The Real Decoy....


I remember waiting for my uncle to pick me up from school when I was about six or seven. He was late… I was one of the few students left by the gate and he still hadn’t come, the driver was never late, but my uncle on the day he was given the responsibility was. I didn’t know what to do, I resigned myself to the fact that he had forgotten and I was on my own.

I saw a couple of students walking and I walked behind them. It was in the direction of my house. It couldn’t be that far I reasoned as I pictured the journey in my head. My little brain failed to understand that it didn’t seem far because I rode in a car, and even if it was close, I had no business walking that distance and crossing roads.
I don’t know how I did it, but I walked home. And just as I got close to my house, the weight of my afternoon walk fell heavily on me. I desperately needed ice cold water. And so I tried crossing a gutter to my neighbors’ house, which was two houses away from mine, I would stop there for water. Crossing, meant me getting into the empty gutter, to come out on the other side, I was that little.

Just as I got into the gutter, in my thirsty spell, I saw my uncle stop the car. I’m sure he was really worried about me, I don’t know what happened to make him really late, but he saved me the stress of asking the neighbor for a glass of water. You would think it’d be easier to just go straight home, endure the rest of the trip if I had come that far. The neighbor would give me water, probably not as cold as I wanted, but home a few steps away would give me comfort, cold water, a soda, food, clean clothes and my bed to sleep out my adventure. The real deal was just two blocks away, but the decoy enchanted me.

I read a tweet, can’t remember who's it was, that said “There will always be a DECOY before the REAL DEAL shows up #pray #discern” 

Sometimes in the heat of your expectations, something shows up, something you need… or more like something shows up dressed as something you need. And if you’re that desperate (which we are most times), you’ll grab at it and run, only to realize your mistake right after you’ve paused to catch your breath.

I was daydreaming of a holiday. I get that desperate sometimes, I sit and make up my mind that I want something and I sort of get consumed. Its crazy but I think about it and my heart does a double flip like, God I want this…. I know it’s a want, not a need, but hey, He is my shepherd thus I shall not want, right? So I don’t always feel guilty for wanting…. 

So you see when you get desperate, the devil dresses up your want so good and hands it to you. I got two offers for this fabulous holiday I wanted without me talking about it… to the same country from different people. Now that’s great right? It’s just got to be God. Well wrong! Because it was all wrong, men who wanted a rendezvous’ with me. See, what I wanted was handed to me without me voicing it out, but there was a clause… 
They: “Hey, lets go to so and so together” Me: “why?” They: “Just a holiday, spend time together, get to know you, shop” Yeah right, cos I come with such a low price tag. Oh, you can think of all the benefits, its something you’ve been drooling over for a while… but with that clause, that certainly wasn’t God. There is pleasure in sin but it is momentary. Soon after i turned down those offers, I got my trip handed to me on a platter of gold, from a credible source, that definitely was God!
 
For every expectation, there is a decoy, learn to discern… for the job offer, the dream man, the dream deal… learn to read the fine prints and learn to know what blessings are from God. Not everything that comes calling, as a blessing is truly a blessing. There’s that of God and there’s that of well… that.
There is pleasure in sin but it is momentary. It is sugar coated; you bite hard at the sweet, only to find such bitterness within. The world/the devil gives you all the pleasure you can ever seek for, but it is momentary, there’s always a clause attached that’ll come back to bite you in the butt or your cleavage :|
 
Moses understood this… “He chose to share the oppression of Gods people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.” Hebrews 11:25-26 To be able to pass up the decoy, you’ve got to have faith that God’s got something better lined up, because it truly isn’t easy to look pleasure in the face and pass it up, hoping for something you can’t see. Faith helps you remember there is a pleasure that last forever, one that is pure as the psalmist describes and grace keeps you strong enough to wait “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11

Abraham is such a classic example. He was promised Isaac and in the wait, Sarah got him to take another route to his promise through the maid, Ishmael was his decoy… not the real deal… today Ishmael is a thorn in the sides of Abrahams children… me and you.

Do not settle, not in marriage, career, ministry, your dreams… hold on. There is grace available; for God will not let you to be tempted beyond what He’s given you. If He’s making you wait, then there is grace available to wait, and when the decoy comes, there is grace available to resist, if only you choose to.

Satan has a counterfeit for everything good that God wants to give us… Joyce Meyer.

There’s a place far away from where I am that I could be at this moment, doing things my way, grabbing at the decoy dangling before me. I am a young girl, I have people offering all sorts, I could have all the things I want… I could have so much more…. I could grab at the decoy of doing things my way and living on the temporary pleasures available, being as big as I want to be. But the truth is, no matter how slow it seems with God… there’s not a place I would be, doing it my way now, there’s not a thing I would own, that God wouldn’t have me overtake in just a few seconds if i choose to wait on Him. 
I mean, Elijah overtook and reached a destination before Ahab who started ahead of him on his chariot… “After Ahab had left, the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his mantle into his belt and outran Ahab in a race to the city gate of Jezreel” 1King 18:46 Go figure!!!

They may have grabbed the decoy and gone ahead of you, but a set season is coming when the Lord will come upon you , and you will outrun the chariots of decoy the world around you has taken off on, and you'll get there right on time, with no joy lost. I chose to stop at the neighbors house to take whatever they would offer because i was tired, when home was just a few steps away. Don't make such foolish decisions, don't stop just yet, don't let the decoy enchant you... home is just a few steps ahead. Keep walking!

Comments

  1. God bless you for this wonderful message.. It's always great too hear this xx

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  2. Thank you so much for this message and your walk home reminded me of when my cousins and I walked home from school believing we were forgotten, I think I was 6yrs old then.

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  3. Ok, this was intended for me :)

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  4. the word for the moment. Thank you

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  5. This message is what I had been hammering into my skull for a while now. I consciously keep reminding myself that,cos sometimes the decoy looks and feels good.

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  6. Whao! What a message. Thank you Inyamuakut.
    I don't hardly send comments but, I can't resist sending one after reading this post. Such powerful message. I was ministered to. May God bless you as He blessed me reading your post. Hope

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  7. Strong One...

    The Holy Spirit all up in it.

    ...Awesomeness.

    Keep walking.

    Isaiah 40:31 specially for you.

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  8. The real decoy and the "set season" jumped out @ me! One word... Apt!

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