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The Great Light

In 1993 during a pastor's retreat the Lord spoke to my heart in a moment of meditation and prayer, about one of the two passages of Scriptures that define my call. The moment was an intense one for me because just as my salvation, the baptism with the Holy Spirit and my calling to fulltime ministry, this revelation was authoritative and definite.
Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.
There are tens and hundreds of millions of people in cities and rural areas living in darkness, this darkness is spiritual rather than physical or intellectual, they are in need of the Light.
Jesus is the Light. He is the GREAT Light. Every nation and people on earth need Him. And the prophet here spoke in the language of prophecy. He spoke in the past tense, as if they have already seen the Light.
The calling of the church is not to shine the Light on herself. The church has a chain of goals that continue in an unending circle. We are to reach unbelievers and convert them, then nurse this new believers to grow to maturity and in turn reproduce other new believers and the maturity process continues.
The Church is like a school, students come, while growing they go through different levels of learning and pass out. As they pass out they are suppose to be trained enough to face life and start families and send their own kids to school. The process repeats itself through generations.
When we grow a church, build a fine worship place our attention should not focus on the place of worship, it should be on reaching the world. That fine building should serve as a training ground where a new army of believers will be equipped to go out there and take the gospel to the gates of hell.
That's my understanding.
On the 9th of August, 1992, the Lord said to me in a bold audible voice in a worship service, "Get out of this country, your pulpit is not in this nation." At a time when I was a young pastor, serving under a thriving ministry growing very well. There were prospects of leading great churches, become famous and a blessing to many.
I had my plans, wanted to build a reputable ministry, to become a reference point and touch many lives in Nigeria. The potential was there and budding. The prospects of finding great comfort while serving was so high but then all these things are not the purpose and call of the church.
When I heard the Lord say that to me, nothing else mattered. I scrapped my plans. The comfort that ministry would have given me back home lost its substance. My goals and direction changed. My energy got redirected. And in 1995, I left the shores of my country excited that I had the opportunity to follow God's calling. I had no idea where I was going or what awaited me there.
Through stress, hunger, lack and want, my desire and pursuit has matured. Through time I have endured and rebuffed the bluffs of the enemy. I have experienced strange cultures and adapted quite well. Today more than ever, I believe Isaiah 9:2 that the millions of pagans, Muslims and animists that abound worldwide can be reached and should be reached.
No nation builds a fine military for fashion. The military is well disciplined. They are smartly dressed. Yet they are build for war. That's why military barracks are not comfort bungalows. You have to be battle ready everyday. You have to be fit everyday. You have to be on the alert every moment.
The church has two major directions: Be at the battle front and at the same time be training more who will be there next. Expanding the kingdom is the goal of all Christian living.
I want to ask you as a believer in the Lord Jesus, what is your role in fulfilling Isaiah 9:2? You are either developing other believers and providing logistics to those at the battlefront, expanding the kingdom or you are at the mission field yourself. There is no hanging on the fence. There is no role for master critics. There is no room for expert fault finders. God did not call some of His children to be professional blamers. And he certainly does not need veteran discouragers.
The people walking in darkness are waiting for the Great Light. Will you make it happen or deprive them? Will you play your role or join the spectators? While you just sit on the gallery cheering and blaming those who are trying to make it happen? Is God counting on you?
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