggy remnants of the spacecraft’s AI, to Kokofe at least. But the villagers bowed as reverently to it as God Himself. Kokofe also sank to her knees. Of all days, today she’d need as many allies as she could get.

“For whom?” Ori said, in a deep, resonant voice. As it flickered in and out, it locked eyes on Muhamolu. The chief fixed his gaze on the dirt in somber respect.

Baba gently pushed Kokofe forward and whispered, “Say your name.”

Kokofe cleared her voice and said with as much confidence as she could muster, “Moyororokokofe Lalarun!”

“Processing,” Ori said, and it vanished for a minute. Kokofe had always wondered what it did when it disappeared. The strange cross-referencing associations it made between the colonists’ names and the colony’s animals was still very much beyond her. It returned and said, “Akata.” A hologram of a humongous hairless canine with savage fangs and the Devil’s eyes glared down at them.

An old woman shrieked, and someone muttered in their native tongue of Yoruhili, “The accursed have no luck.”

“God’s Ori has spoken!” Muhamolu boomed, but there was a quaver in his voice. “His will be done.”

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Yrq3w1BkSmmaGZ9geXfk5?si=9aa812a50d5b4ee6

Leaping Into the Abyss

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I love control. As a happy creature of habit, I love my Takeout Tuesdays and my free time on Fridays. I religiously adjust my thermostat every night to optimize my sleep. And every day I guard my thirty-minute lunch break like it’s the Holy Grail. Because control is my sacred relic—”my precious.” Feeling in control is one of my strongest sources of peace today, and it have been for a very long time.

Restriction and Freedom

Ironically, the more control we seek, the more restricted we will be. We know instinctively that innovation requires a certain amount of chaos. Failure, mistakes, and waste are all essential components of progress. I assent to all this in theory, but in practice I spend my days in utter terror of my imperfections. I don’t remember the hundreds of times I did a perfectly satisfactory job. Rather, I remember each and every moment I slipped up.

Trust, on the other hand, frees. The Bible often equates trusting with casting. For instance, Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.” The word translated “cares” in this verse is the Hebrew word yehab, meaning “a burden that has been given to us.” When we spend our days carrying around the burdens placed on us, we won’t have the capacity to carry much else. But when we give our burdens to God, we will then be free to tackle greater challenges and even help others who are struggling under their own heavy loads.

Caution and Daring

Control is cautious. It’s risk averse. Whether it be asking for a raise, revealing a talent, or proposing to a beautiful woman, the most meaningful opportunities in life will require us to relinquish control. They demand a leap of faith.

The author of the book of Hebrews said, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Faith is audacious and bold. It’s daring. It’s willing to leap into the abyss, step into the darkness, and let go of the rope. If we’re only willing to move forward when we’ve been given a map of the whole journey, we’ll spend our whole lives going nowhere.

Conclusion

Control and trust are polar opposites. The more time I spent reflecting on their differences, the starker they became: Control hoards while trust gives. Control demands more and more while trust requires less and less. Control depends on what’s in our hands. Trust depends on Whose hands we’re in.

Finishing this article was a struggle for me. The weight of anxiety threatens to smother my heart as I enter this new, exciting phase of my life. But I must leap into the abyss, step into the darkness, and let go of the rope. I must renounce control so that I can receive trust. All I can do now is pray that God catches me.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

Let There Be Light (The Genesis Archives Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

In the beginning, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light (Genesis 1:3).”

I often forget how easy things are for God. I work hard each day at my desk job. I work hard each night at my writing. I work hard at being a good employee, a good brother, and a good friend. Paraphrasing my father, who was telling me about the stressful early years of his career: “I claimed that my success all depended on God. But I worked as if my success all depended on me.”

Labor In Vain

Fittingly, the first sermon I heard this year was on Psalm 127. Its first couple of verses say, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to His beloved sleep.” Success is not a product of our faithfulness but God’s. God doesn’t “help those who help themselves.” Rather, He saves those who know they can’t save themselves.

