Beyond negative circumstances (Part 1)
If you are a Christian and you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, it means that you have faith. Jesus often spoke of those who have great faith, which means that there are children of God who have a little faith.
The scriptures tell us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10: 17). In other words, the more you listen or read God's Word, the more faith grows.
Today I will talk about a faith that is different to the ordinary faith. It is the faith that is needed during times of despair when the situation shows that there is no way out.
This is the faith that I call "Eagle faith". Why an eagle? Because the bible presents the eagle as the symbol of the force that renews and never get weary (Isaiah 40: 30-31). The Romans used it as a symbol for their armies. The eagle is heavily used as a symbol for the logo of the Air Force and it is especially breast badge for the air paratroopers.
The eagle is considered as the king of the birds and their behavior is just the opposite of chickens’ especially when it comes to facing a storm or rain.
When there is a storm or when it rains, the chickens in the chicken-yard feel in danger and run in all directions under the pressure of fear.
However, the eagle has no problems even when there is a storm or when it rains because it is able to rise ABOVE THE CLOUDS and stare at the sun. This means that even if it rains or there is a storm, the eagle does not have to worry because it is able to fly above the clouds that contain the rain.
Clouds are the symbol of the problems we are experiencing or the situation which announces disaster. Those who have the eagle faith do not let themselves intimidated by the circumstances because their faith rises ABOVE CIRCUMSTANCES i.e. the one who has the eagle faith no longer rely on his own strength or someone else strength but he places his faith in the Lord, who is above all.
If there is a situation before you that seems impossible and terrifying, and in your heart you find that despite all your relationships, all your wealth and all your mind, you cannot get out of it, you need the eagle faith to see what God can do beyond the negative circumstances that are before you. How can we overcome the negative circumstances? The answer is in the second part of this teaching.
Chris Ndikumana
Beyond negative circumstances (Part 2)
God answers all prayers but there is a prayer that He can never answer: God cannot give you the power to control the circumstances of your life. He wants to be the one to control them because according to the Bible, He is the master of circumstances (Daniel 2: 21).
What is the best attitude when we face negative circumstances? There are five major groups regarding the reaction of Christians when facing any danger:
1. Those who struggle with all their strength to find the solution
2. Those who flee from problems because of the fear that invades their hearts
3. Those who do not fight but constantly complain
4. Those who feel insecure and run after Prophets
5. Those who trust in the Lord and fly above problems
I'll talk about each group in particular:
1. Those who struggle with all their strength to find the solution
It's good to fight and work hard because the Bible is against laziness but there are situations where we can fight and others where our strength or our social and professional position can bring nothing as a solution.
There are those who struggle and finally unblock the situation and others figure out that they are unable to find the solution after much efforts in vain. What counts is not to try to find the solution, but it is your reaction after having noticed that you cannot do anything in spite of your good will. At that point, either we decide to flee, or we decide to fly above the clouds (problems) by ceasing to place your trust in what we see but in relying entirely in the Lord who is above all the problems. This requires an extraordinary faith like the one Moses had when he was facing the Red Sea and Pharaoh was behind him to capture him. The eagle faith lifts us up in the invisible world and allows us to enter in the kingdom of God. It draws the divine power in our life.
2. Those who flee from problems because of the fear that invades their hearts
Fear is the workhorse of the devil. Once fear invades your heart, it is often difficult for God to intervene in your problem ...
To be continued in the third part
Chris Ndikumana
Beyond negative circumstances (Part 3)
As I said in the beginning of this teaching, the choice of the eagle as illustration is very significant because it is biblically used to manifest the divine power that works through believers who trust in the Lord. It is written in Isaiah 40: 31: "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint".
The eagle faith is the faith of putting all the trust in the Lord leaning and totally relying on Him. The eagle faith is needed when we face a dangerous or an impossible situation. The problems we pass through are like clouds over the earth, that’s why we need the eagle faith in order to fly above the clouds (problems) because if we place our complete trust in Lord, the door is open for God to intervene in our situation.
In the second part, I talked about the best attitude to take when we are facing negative circumstances. There are five major groups regarding the reaction of Christians when facing any danger and I talked about the first group of those who struggle with all their strength to find the solution but today I will talk about the second group.
