THE MAKING AND THE BREAKING OF A SERVANT OF THE LORD
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (December 19, 2018)
“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him….And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from him, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” (Genesis 2:18, 22, King James Version [God made woman]).
Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus,
Giving honor to our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, my sisters and brothers, God said, “I made you” [Gen. 2:18, 22, KJV]. Now, in reflection, deception broke Eve [I Timothy 2:14, KJV], for in the pastoral epistles, in the perspective of a minister, in discussion over duties and qualifications of church officers and the inspiration of divine scripture, Timothy thought of Eve, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” [Holy Bible, n. d.]. I remember, how broken I was when a friend thought more of other friends than me but still required loyalty on my part for him, leaving me behind yet the only solution to this slight was, “Can you meet other friends?” Of course, I heard those words as “Do you have other friends?” Yes, indeed, I did have other friends, uplifting me out of the doldrums of abandonment and detachment, in merely an one-on-one relationship that was ousted over an opportunity to spend time with a crowd---a group of friends---boys over girls, for I was in my youth, at the time, I was broken---a teenager, leaving my wall of protection from my family out in the world experiencing friendships outside of the family.
My friends, is not that the battlefield of heartfelt renderings, of our needs, for one another and for our needs in group dynamics? Were you broken here? King Saul was broken in the group---preferring the group of his Jewish sect---the Benjamin’s’ and the other Jewish sects, over the Words of God delivered to him by Prophet Samuel. Is that where the saying keeping up with the Benjamin’s comes from? Now, in reflection, disobedience broke King Saul, the first King of Israel, for King Saul himself confessed, “And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and the words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice” [I Samuel 15:24, KJV [Saul rejected for disobedience]. In response, later God said, “,,,but the Lord looketh on the heart” [I Samuel 16:7, KJV].
2
In issues of the heart, in which all issues are of the heart, do you find yourself hiding afraid to even speak to your God about the hurt and pain. How could King Saul accept the succession of kingship over the kingdom out of his lineage, in King David, when David’s mother was a Moabite, of Abraham’s nephew, Lot [I Samuel 22:3, KJV]? David hid until God revealed his purpose for him as the new King “And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.” David was already deeply entrenched in the battle over kingship and it seemed the people were with him as they sang championing his prowess as a warrior for God yet David waited on the LORD God to reveal his purpose for him, hiding both himself and his parents. How as David broken? In reflection we know King David was broken by woman, his best friend and head soldier’s wife, Bathsheba.
You must remember how King David’s children behaved when Bathsheba’s son, Solomon was chosen to succeed King David, for he had many wives. Well, King David’s son Adonijah usurped the kingdom, “Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth not” [I Kings 1:11, KJV]? Therefore, we see that King David’s son Adonijah was broken by theft---he tried to steal the kingdom from Solomon. Elijah was broken by a woman, Queen Jezebel, “…So let the gods do for me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time” [I King 19:2, KJV]. Elijah hid in the wilderness, since he killed the prophets of Baal [I King 19: 4, KJV] until God’s plan revenged his honor as prophet of God’s kingdom---a position Queen Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, usurped as she led the people of Israel away from God building a grove of statutes to Baal [I Kings 18:40, KJV].
In closing, we find that inasmuch as we feel covetousness, deception, disobedience, greed, even hate, lust, and theft are a few of the sins that render us bent. We now understand we are bent under the law, for the commandments of God prevail as our guiding light to stay in the good graces of God, in Christ Jesus. The sting of sin is the law. Let us be mindful of our holy days as we go forth to celebrate a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, reflecting on the good graces of God in Christ Jesus. We must remember our Lord and Savior, in truth, no matter when we as a nation decide to celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus. We must not fail to practice good faith in God’s love and reflect on how we came over thus far.
God bless
