| One of the greatest problems facing most believers today is that they suffer from an identity crisis. They do not know who they really are. They do not stand for something (the right thing) and so they fall for anything. This has resulted in mismanaged potentials. A cat that does not know its identity will attempt to swim and an eagle that forgets its identity will scratch with the chickens! Are you scratching when you should be flying?
There was a time in my life when I used to wake up every night to pray to God to give me more power and grace to do exploits for him. Sometimes I would be so moved by my prayers that I would begin to cry. I did this for several months with no visible progress in my life. But glory to God, I later understood Ephesians 1:3 and immediately realized that I had been scratchingall the while. What do I mean?
Ephesians 1:3 says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hathblessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”
I was scratching because I was telling him to bless me with more power but His word says he has blessed (past tense!) me. I was asking for power and grace, which are spiritual blessings, but His word says as far as spiritual blessings are concerned, then it has already been given to me. And then I wondered … but that man of God used to tell us to pray hard for these spiritual blessings, or I think I have seen it somewhere in the bible. Then these words echoed – whose report will you believe? Wow! I was wallowing in an identity quagmire. But why hadn’t somebody enlightened me all the while? It could be likened to me asking God to make me male, it does not make sense. Did that mean that all those nights of waking up to ask for what was already mine was a waste? Several questions kept running through my mind.
But what I do now, I asked. I shared my experience with a friend and he said – “don’t confuse me, I have been doing this all the while and it has been working for me”. Many Christians make similar statements when their lifestyle is in contrast with God’s word. But if a 2 year old boy cries every time he is hungry, does that make crying for food a good thing, even though it “worked” in the past? Our God may overlook our time of ignorance as babes but he desires we grow up (Acts 17:30). He wants us to stop scratching when we should be flying. He wants us to stop crying when we should be teaching. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing and that makes us the best set of people living on earth. As we continue in this series, we will discuss how to express these blessings in our daily lives. Till then, keep basking in the euphoria that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
– tope aladenusi
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