2. Those who flee from problems because of the fear that invades their hearts
Fear is the workhorse of the devil. Once fear invades your heart, it is often difficult for God to intervene in your problem because fear is the enemy of faith. Fear and faith are like light and darkness for one chase out the other. As long as fear invades your heart, faith has no room. If you want your faith to grow up in your heart, you have to find out how to kick out fear. The Bible says in Hebrews 11: 6 that it is impossible to please God if there is no faith. God wants to do great things in your life but He will do so through your faith in prayer in the name of Jesus. However, if you let fear entering in your heart and dictates you what to do, faith has no room.
Fear is a natural feeling and it is not a sin, but you must be able to say NO to fear and the best way to drive out fear is to open the door to faith in the Lord. If you deprive any living being to eat, you can be sure that it will eventually die. Likewise, if you decide to feed fear by thinking of the consequences and meditating day and night about the disaster that could happen, fear will only grow in you and more than that, it will give birth to decisions that push you to run away from the problem.
Instead, if you decide not to feed fear by developing faith in the Lord, fear will eventually die and the field will be free for faith which will allow God to intervene.
To be continued in the fourth part.
Chris Ndikumana
Beyond negative circumstances (Part 4)
As I already said, there are five groups on the reaction of Christians when facing a difficult situation and at the end of this teaching; each of us will be able to locate himself in one of the five groups. Today I will talk about the third group:
3. Those who do not fight but constantly complain
In the second part, we saw that the Christians located in the first group react by providing a lot of efforts to fix the problem but sometimes all human efforts are useless. Those in the third group do not fight and do not pray but prefer to complain constantly. They are Christians, they are believers and even practicing but if you spend 15 minutes with them, you should hear negative words filled with despair.
I want Christians to understand that the words that come out of our mouths show the level of our faith. Someone who has a little faith feels insecure and negative and pessimistic words are the result of what happens in his heart. Many Christians ignore or forget that the words we constantly utter influence our future. In a country that has a large Christian community, there should be a lot of positive and constructive words from the mouth of believers because God always works when the people manifest their faith and determination while all that the devil seeks is to destroy a nation through a discouraged and desperate people who only curse their country.
How can you curse your future? If you spend the day thinking and confess (tell others) how you have no luck, how things do not work for you, how God has forgotten you, how others are blessed and you have the impression to always be behind others ... .all those thoughts and all those negative words are cursing your future by when you constantly say what is wrong, it's like you are saying that God is not able to save you and therefore the devil is very happy because you give him strength.
What must be said when facing a serious problem before us? Should we lie by saying the opposite? Far from there! We should not lie but we must proclaim God's power that can turn things in your favor.
In the fifth part, I will rely on a biblical example to show you how to confess positively during very hard times.
Chris Ndikumana
Beyond negative circumstances (Part 5)
If you read this teaching for the first time, it would be better for you to read all the first four parts for a better understanding.
In the fourth part, I spoke about the third group of Christians regarding their response to problems. In the third group there are those who do not fight but constantly complain.
Today I'm going to rely on a biblical example of how the eagle faith can help us to see beyond the problem.
Before entering the Promised Land, Moses sent twelve spies to see the state of the country and on their return, all the people of Israel was waiting for a report. There was two different reports:
The first report came from ten spies and here's what they said to all the people: " We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there"(Numbers 13: 27-28). You notice that at first they brought a positive and encouraging report until the NEVERTHELESS" appeared. It is this "NEVERTHELESS" that breaks the faith of many Christians.
Before the "Nevertheless", the ten spies said it was a land flowing with milk and honey, and they had evidence in their hands to prove it. After the "Nevertheless", they talked about the power of the people of that country, and especially their impossibility to defeat them.
Instead of giving us the eagle faith, "NEVERTHELESS" gives us the chicken faith. The chicken is always a victim of what is happening around and his natural reaction is to flee. But the eagle is able to rise above the problems and see further.
The ten spies had the chicken faith, which means they were led by the sight by relying on their own strength while two of the ten (Caleb and Joshua) walked by faith in relying on the power of the Lord and His Word. When Caleb heard the pessimistic report of ten spies, he was totally opposed and here is his report: " Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it"(Numbers 13: 30).
