DISCERNING THE CALL, KEEPING PACE

Hello there dear gist partner. 

HAPPY NEW MONTH!! 

We’re in the last lap of 2025!!! How are you feeling? It is my hope that this month ushers you into a season of rejuvenation and clarity of purpose and ideas. 

First, let me say that I am so sorry for not being here last week, I wasn’t feeling so good and I couldn’t write, but I am here now so, without further ado, welcome to today’s gist. 

I saw something interesting yesterday in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus and I thought to share. In Matthew 2, the record is given of the visit of the wise men. These wise men, as we would later see in the passage, had been led from the East by the star that rose in the sky to announce the birth of Jesus; they followed this star all the way from their homes and it led them into Judea. When they got to Judea, they did something very interesting, and I do not mean that in a good way; they got to Judea and began to ask around, “saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”” (Matthew 2:2 ESV) And as they continued in their enquiry, Herod heard about it and called his scribes and the chief priests and attempted to ascertain the truth of the wise men’s sayings. When he found out that it had indeed been prophesied that the King of Jews would be born in Bethlehem, Herod met with the wise men and told them to go and help him find out where the King of the Jews was born and come to tell him. You know what the Bible records? It is recorded that when the wise men came out of their foray into dealings with Herod, the star that had been leading them continued to lead them until it came to rest over the place where the Baby Jesus lay. 

As I thought about this, something struck me: the star was still available and leading the wise men when they decided to go and start asking people for directions to the place they were being led to! You know what was the consequence of their inquiry? It wasn’t that the enquiry yielded the location of where Baby Jesus was, the result of their enquiry was that all the children who were 2 years and below were killed by Herod. As I ruminated about this, this is the lesson that I learnt: do not seek men to lead you to the place where God is already taking you to! You see, these men didn't begin their journey by making enquiries, they began their journey by following the directions and leading of the star. All of a sudden, they got to a point and they felt that it would be more beneficial to have humans lead them than to continue to follow the star, and these were people recorded in the Bible as wise men!

Before you judge and criticize them, ask yourself how many times you have gone to humans for directions to places that God was already leading you to, you’ll find that this is something that you have done, and on more than one occasion too. Too many times, we’re so interested and invested in the people we revere as spiritual authorities that we end up choosing, albeit subconsciously, to follow their leading over the express leading of the Holy Spirit. You see that place that God is leading you to? Only He knows the place and the way there, so when you go to a mortal like yourself to ask for directions to where God is taking you to, you are invariably deciding to say that God no really know the road, or His way isn’t the best, just one of the others that can get you there, so you can decide to take any route and still end up there. But that’s a lie! A very big lie. 

You must understand that God has an intention for you; there’s a reason why He is leading you on the journey He’s taking you on and to the place He’s taking you to. But that reason will be thwarted when you decide to cut corners and go through a route that is different from the one He is taking you on, which is exactly what you will be doing when you decide to trust human instincts –whether yours or another person’s, over God’s instructions, e no go end well, remember “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”(Proverbs 14:12 ESV) This means that when you meet a man for directions, that he definitely doesn’t have, to where God is taking you to, the only outcome will be death, something go die even if no be physical death. So, why don’t you just follow who both know the road and be The Road, allow God to lead you to where He will have you be.  

Am I saying that seeking counsel is bad? No! The place of godly counsel will never be overemphasized, after the Bible talks about the safety that resides in the abundance of counsel (Proverbs 11:14b). What I am saying however, is that counsel cannot take the place of God’s divine leading for your life, His way is the only way to go and must reign supreme! Do not shortchange yourself by mortgaging Heaven’s intelligence for earthly counsel, no matter how spiritual and spirit-filled it sounds. We must learn to base  our actions and decisions upon the foundation of what God has said to you, that is the only way to have something of any true value and lasting impact after all, you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand (lawyers, both in fact and in equity, go don talk the place wey this saying commot from😅, especially Libertarians from UNIJOS😂😂). God is your Father, He will not lead you to harm; trust Him, follow Him. 

May God help us to follow His leading above anyone else. 

TUNES AND THOUGHTS: our song recommendation is ‘Olugbeja’ by SteveHills. I heard this song for the first time on Sunday; since then, I’ve heard it at least 50 times, it’s been on repeat for the past 2 days. This song is one of trust in God’s power to deliver and help you, a declaration of the fact that exploits are done only by God’s help. This song is a reminder of what God has done, what He is doing and the fact that He will continue to do it. I pray that it blesses your heart and draws you to trust again. 

Audiomack: https://audiomack.com/stevehills-1/song/olugbeja?share-user-id=140072136 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6Lp4YG9SoR1poa9k2himY2?si=BqwNLKFKTKGyI7hPyfGqfw 

YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZJaIkeO6o&si=iI4a8ahRsVUPY3mL 

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

Love, 

Achenyo. 

PS. Today marked 8 months since we buried my father; some days I wonder how it’s possible that I have not run mad, really it is by the mercies of the Lord that I have not been consumed. Please, keep my family, and all others grieving, in your prayers, thank you.