Really…God Of Convenience?

         A friend once remarked, ‘thank God for convenience shops!’ These convenience shops are quite helpful especially when one runs out of little but necessary things like top-ups, milk, salt, sugar and the likes. However, when one is set to do a proper satisfying shopping, one seeks out the bigger groceries or better yet, the farmers market for fresh produce. No matter how convenient convenience shops are, they were not meant to replace the proper groceries/markets when it comes to eating healthy. Similarly, our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ is not meant to be a ‘convenience’ one but a necessity for our day to day lives. The Almighty God is not a “convenience God”: A God that is served based on the time and resource availability of the worshipper. I remember someone once remarked if one is to succeed in this world, such must be wise to live a well arranged life. What he meant was, the life in the office must be different from the one lived at home, at Church and social gatherings. His argument was that the society we live in does not give room for ‘extremism’, thus one must learn to adapt in whatever situation they find themselves. He argued further that our relationship with God should be one that is convenient for us because the desire of God for us in this world is for us to enjoy it! This line of thought is the basis why certain services are not literary different from ‘fast food services’ or shows! Thus, messages that will not offend, that will massage the egos of the congregants are preached in order to keep them coming. This article is not written particularly for such congregation, but for the souls in such congregations that have a tugging in their hearts that there should be more. 

     Friend, indeed there is more! God is not a God of convenience, to be served at our convenience. The life of a true child of God is a life of sacrifice: “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). The sacrifice that God accepts is one that costs the worshipper something: “The king answered Araunah, ‘No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing…” (2 Samuel 24:24). Cain offered a ‘convenient’ sacrifice to God; both himself and his sacrifice were rejected! Maybe you live, work, school and interact in areas that are ungodly; for that reason, you have hidden your identity as a child of God so as not to offend the people around you. Friend, if that is your situation, Heaven is asking how you have fared with your deception.  Despite the fear around them, constant harassment and threats from their neighbors, the children of Israel stood their ground in their worship of the One True God: “They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples” (Ezra 3:3). As the people continued to obey the Lord, He raised help for them that effectively shut up their enemies. Thus giving them the freedom to build and sacrifice to God Almighty. Friend, the enemy will indeed try to stop you; intimidate you to the extent that you reduce your service to God to an action that can only be done when it is convenient. He may deploy bosses, policies, family, friends, work load, studies and many more to stop you from serving God acceptably. But if your heart is truly committed to Jesus Christ, He will raise help for you that will effectively shut their mouths. You may be so frustrated that you may ask why God is allowing them to do this to you in the first place. Maybe the Lord is using them to hone your faith and position you for great exploits for Him. No matter what you are going through, don’t turn your service to God into one that can only be offered when it is convenient. Be encouraged, God is the same yesterday, today and forever; He will crown your sacrifices and honor you in this life and in the one to come. God bless you.