Jars of Clay

In the New Testament, Paul writes, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). There’s a reason we have to sleep for eight hours a day and take a day off each week and some weeks off each year. Our tiredness is not a bug in our programming but an important feature of our being.

If we truly believe that God has the power to speak light into existence, we should know that He can singlehandedly speak light into our careers, our marriages, and our children’s lives. We’re called to cast our burdens on Him (1 Peter 5:7) and take His yoke upon ourselves (Matthew 11:29) because our burdens are heavy, but His yoke is light (Matthew 11:30).

Conclusion

I think that I’ll always work hard.  The seeds of that spirit are rooted in my immigrant roots and my upbringing. They echo through the pages of the Bible from wrestling Jacob to struggling Paul. And I hope that everyone who’s spent their days lounging through life can embrace a bit of that can-do spirit. But I think that the best lesson for me to learn in 2022 is not how to work harder but how to rest more.

“‘Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’”

(Matthew 11:28-30)

Mary’s Magnificat Faith (New Angles on the Nativity Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

In the space of less than six months, an incredible set of coincidences occurred. The same angel declared two separate miraculous births to two righteous people who lived less than two hundred miles from each other. These two people were the elderly Zechariah and his teenage cousin Mary.

The awesome glory of the angel terrified Zechariah as the being said, “‘Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John’” (Luke 1:13). Skeptically, Zechariah asked, “‘How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years’” (Luke 1:18).

The angel replied, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was He who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time’” (Luke 1:19-20).

Conversely, in this same chapter, the angel Gabriel told the virgin, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name Him Jesus’” (Luke 1:30-31).

She replied, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38). And soon after she burst into song, singing her famous Magnificat (Luke 1:46-56).

Silencing Doubt

What separated Zechariah from Mary? Was it their age, their gender? Are old men more cynical than young women? Was it the fact that the promise Zechariah received was an answer to his personal plea while Mary’s was an answer to their nation’s prayers?

I pondered these questions as I poured over this chapter. I sympathize with Zechariah’s plight. After a lifetime of waiting, trusting, and hoping, probably long after he’d given up on his dream of being called “Daddy”, he was told his wish would finally be granted. But he’d have to wait nine months to find out whether the angel’s words would prove true.

Faith is hard. I’ve had faith for many things that fell through, from college applications to romantic relationships to job opportunities. A band I used to listen to has an album called, “How Do You Fix What’s Not Easily Broken?” And I ask myself that question daily as I try to salvage the shards of broken promises. How many more times had Zechariah had to ask that question at the end of his long life on this bitter earth?

But our lack of faith does not stop God’s faithfulness! God did not retract His promise to Zechariah in spite of his faithlessness. Instead, He silenced him.

Vocal Faith

Turning to Mary, we can see her childlike faith. When an angel told her that she’d be the first virgin to give birth to a child, she believed that Almighty God was well able to do what He’d promised. Therefore she believed in her heart and declared with her mouth, “God took notice of His lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and He has done great things for me’” (Luke 1:48-49).

Conclusion

Tellingly, when Zechariah’s tongue was loosed nine months later, the first words out of his mouth were praises to God as well. “‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them’” (Luke 1:68). When God makes a promise to us, He will keep it. So we can either praise Him now in faith. Or we can let our doubts silence us until He proves Himself faithful.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

(Hebrews 11:6)

Peace in the Midst of Trouble (In the Midst of Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

It’d be an understatement to say that my life has been troubled as of late. I’ve been choking down a toxic soup of emotional anguish and looming deadlines day by day. Less than a year ago, I was struggling with symptoms that resembled Generalized Anxiety Disorder. So great was the weight of my daily anxiety that my blood pressure skyrocketed (see my article “Big Problems, Bigger God”). As worries hovered about my mind like looming thunderclouds, the story of Jesus sailing across the Sea of Galilee with His disciples came to my mind.

