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Purposeful Proclamation, Powerful Progress


 My friend, let me speak to you from my heart and from the pages of my own life here in Akasia. That phantom of the "right time" is a lie I have known too well.

The Field of Unreadiness

I look out my window and see the dust dancing in the afternoon sun. It reminds me of a field on the outskirts of our community—a piece of land I felt God had placed on my heart for a youth outreach. But in my mind, it was a field of "not yet." The ground was too hard, the budget too small, my schedule too full. I was waiting for the heavens to open and a divine blueprint to descend, complete with a guaranteed budget and a committee of angels to handle the logistics. I was, as the philosophers might say, conflating a necessary condition with a sufficient one. I thought I needed everything to be sufficiently perfect, when all God required was my necessary obedience.

This is not a new struggle. Look at the Moses at the burning bush, arguing with the Great I AM about his own inadequacy . His "right time" was a phantom that kept him in the desert for forty years until God confronted him with a holy "now." The Lord did not deny Moses’ limitations; He reframed them with a simple, profound question: “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2). It was just a staff—a common stick, a tool of his current, messy shepherding job. But it became the rod of God.

What is in your hand? A pen? A phone? A skill for conversation? A heart that aches for the broken in your neighborhood? That is your staff. Stop waiting for a celestial weapon; consecrate the ordinary tool you already possess.

The South African Crucible of Now

We don’t have to look far to see the "mess and the imperfect" where we are called to shine. Just read the news. Our nation, on the 30th anniversary of our democracy, is a tapestry of tension and hope . We see political shifts and coalition governments finding their feet . We feel the sting of reports that nearly eight in ten of our people still believe corruption is widespread in government . We mourn the tragic story of a three-year-old boy in East London who lost his life in a pit latrine—a stark, horrifying symbol of promises not yet fully kept . We hear the alarming statistics of violence against women and girls, a crisis that screams for a light in the darkness .


This is not a time for theoretical faith discussed in sterile safety. This is the south African crucible. This is the "here" and the "now." It is precisely into this fractured reality that the Kingdom of God must shine. The world does not need our faith when we have everything figured out; it needs to see the power of our Christ when nothing seems figured out at all.

Pulling Down Philosophical Strongholds

A common objection arises, one that I have entertained in my own more intellectual moments: "But I am not ready. I don't have enough knowledge, enough training, enough theological polish." This is the stronghold of the "fallen intellect" that worships knowledge instead of the Knower . It is the intellect that, as I've learned, "opposes faith" and "seeks dominance over... God's Spirit" . 

Let's dismantle this with a clear, logical argument, the kind that grounds our faith in reason:

· Major Premise: God commands us to act in faith, trusting not in our own understanding but in His wisdom and power (Proverbs 3:5-6) .

· Minor Premise: I am currently in a situation (a "mess") where I feel unqualified and ill-equipped.

· Conclusion: Therefore, this present situation is the very context in which I am called to obey by faith, demonstrating that the power belongs to God and not to my own preparedness.

The Apostle Paul, a man of immense intellectual rigor, did not rely on "eloquent wisdom" but on "the demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). His confidence was not in the perfection of his circumstances, but in the person of Christ in him. He declared, "we have the mind of Christ" . This is not a mind of procrastination and fear, but of power, love, and a sound decision to act now.

Your Shining Moment

So, today, I say to you: The right person is you, filled with the Spirit of God. The right place is right where you are standing—in your office, in your kitchen, in your troubled community. The right time is this very moment.

Do not wait to be a theologian; speak of the Jesus you know today.

Do not wait to be a millionaire;give the cup of cold water you can afford today.

Do not wait for the government to eradicate every pit latrine;be the church that shows up today.

The stars will never align in a fallen world. But we serve the God who hung those stars and who calls them by name. He is not waiting for your conditions to be perfect. He is waiting for your obedience to be present.

Stop waiting. Decide to shine. Right here. Right now. In the mighty name of Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.



https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/stop-waiting-start-working-your-time-is-now/id1506692775?i=1000738059058


https://haroldmawela.blogspot.com/2025/11/purposeful-proclamation-powerful.html

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