My family was one time invited to a luncheon party after a child dedication. Because, as a family, we do not normally attend such a party unless it is extremely necessary, we are not used to go out often. Hence, we had issues in finding the way to the restaurant where the luncheon will be held. So, the first thing we did is to consult “Google” and search for the route to the venue. And soon enough, Google showed us the detailed route to reach the destination from our home. We were not lost though we arrived a little bit late!

Interestingly, in our daily walks in Christian life, when we want to reach a spiritual destination we long for, we need a detailed route to take. We use the Bible first and foremost and follow the directions it says. We pray and ask God to help us to show the right way. We always think that God answers our prayers with the first idea that comes up into our mind. We say it is the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and therefore it must be in accord with God’s will.

Historically, when God calls a person or a leader, He calls the person in a unique way. No two persons in the Bible were called in the same way. There is only one Moses’s burning bush, only one Joshua’s crossing the Jordan river, only one Samson long hair, only one Gideon’s fleece!  God does not duplicate the means He uses people. Theoritically, it is safe to say that if there are seven (7) billion people living on earth today, if God calls each one of them for His purpose, there will be seven (7) billion ways God will call them!

Does the uniqueness of God’s way support the first idea that comes up in our mind as God’s answer to our prayer? Perhaps it does, but not always. It must satisfy first the fundamental and basic requirements that we are indeed “Christians” in the strictest sense of the word before we avail of the benefits of God’s unique way.

Professing and practising are different words that carry different meanings. One professes a belief but may not practice it or vice versa. However, practicing has deeper meaning, as one who practices is a doer and has skill to do things. Whereas a person who professes uses his/her words only but with no action. I could profess that I am a medical doctor because I know some medical terms but in reality I am not. However, if I involve myself in accounting work and does the actual accounting work myself, I am a practising accountant. On this score, professing Christians are not eligible to enjoy God’s unique way because they lack the basic ingredient – of being a true Christian. They may continuously claim they are but God, the Final Arbiter will eventually pierce the veil of their identity.

In our modern twenty-first century world, technology has advanced astronomically that science fiction in the past has transformed into reality nowadays. We are now in the age of “cut and paste, delete, restore” mentality. It is easy to “cut” an object and then “paste” it in our article and get remarkable good results in our literary work. We don’t have to exert much effort today to accomplish things that would have required a lot of time and sweat in the past.

The same is true in churches today. Instead of fully trusting God in the direction He gives, leaders would just “copy and paste” other so-called mega-churches did, hoping that it will work in their church setting. Woefully, most of the time it fails, not because it lacks good motives but because it is not God’s way for the church. God always put high value to originals; He does not favor duplicates. In Him, there is no option A, B, or C, etc. God always does things in His own unique way for the good of those who truly love Him (Romans 8:28).

****><‘>+<‘><****