Losing Peace

Jesus gathered His ragtag group of friends and told them, “Let’s cross to the other side of this lake” (Mark 4:35). But soon after they got underway, a great storm arose, sending massive breakers into their puny boat. In fear, the disciples rushed to the stern of the boat and roused their sleeping master. They cried to the bleary-eyed Jesus, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38)

The disciples were fearful because they based their internal peace on external circumstances. While the sea was calm, they were at peace. When the sea grew tumultuous, so did their souls.

We too are tempted to anchor our peace on what our eyes can see: dollar signs in our bank account, 5’s on our performance reviews, or A’s on our children’s report cards. But just like the water in the great deep, forces beyond our control can transform any one of these wellsprings of peace into a source of anxiety.

Giving Peace

Jesus responded to the mighty windstorm with a mighty rebuke. He yelled to the wind and waves, “Peace! Be still” The wind stopped howling, and a great calm fell upon the sea (Mark 4:39).

Now, this peace didn’t spring up from nowhere. It was already present in Jesus’ soul. This peace is why He was able to rest through this great unrest. And this peace was so powerful that—by the power of the Holy Spirit—He was able to transform His external reality to match His internal truth.

I marvel at Jesus’ peace through the most trying of circumstances. He maintained His peace in the face of intense persecution, abandonment by His loved ones, and even His death on the cross. His otherworldly serenity tempts me to despair because I know I can’t muster up peace like His.

 But that’s why Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you (John 14:27).” Because He knows that we can’t produce peace on our own, He graciously decided to give it to us.

Receiving Peace

At the end of His story about shushing the wind and waves, Jesus asked His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith” (Mark 4:40)? He mentions faith because faith is the conduit of grace. We must transfer the faith we place in money, people, and our own capabilities onto the person of Jesus Christ in order to receive His peace.

Conclusion

We place our faith in Jesus Christ because He has the power to keep His promises. Jesus promised His disciples that they’d reach the other side in Mark 4:35, and this is the same promise He offers to each of us. No matter how large the sea, no matter how mighty the waves, Jesus promises that we’ll reach the other side of our sea of trouble.

“‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’”

(John 16:33)

Something Out of Nothing (Life in Waiting Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

In my post “Almost But Not Yet”, I mentioned the faith of Abraham, the father of the Israelites. He left his family and homeland based on the word of a foreign god. The LORD promised that the son he didn’t have would inherit a land he didn’t know about! The apostle Paul speaks about the significance of Abraham’s faith in the book of Romans:

Something

“The scriptures say God told him, ‘have made you the father of many nations.’ This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing” (Romans 4:17).

First and foremost, Paul emphasized the nature of God. When someone makes a promise to us, whether it be season tickets to our favorite sports team or a job at an exciting startup, we stake the value of that promise on the character of that person. Are they a conman? Or are they trustworthy? Abraham rested his faith on the God of Adam: the Creator who formed valuable life out of worthless dirt (Genesis 2:7), the God who regularly makes something out of nothing.

Nothing

But the seeming flip side of faith is cold, hard reality. In Romans 4:19, apostle Paul said, “Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” One hundred-year-old men don’t father children, and ninety-year-old women don’t become pregnant. With similarly daunting truths that stand against the promises God has spoken to us, how can we square faith with reality?

Someone

Paul concluded that Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised” (Romans 4:21). Abraham understood the unlikeliness of God’s promise but knew that God is greater than likelihood, probability, and even possibility. The God he served was a miracle-working, promise-keeping God, and He still is today.

Conclusion

God’s promises anchor us in the heavenly realm of healings, miracles, and resurrection power when everything else in the world tries to steer us elsewhere. We can choose to cling on to our God for one more day—trusting that He’ll again make something out of nothing, or we can accept that nothing will remain nothing forever.

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”

(Hebrews 10:13)

Watch God (Life After Death Pt. 3)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For Part 1, “Remembered Sin or Resurrected Faith”, click here. For Part 2, “Unexpected Gift, Unexpected Grief”, click here.

Jesus had many disciples, but He had very few friends. A man named Lazarus and his two sisters–Mary and Martha–were among these precious few. When Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent this message to the famed miracle worker, “‘Lord, Your dear friend is very sick’” (John 11:3). Jesus should have taken off as soon as He heard. But He waited instead. And by the time He arrived in Lazarus’ hometown, His dear friend was already dead (John 11:17).

