Like the Israelites, we as African Americans, were a rejected people. God chose the Israelites to be His people. We, on the other hand, chose God. We are a people who were not a people. We found ourselves strangers in a strange land, among people who rejected, scorned and abused us. We had no claim to any particular country or tribe in Africa. So we humbly surrendered ourselves to God, begging Him to take us as His own. We, like Jacob wrestling with the angel, vowed never to let go until He blessed us. We said they could talk about us as much as they pleased. The more they talked, we would just bend our knees. We said they could exclude us, beat us, even kill us. We would let nothing turn us around. We would keep our eyes on the prize and hold on until He blessed us. And so He did. The more blessed we became, the more slack our grip became. Until now, we are hanging on by a thread.
A very wise man once told me that when he was young, he was lost with no direction, no father. However, when he listened to the voice of God calling and finally decided to allow God to be his father, it no longer mattered what he lacked in his upbringing. God became his father and began to raise him right. Someone shined a light that led him to the Father. That light was not a flashy sanctuary, a rousing message, someone turning up their nose at his sagging pants, someone pointing out his immoral lifestyle. Everything lit up when someone showed him the benefits of being adopted and raised by God. Then this young man began to seek the peace, strength, love and joy that result from a relationship with God. We have very many fatherless children. We must introduce them to the one father who can straighten them out.
Daddy is not a man. For the scripture says to call no man your father. Men fall. Men change their minds. Men make mistakes. God is constant. I have seen so many sad cases of people depending on others for spiritual strength and even protection. When these idols show themselves to be unreliable (which they inevitably will), the worshiper loses faith, becomes disillusioned and disheartened.
Daddy is not a job. For we have seen lately, jobs come and go. God knows that we need certain material things to survive. However, we are to seek the sole provider and allow Him to make provisions for us. Many of us have taken our eyes off the prize of peace and are searching for a piece of the pie. We are loosing our souls. Our children are vowing to get rich or die trying. So many are trying and dying in the process. Those who survive physically are just shells, corpses walking about the neighborhoods. They don’t know any other way. They don’t know there is a real prize.
So how do we reclaim our hold? It must begin with me. Each of us must resolutely choose God. We have to hold on with all our might and love Him with all our strength. We must genuinely and deliberately show the love of God to others. We must stop griping and gossiping about how dark the world is and shine the light.
