Tag: miracle

Small Beginnings

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Christmas is less than one week away. It’s the holiday that more than two billion people circle in red ink on their calendars each year. In fact, it redefined our entire calendar system. Yet the prophesied Messiah—the ultimate chosen one—the King of Kings and Lord of Lords didn’t shuttle down to earth amongst flaming chariots and cherubic trumpet blasts. He wasn’t born to royalty or reared in a place. Rather, he was conceived in a stable, visited by shepherds, and raised in obscurity. Three long decades passed before He began His short ministry. And centuries followed before Christianity graduated from being a fringe sect of the Roman Empire to its foundational faith. Only a select few knew the promise of the baby lying in a feeding trough that fateful Christmas night.

Small Seeds, Enormous Trees

This pattern is not relegated to Jesus’ birth; it’s a core element of God’s kingdom. During the middle of His earthly ministry, Jesus said “the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” (Matthew 13:31, 32).

To illustrate this point, I’d like to share a story: In the early 1900s, a medical missionary named William Leslie lived and worked amongst the tribes in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo. After nearly twenty years of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice, he had a falling out with some of the tribal leaders and was asked never to return. He returned to the United States and died less than a decade later believing he’d never made a significant impact among the Congolese people.

However, a century later, a group of American missionaries traveled to that same region and found a network of faithful, reproducing churches that traced their origins to Leslie’s time there. Thousands came to faith because of the faithfulness of this one man.

So too in our own lives, God may have given us a seed to nurture. The class we teach, the small business we operate, or the single child we rear, may seem like a calling too insignificant to matter in the long run. But God says, “‘Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin,” (Zechariah 4:10a). He is the God of small beginnings, and He enjoys transforming our small seeds into enormous trees.

Conclusion

The wonder of Christmas is not simply that God came down to earth. He’s done so many times throughout history, and His people shuddered in fear (Hebrews 12:18-21). Rather, it’s that God chose to come down in smallness, as a baby, in a manger born to a disgraced teenage girl and a poor carpenter. And from that lowly starting point, our world was changed forever.

“The angel answered [Mary], ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

(Luke 1:35-37)

The Jesus I Thought I Knew (Father Complex Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I’m your quintessential African American. I was born with a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other. Church was my home base, the star my weekly schedule orbited around. Sunday was church day. Wednesday was church night. And I think there were some other, less important days in between.

I mastered the gamut of Sunday school stories about Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. I finished reading the Bible through by middle school, and I’ve studied, highlighted, and annotated it from cover to cover several times since. I’ve sometimes found myself wondering, “Is there a Bible Pt. 2? If B.I.B.L.E. stands for ‘Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth’, are there advanced instructions?”

The Nazarenes Who “Knew” Jesus

I recently reread Jesus’ homecoming story:

“Jesus left that part of the country and returned with His disciples to Nazareth, His hometown. The next Sabbath He began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were amazed. They asked, ‘Where did He get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?’ Then they scoffed, ‘He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And His sisters live right here among us.’ They were deeply offended and refused to believe in Him.

“Then Jesus told them, ‘A prophet is honored everywhere except in His own hometown and among His relatives and His own family.’ And because of their unbelief, He couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their unbelief” (Mark 6:1-6).

Of all the people to reject Jesus, the Nazarenes knew Him the longest. They’d spent three decades in His presence, watching His deeds and hearing His words. Yet they dismissed Him because they thought they already knew Him.

The Unbelief of “Knowing” Jesus

I find this same pattern playing out in my life. My eyes glaze over when I read John 3:16. Many mornings I let God’s living word slip past me like a shower rather than sink in like a bath. To misquote old man Solomon: “There’s nothing new under the Son” (Ecclesiastes 1:3).

But why does this matter? What are the consequences of knowing the stories but missing their Author? You’ll miss the miracles as well.

I’ve grow numb to the power of the simple gospel. I’ve heard that “faith can move mountains” (Mark 11:23). Yet I’ve seen the tension between faith and endurance, abundance and suffering, joy and sorrow. And I forget that even though “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), life is not. And Jesus’ response to my situation yesterday may not—often, will not—be the same as His response today.

Conclusion

I think these truths are why Jesus said, “You must turn and become like children” (Matthew 18:3). Children know they haven’t gotten it all figured out. They readily accept the unexpected. They’re still open to having their minds blown!