I guess the other ten spies took Caleb as if he was unconscious or naive or even mentally sick! If you have the eagle faith, you will always be considered as an unconscious or naive by those who have the chicken faith. He who has the eagle faith is able to pierce the visible world and see what happens in the invisible world.
To be continued in the sixth part
Chris Ndikumana
Beyond negative circumstances (Part 6)
Today I will talk about the fourth group on the reaction of Christians when dealing with problems.
4. Those who feel insecure and run after Prophets
Christians of the fourth group feel insecure when things do not work and since their faith is not strong enough to wait for the answer from the Lord, they often run behind Prophets and very often they attach themselves to the false prophets. It has been over ten years since I had the chicken faith and when I was going through difficult times in my life, I was always after the so-called prophets. As soon as a prophet came from Rwanda or Congo I was informed and I was among the first on the waiting list. I remember we were on the queue as if we were waiting for a doctor for a medical consultation.
Those who act in this way are no different from those who consult witchdoctors because we go there with the intention to know the future. I heard that there are Christians who cannot travel without the consent of a prophet. If a prophet consents to guide your life so that you to do nothing without him, he is a false prophet who wants to control your life by replacing the Holy Spirit. This happened in the Old Testament when only the prophet of God could communicate with God. But today in the New Testament, we have the Holy Spirit and the prophet merely confirms what God has already said or can inform us of things to come but it's up to us to make the decision.
There are two kinds of prophets; there are prophets who announced the plans of God and prophets who announce Satan plans. True prophets announce God's plans, encourage and edify his people while the false prophets announced the plans of Satan, spread fear and despair.
If a so called prophet announces a terrible war that will take millions of lives and says it is God's plan and worse says it is useless to pray because it is the will of God for it to happen, he is animated by a spirit of fear and especially to destroy the faith of Christians. False prophets will tell you that only the righteous survive storms and war, and the sinners and the wicked will die but the Word says that God does not want the death of one sinner (2 Peter 3: 9).
Those who have the eagle faith are not intimidated by the false prophecies of doom, but they rise above through prayer in order to enable the fulfilment of God’s plans here on earth.
In the seventh part, I will talk about the fifth group of Christians
Chris Ndikumana
Beyond negative circumstances (Part 7)
Today I finished the teaching about the reaction of Christians when they deal with problems. I have already mentioned four groups but today I will finish by talking about the fifth group.
5. Those who trust in the Lord and fly above problems
As I said in the beginning of the teaching, Christians who have the eagle faith will not have to worry about the pressure of problems or dangers they go through because their faith has wings of the eagle that allows them to fly above problems. This does not mean that they do not suffer but they have the ability to see the solution through problems by putting their complete trust in the Lord. As the eagle can fly above the clouds, Christians of the fifth group can continue to pray and praise the Lord in spite of trials.
Christians who have the eagle faith firmly believe that God can make a way where there is no way. When everyone sees the fire and disaster, the Christian who has the eagle faith persists in the belief that God has no limits. It is the eagle faith that helps us to overcome fear. When Goliath stood before the people of Israel, everyone fled and hid but David was a boy but had the eagle faith (1 Samuel 17). David did not understand how a philistine could dare to insult God Almighty!
If you have the eagle faith, people will say that you are mad or unconscious because the faith of the eagle goes beyond the reality of things. He who has the eagle faith sees the opportunity of the glory of God through oppositions or problems while others see a disaster.
I do not know what you are going through right now but the goal of this teaching is to sow in you the eagle faith so that you may fly over your problems to see the invisible solution before God makes it visible. It is your complete trust in the Lord that attracts His power through your prayers.
In closing, I want to clarify that the important thing is not to pray but the quality of prayer is of great importance. We need a prayer based on faith and trust in the Lord and not on fear. When a problem or a danger occurs, many Christians run in prayer trembling but effective prayer is the one that has no trembling because if you are convinced that God CAN get you out of it, why trembling? I agree that fear is natural because even Jehoshaphat and David trembled at the beginning of a disaster but they still managed to dominate the fear inspired by the Word of God and of his greatness.
May God help us all to have the wings of the eagle
God bless you
Chris Ndikumana
