I
used to think that my father was paranoid.
Turns out he was just-....right.
Pops
told me that you can’t trust anybody.
“They betrayed Jesus, boy. You
know they gone betray you.”
Pops
said, “It’s not a deal until it’s in writing, and signed, and you got two
copies.”
My
father told me that most of the people who say they want to help you,
don’t. That the folks who come running
to you for help will go running when you need help. People lie.
Nothing’s easy. And everybody who
tells you that they got an easy way is lying.
Basically,
my father taught me to always watch my back.
I
thought he was just being paranoid.
Well, he’s no more paranoid than our Heavenly Father.
In
Isaiah chapter 30, God warned His children about trusting every spirit and
spiritual advisor who claimed to have an enlightened word.
“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the
Lord, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My
Spirit, that they may add sin to sin. (Isaiah 30:1)
The
Lord told them that their so-called friends were going to turn on them, but
they wouldn’t listen.
[They]
walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice,to
strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of
Egypt! Therefore the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust
in the shadow of Egypt shall be your
humiliation. (Isaiah 30: 2, 3)
Israel
brushed off God’s advice as the paranoid ramblings of prophets who didn’t
understand what it was like.
They
were "a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord." (verse 9)
But
God didn’t recant His advice. He didn’t let the true prophets back off from the
true Word. God, our Father who art in
Heaven, continued to tell His people:
Your
ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This
is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever
you turn to the right hand
Or
whenever you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)
A
Word behind you will continue to speak. The
Word, the Lord will speak. Listen to the Word that has already been given. Pay attention to the Word behind you. If you want to
see the Truth, then all you have to is turn around and WATCH YOUR BACK.
God
warned His people, and He told them point blank they would suffer for ignoring
His warning. And they did. But God also
promised that no matter what they went through, no matter what pain they
brought on themselves by ignoring their Father’s good advice, in the end Father
God would always be there for them.
The
Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be
exalted, that He may have mercy on you (verse 18)
This
world and the systems of this world do not love God’s children. No matter how much they
promise to bring us
peace and justice and prosperity and happiness, they will always, inevitably
turn on us.
That’s
what God said. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of
the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Remember
the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If
they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they
will keep yours also." (John 15: 19, 20)
Turns
out He is..... right.
“They
betrayed Jesus, boy. You know they gone betray you.”
Love
people. Don’t love the systems of this
world.
Learn,
master, and make use of the systems of this world. But never, never trust those systems to do
right because it’s the right thing to do.
Be
a good worker, a good citizen, and a good neighbor; but never compromise God’s
Word to conform to the current cultural definition of “good.”
Spend
quality time every day in prayer. Spend
quality time every day with your Bible.
Tune your ears to the Holy Spirit and the Scripture He inspired.
Then,
when the sound of the world becomes loudest, your ears shall hear a word behind
you, saying, “This is the way,
walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the
left.
Until
you die or Jesus returns, remember what Daddy said.
Love
everybody.
But
watch yo’ back.
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry,
and rural leadership development.
Rev.
Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse
Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO); and
director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human
Development (NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
You
can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the
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Support
by check or money order may be mailed to
Miles
Chapel CME Church
P O
Box 132
Fairfield,
Al 35064
