The Antidote

The Ola Olutayo Mail.
Today 2nd Oct, 2013.

The Antidote.

Most times when we meet someone for the first time or after just "a little while" we are somehow, fully persuaded that things would just be sweet and good all along; and in most cases the other person is having the same feeling.

We also think that we would "always love" them, "always work" with them, "always appreciate" them and "always be happy" around them. And yet again, the other person is feeling the same way.
Don't get me wrong; these things are achieveable.
But do you expect that they are achieveable by just "thinking" about it?
Don't we just think people get married and "live happily ever after?"
Yet, that's not what many are experiencing!
The mere thoughts of the slogan itself hasn't been practically analyzed.
"Ever after" in that slogan has made many people think that "living happily will come not in the now, but 'in' some ever after".
Well, I disagree because the Scriptures also disagree.
Isaiah 42:9 reads:

"See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; BEFORE they spring into being I ANNOUNCE them to you."

The knowledge of what is coming up or is yet to come up is announced NOW!
Just as if "ever after" is announced NOW!
"Ever" is not some time to come; it starts from the past, to the NOW, and then to the future.
God is saying in that scripture that the happiness, joy, and glory that is envisioned starts from NOW!
Note that He didn't say "I have announced them to you".
In fact in Isaiah 43:18 He speaks again:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

Therefore we begin our "ever after" from NOW.
We don't just "think it or envision it", we "create it into tangibility".
If from the first time we meet someone we are already fully persuaded that things would just work out then we need to "create what we see".
Many of us are in relationships that before this time we had great dreams and expectations about but we just "failed" to let our whole being "work out" those expectations.
Many of us "promised good things in our minds" to do for the other person but overlooked the disaster that might happen if we fail to fulfill these promises.
If it is in a romantic relationship, many of us promise or look forward to "great romance" but we don't see how much the expectant person is hurt when we suddenly stop giving the romance, or give it to another person entirely.
If it is a business relationship, many employees promise heaven and earth when they want the job but they seem to go to sleep when it's theirs and ultimately stop adding value to their employers.
It seems we are looking forward to a "happily ever after" that draws no blood from us!
That has been the bad news, until now.
The Good News is the antidote.
It is God's idea of perfection.
We can achieve nothing without it!
When we put the whole attention on ourselves and what we can do, that's where the problem is.
It's not just a problem for the whole world but especially Christians who still put the Good News under the watchful eyes of the law!
They try to make things work by their "performance"; just as the law preaches.
Not so with God.
He has made ALL THINGS WORK by the "sacrifice" of Jesus.
Note that when you are indisposed to Jesus's sacrifice you are only trying to perform what you ALREADY ARE!
Therefore by the sacrifice of Jesus in the flesh [Hebrews 10:20] we "learn" God's way of "working out or towards" what we envision to whoever and with whoever we envision them.

First, we let go of what we think we can do to love people.
We have to accept that we do not know how to love people!
Isaiah 64:6 says "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags"; we just don't know how to do it!
By the way, you can do NOTHING to manage and keep what's in your hands [i.e. people, material things, talents, etc] when its inevitable that you'll lose it. Only what you keep out of your hands and into God's hands do you truly possess!
That was Jesus's sacrifice too!
Couldn't He have loved us from above?
Yet, He descended and became like us as in Philippians 2.
The Perfect gave himself for the imperfect, knowing fully well that we can be what He wants us to be if He lets go of His glorious, perfect state, and not just watch how we turn out from the stands!
That's unlike us!
We want to "perform" our best when the other person also "perform" their best.
Tell me, what's so good about the world that made God give away His Only Son according to John 3:16?
Nothing.
So what's NOT so good about this person that demands my best NOW?
Find that and do it.
God began to work out our salvation right when we fell; He didn't just envision it!
I don't mean to say that you will always be so good at doing this, but you are becoming what God wants you to be!
And that pleases God [Matthew 3:17].
Isn't it wonderful?
That though you yourself are not perfect yet you are exhibiting the perfect love of Christ!

I definitely can't finish this today!
The concluding part comes up tomorrow.
Glory!