A sister (in Christ) was chatting with my wife, Faye, one
Sunday and sharing her faith goals for the coming year and some of the exciting
events in her life that are happening…and I was there, like any good husband
would do, minding my own business playing Inotia 3 in my phone when I was
supposed to listen to them and give advice. During the course of their chat I overheard
that our sister is starting to get confused with some of the things that is
related to the matter of the heart (love life). She was explaining to Faye that
she did not commit to God that she will remain single, she just committed to
focus her attention to Christ, and that she is open to getting into a
relationship. I felt a soft slap in the head from the Holy Spirit telling me to
listen and butt-in (I was already gaining level in my game at that point). I
paused my game and faced this little sister of mine and told her “Test the
Spirit” (1 John 4:1).
She came from a relationship that did not end well. She
just recovered. And now that she has committed her life to Christ with a single
purpose “to seek Him”, now comes a surge of suitors left and right, up and
down. All of them are good men, all of them are growing and maturing in faith,
all of them are very talented, all of them are very good looking – but the
biggest question of them all is “will any of them draw her closer to Christ? Or
will they just be a stumbling block that will draw her attention away from her
true goal (that is to draw closer to Christ more)?
Take the Litmus Test for example. Without this magical piece of paper from hogwarts we would all assume that both glasses contains pure crystal clear water. They both don't seem to be harmless. They both look thirst quenching. And trust me, both can send you to the hospital with a burning throat. I still regret not testing it first before trying it.
At this point I got reminded myself that blessings usually
come in disguises. Some blessings come in the form of pain, trials and
persecution – but will eventually produce a better character out of us. But there are also some curses, pain, and troubles that come in the form of blessings.
We were warned of people who are like wolf in sheep’s clothing (Matt
7:15), but we should also be careful to test every potential blessings or
opportunity if they are really blessings from God and not just some
diversionary tactics from the Enemy. As it is said, it is easier to catch a fly
with honey than with vinegar. It may come in a form of new found relationship,
new job, new car, new house, new whatever. We need to remember that the enemy
is out there to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) – and yes that includes
you! He is out there to get you and to keep you away from God, this is the very
reason why Jesus said that we should remain in him (John 15:4) because we are
powerless against the enemy IF
we are not empowered by Christ.
My wife, Faye, is the greatest blessing that I have ever had in my
life. I would say that though our marriage is not perfect I have been living a
peaceful life with my wife for over 4 years now. I gave this sister of ours
something I learned from my wife, “every good and perfect gift comes from the Father”
(James 1:17) and “He adds no sorrow to it” (Prov. 10:22). This is how you test
if a blessing is indeed a blessing, or if it just sorrow in disguise.