Watch, God?

If you’re anything like me, you may have noticed that this is a fairly common pattern for God. We saw the writing on the wall and begged Him to step in a long time ago: To rescue our flagging finances, our failing marriage, or our wayward children. But He didn’t show.

The prophet Elijah once mocked some false prophets who were crying out to Baal by saying, “‘You’ll have to shout louder, for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming or relieving himself or away on a trip or asleep’” (1 Kings 18:27). But sometimes I feel like that’s my God. And that’s how Mary and Martha felt when Jesus finally arrived. They cried to Jesus, “‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died’” (John 11:21, 32).

Watch God

We’re distraught when God shows up later than we want Him to because we think He’s too late to do anything at all. When we’ve declared bankruptcy, when our spouse files for divorce, when our son or daughter overdoses, we throw in the towel. We recognize that He’s the great physician who can heal broken bones, but we forget that He’s almighty God who resurrects corpses.

Even before Lazarus was laid in the tomb, Jesus said, “‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it’” (John 11:4). God’s glory is not a trivial matter. Only people who worship a glorious God have glorious faith.

They pour out their life savings to wash Jesus’ feet (John 13:1-8). Tortured, imprisoned, and sawn in two, they refuse to deny the faith (Hebrews 11:35-37). They accept sleepless night and starving days just to preach the gospel (2 Corinthians 11:27). They shout with Daniel’s three friends, “Our God is able to save us from the fiery furnace, but even if He does not, we will not submit” (Daniel 3:17-18). Such faith is not built on a small God working small miracles but a great God working great wonders.

Conclusion

When Jesus came to Lazarus’ tomb, He said, “‘Take away the stone.’” But she replied, “‘Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible’” (John 11:39). Martha had already swung the white flag of defeat. There was no point in unearthing the putrid, rotting corpse. But Jesus replied, “‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?’” (John 11:40). The question Jesus asked Martha, He asks you today: “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Do you have enough faith to roll away the stone and watch God?

“The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”

(2 Chronicles 16:9a NKJV)

The Foolish, Faithful Faith of Abraham

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Many of us are in a season of waiting right now. We’ve just finished Thanksgiving, and we’re trying to hang on until Christmas. We’ve been following the election cycle, and we’re anxiously seeking the end of this extended conundrum. We’re yearning for 2021 and its promise of a vaccine.

Abraham, the father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, was no stranger to waiting. It defined his life. At the ripe old age of seventy-five, God promised him that he’d become a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5-6). Yet it wasn’t until Abraham reached the grave-knocking age of one hundred that God gave him his son Isaac.

The Foolishness of Faith

True faith will often look ridiculous to those who don’t believe. The Apostle Paul said Abraham “did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19 CSB).

Now that we’ve seen the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, it can be easy to diminish the sheer craziness of his faith. By the time God promised him he’d have a son, he was already old enough to be a grandfather. Stories must have abounded of the crazy, rich nomad that somehow thought his creaky wife would give birth to a son before they both kicked the bucket. Their whole family carried the shame and disgrace of believing in a vision from some little-known God that no one else worshiped at the time. Genuine faith often only looks reasonable in hindsight.

The Faithfulness of Faith

The Apostle Paul goes on to say about Abraham, “He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do” (Romans 4:20-21 CSB). Faith hangs on. It takes it stand on the sure foundation of God’s promise even as the waters rise to its throat. It believes God when He says He knows a guy who can walk on water (Matthew 14:22-33).

The Fulfillment of Faith

Summing up the fulfillment of this righteous man’s faith, the author of Hebrews says, “And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” (Hebrews 11:12 NIV). Abraham lay hold of the promise God gave to him because he held on to God. He suffered the shame, endured the wait, and embraced glory and joy unimaginable because he had faith. The question remains if we’ll have the patience to receive our own Isaac.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.”

(Hebrews 11:1-2 ESV)