There are probably some three kinds of challenges you will face as you journey through your life; the challenges that prove your abilities, those that come to swallow you up, and those that come to oppose you from moving forward. I have always tried to see how I could group the nature of my tribulations so that I can easily identify as I meet them. It was until of late when I decided to study the book of Exodus that I entered into some understanding of how I could assess the character and peculiarity of the situations which we like face all the time. These are the situations I refer to as Sheep, Snakes, and the Sea; the three great S which some of us will have to confront at one time or the other.
Before I attempt at breaking these down, it would be proper to evoke the context of the story that equips my muse on this issue. Exodus introduces the man Moses to us all, and tells us of his rather strange upbringing and how he was like nothing short of a drama from beginning to the end. But from the whole, nothing struck me as much as the opening chapters of Exodus which tells of his unfortunate attempt at leadership, which led to his ultimate escape from the palace into the wilderness. He became a Shepherd, then a deliverer sent by God, then a way maker. Through this process, one thing was central in the scheme of things, and that was the Rod in his hands. Herein lays the convergence of three separate issues: Sheep, Snakes, and the Sea. With that Rod, he tended to the Sheep, swallowed up Snakes, and parted the Sea.
I have been engaged in a lot of reflection these days on how God speaks to us. Growing from the phase wherein I hoped for a deeply bold and crystal clear voice speak audibly to me, to a time when I become sensitive to His voice in my heart, I have severally enjoyed the leading of God in my life; sometimes to an embarrassing degree. At this point I am still learning how God speaks, and in the midst of it all I remain awed at the fact that I just cannot trap God in His ways. He chooses to speak in myriads of ways and limiting Him to certain parameters of communication becomes foolhardy.
THE CHURCHED
Thoughts of a Calabarboy. 