I want to see healing, restoration, and resurrection. I want to accept that the patterns and rhythms I expect from God may change in an instant. I thought I knew Jesus, but I’ve only dipped my toes into the surf of His boundless oceans. I want to cast off my water wings of preconceived notions. Only then, will Jesus guide me into the deep end where feet fail and faith floats.

“To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless.”
(Psalm 119:96)

Prayer Changes Things Outside of Us (Prayer Changes Things Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

During my junior year of college, I went with my church on a retreat. There isn’t much that I recall about that trip, but I do remember committing to spending one hour each day in prayer.

It felt like a foolish choice at the time. Between my academic obligations and my church responsibilities, I was barely treading water. I struggled to find enough time each day to sleep, let alone surrender a whole hour to prayer. Yet somehow God provided the time during that harrowing season of life. Since then, I’ve prayed for many things both great and small, and I’ve seen God move in both cases.

Prayer Changes Lives

A few months after I started praying more, a good friend of mine was attempting to transfer into the geology department at the University of Texas at Austin. He’d already been rejected twice before. And if he didn’t get accepted this time, he was going to transfer universities. So I told him, “Why don’t we pray about it?” And by the end of that week, my friend excitedly told me that he’d been accepted into the geology apartment with a scholarship!

And about a year ago, another friend of mine was on the verge of graduation. But one of the most important people in his life was not planning on being there to see it—his father. Their core values had diverged drastically when Donald Trump was elected president, and their tenuous relationship had become so strained that my friend struggled to even visit his parents. So for a whole year, I prayed for healing in their relationship. And on the eve of my friend’s PH D. defense, his father flew into town and even stayed to help him work on his project for a couple days afterward!

Conclusion

These stories may not be the most exciting. I haven’t yet seen mountains fling themselves into the ocean. But there’s good reason Jesus emphasized asking God for things in prayer so much. He said, “Ask, and you will receive” (Matthew 7:7). “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). And “will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night” (Luke 18:7)?

Jesus came to earth to connect mankind to the Father. And we do so by committing our cares to Him. Maturity in Christ is not asking God for less but entrusting Him with more. And I’m trying to learn how to do that one hour at a time.

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

(1 Peter 5:7)

A Pregnancy Delayed (Overtures from the Advent-ures of Jesus Christ Part 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Most people the world over know of the existence of Jesus Christ. Far fewer know about John the Baptist—His forerunner and prophet. An amazing story describes this great man’s birth.

Delayed Prayers Do Not Equate with Unrighteous Character

To begin his gospel, the Apostle Luke says, “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old” (Luke 1:5-7 NIV).

The first lesson that can be learned from the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth is that the prayers of righteous people can be frustrated. Even Jesus Himself, the most righteous being who’s ever existed, received a “No” from God. When He uttered the words “may this cup be taken from me” (Matthew 26:39 NIV), He spoke of His righteous desire to avoid separation from His heavenly Father. Yet the Father still executed the judgment we deserved upon His Son.

A prayer delayed—or denied—does not always point to hidden sin.

Delayed Prayers Do Not Equate with Unanswered Prayers

But even if a prayer is delayed far longer than we expect it to be, that does not mean the prayer will remain unanswered. Luke 1:13 says, “But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John’” (Luke 1:13 NIV).

As young children wait for Christmas to come, the passage of time feels excruciatingly long to them. But as the days pass, their sense of anticipation doesn’t wane. It waxes stronger because they know that Christmas Day will come.

We should practice the same childlike behavior as we wait on God, trusting that each day doesn’t take us further from fulfillment but closer, no matter how long we wait.

Delayed Prayers Do Not Equate with Ill-Timed Answers

When the angel told Zechariah that his wife would bear a son, he asked, “‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.’ The angel said to him, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time’” (Luke 1:18-20 NIV).

Zechariah had given up on his prayer long ago. His disbelief ran so deep that the prophecy of a holy angelic being was not enough to dispel his doubt. The season for a having a son, it seemed, had passed.

But God didn’t share his conclusion. John the Baptist’s miraculous birth foreshadowed Jesus’ impossible conception. And the ministry of John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus’ saving work (Luke 1:76). John the Baptist didn’t arrive a day late; he came right on time.

Conclusion

God may not give us the victory we believe we deserve at the time we want. But “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12 NIV). He will come through, now or later.

“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

(Habakkuk 2:3 NIV)