ORDINATION AND SPONSORSHIP

Well hello there dear gist partner. 

Final Thursday in June 2025, how e dey be? Here’s hoping that these first 6 months have been good for you and that the coming 6 months of the year are filled with testimonies of God’s faithfulness. 

Welcome to today’s gist. 

Something happened in the first book of Samuel that caught my attention a while ago and I’ve been wanting to share with you. In Chapter 8, the Bible records that: “When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.” (Verses 1 and 2, ESV) Now Samuel has been judge over Israel for a long time, from when he was a young man who took over from Eli and his sons, and he judged Israel fairly as much as he was able to. But he became, understandably, old and probably didn’t have the acumen to continue as he had previously been doing, so there came a need for succession, for someone, or some people, to take over from him so that the people of Israel weren’t left rudderless. What does Samuel do? He appoints his 2 sons judges over Israel. 

Very important question: who orchestrated Samuel becoming judge? God. Another important question: who orchestrated Joel and Abijah’s own? Their father, Samuel. 

And what did these sons of Samuel do after their man-orchestrated appointment as judges? “Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.” (1 Samuel 8:3 ESV) When I was younger, I used to think that Samuel’s children behaved the way they did because their father didn’t take the time to raise them well and I remember thinking; “why Samuel no learn from Eli and im sons?” But I’ve realized something: these men could not walk in the way of their father because, I believe, they didn’t have the same call of God upon their life as their father did. And the result was that they did not feel compelled to walk after God in righteousness as their father did because they didn’t ever hear the Lord call them. You see, when the Lord calls a person to do something, He equips that person with the capacity to do it, never mind that you couldn’t do it before, once the call comes, there is immediately a deposit from God to help you become who you need to be to do what He has called you to do because God will always sponsor the doing of what He has called a man to do. 

But what then happens when the call is from someone or something other than God? That deposit for sustenance and thriving becomes absent because the only one who can make such a deposit is God Himself, it cannot be replicated by any man. That is why you can find Preachers whose sons run away from anything that would have them climb the pulpit, not because they do not have love or passion for God but because God didn’t call them there. 

You see ba, for every Christian, from the moment you take your stand with God, you immediately come under attack from the forces of darkness, whether directly or subtly, all with one goal: that you fail to achieve what God has destined for you to achieve, and the only way you can actually fulfil purpose is when you have God walking and working with you, enabling you do the things He would have you do. But when you’ve turned away on a frolic of your own, not outside the faith this time but outside the scope of what the Lord has called you to do, you will not enjoy the covering and sponsorship of God in that endeavor because who send you work?

Too many people have missed their way and fallen out of purpose because they towed the path that everyone, but God, said seemed to be the best path for them to follow. “Your father na pastor, lion no dey born goat oo! You sef suppose ‘enter ministry’.” That has pushed a lot of  children of preachers of the Word into a life of misery and frustration because they entered into wetin God no send them. 

Am I saying children of Pastors cannot themselves be called into like ministry? No! What I am saying is that before you assume that a path or course of action is the way to go, ascertain from the Lord that He has indeed called you into that path because only God-ordained ventures enjoy God’s sponsorship. You do not have to struggle through life feeling frustrated and disheartened when you can actually tow God’s path and enjoy the fulfillment and blessing that comes with doing that. 

And let me throw this in very quickly: when God has called you to path A and you go on ‘to do exploits’ in path B instead and the Lord comes to judge your efficacy and obedience as a servant-child, He’s looking at path A where He actually sent you to, not path B that you went on a frolic of your own. Because it is first about obedience before it is about the exploits that you have done. So just don’t go doing something because it seems right, do it because it is what God has actually called you to do, remember, there is a difference between the way that seems right (Proverbs 14:12) and the way that actually is right, make sure you’re on the path that actually is right. Don’t spend time doing what God hasn’t called you to do to the neglect of what He has actually called you to do. 

May God help us to be careful to ascertain that He has indeed called us into a venture before we embark on it. 

TUNES AND THOUGHTS: our song recommendation for this week is “Dide” by Jaymikee. The word ‘dide’ in Yoruba means to “arise” or “get up”. The song is a call to duty. I literally went to look for the lyrics to the song to share with you because e no get wetin I want tell you wey pass wetin the lyrics talk, I got it from Gmlyrics website, here it goes: 

Dide (Arise)
 Emi Oluwa Jehova be Lara mi (The Spirit of the Lord is upon me)
 Nitori ti oti fi Ami Ororo Yan mi (Cos he has anointed me)
 Lati Was Fun awon otoshi (To Preach unto the lost ones)
 Oti ran mi lati se awo tan oh (He has sent me to cleanse totally)
 Gbogbo awon oni ro binuje okan (Those that are heart broken)
 Ati gbogbo alayi ni ireti (to those that have lost hope)
 Kede idasile fun awon igbekun ( declare freedom to the captives)
 ati sisi le tubu fun awon ounde to set free the bound)
 Didi Arise (×4)
 Kristeni Ologun ( Christian Soldiers)

Kristeni mai ti wa sinmi o (Christian Seek yet reprise)
 Beeni Angeli re wi (hear thy guardian angel say)
 Ni arin ota lowa (ve are in the midst of foes)
 Ma so ra (Watch and Pray) (×4)
 Dide (Arise)
 Ogun orun apadi (the host of hell) ti a ko ri sugbon won ko ran won jo (that are gathered)
 won sho e (watching You) (×3)
 Dide oh! (arise) (×5)
 Kristeni Ologun ( Christian Soldiers)

I hope you listen to this song and it stirs your heart to action too. 

Well, that is that about that as far as that is concerned, see you next week! 

Love,

Achenyo. 

PS. I’m getting called to the Nigerian Bar in exactly 2 weeks!!!!!