Focus: Holy Inconvenience

Text: Lk.18:5

"Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me."

We live in a world where people hardly get what they deserve, but what they fight for.

This widow deserved justice, but it didn't look like she was going to get it. The justice system was so corrupt that finding justice was like going through the eye of the needle. So she decided to carry placards to the residence of the judge, demanding for justice. She was noisy about it and raised her voice to high heaven. She was desperate and determined. She insisted and persisted. She wailed and wooed the judge to come to her rescue. She literally inconvenienced the judge, making him uncomfortable and restless. He said to himself, 'This widow won't let me be, except I give her justice.' The widow by her determination and perseverance got what she wanted - justice.

In this life, there will always come a time when you have to inconvenience others to succeed. Trouble someone if you have to. Mordecai made Esther put her life on the line for the survival of her fellow Jews in a foreign land. Mark tells us a story of four friends who inconvenienced themselves and others for the sake of a friend. They brought their paralytic friend to the Master Jesus. "And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, THEY UNCOVERED THE ROOF where he was: and when THEY HAD BROKEN IT UP, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay" (Mk.2:4). They could not get to Jesus because of the crowd. But they were determined to keep pressing. In just an instant one of them caught an idea, a very costly idea though. Something snapped in his head, and he saw a way out. 

Thoughtful and determined people always find a way out of a tight corner. They always find a way to beat the odds. They see what others do not. They see through a tough situation. They see through the fogs. The four friends saw how to bypass the crowd and get to the Lord Jesus Christ in the house. They saw a staircase leading to the roof of the house. Then they took their friend to the rooftop. The next challenge was how to get to Jesus from there. So they broke the roof of the house. Understand that the house was not theirs. They damaged someone's house and incurred a cost. Just imagine that for a moment! While breaking the roof, the dirts were falling down on Jesus and all others in the house. They inconvenienced themselves and everyone else including Christ, and disrupted the meeting. They disturbed and troubled everyone.

We can only imagine what the reaction of the people could have been, how bad they felt, and the high level of anger they exhibited. Do not forget that someone must pay for the broken roof. Someone must repair the damages.

The next thing to note is the response of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark writes, "WHEN JESUS SAW THEIR FAITH…" (Mk.2:5). This is amazing! The Lord Jesus Christ saw faith in their actions. He did not see their actions as nonsensical, careless or reckless. He saw faith in their hearts and in their actions. They were moved by faith. They did not mean harm. They did what they did to help a friend get well. The extreme measure they took was indeed a step of faith - a feisty and risky faith. It was a good intentioned effort.

When one takes a step of faith, it has a way of stretching and inconveniencing others. Faith cannot function in a vacuum. Faith-prompted action is quite unsettling. It stretches us out. Faith stretches and expands us. It moves us away from our comfort zones, and others are inconvenienced in the process. That is what I have termed 'holy inconvenience.' George Whitefield once said, "I am never better than when I am on the full stretch for God." No real faith operates within the comfort zones. If you have never been inconvenienced or made uncomfortable by faith, then you need to reexamine and reevaluate your faith. Convenient or comfortable faith does not exist. Ask father Abraham and all those in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, and they will tell you. Faith is simple, but not simplistic.

God is challenging us to practice holy inconvenience. Holy inconvenience happens when someone is moved by faith to ask for your help.

Holy inconvenience happens when a Christ-centered ministry is in need of your assistance. Holy inconvenience occurs when a divine project is thrust upon you to sponsor or finance. Holy inconvenience happens when you hear the still small voice of the Spirit of God, asking you to do something tasking, challenging and stretching. Holy inconvenience happens when God puts a burden or a responsibility on your heart to discharge for Him. Holy inconvenience happens when someone is in need of your help.

I pray God gives you an understanding about this holy inconvenience! I pray that you come to understand that God requires your obedience, not your opinion. 

Obedience is the risky part of faith. Obeying God takes us outside of our comfort zones, and it's usually risky - risky, yet amply rewarding.

Have you ever been inconvenienced by faith moves? Then consider yourself blessed. Esther must have been extremely glad to realize that she had been instrumental in saving the lives of her fellow Jews. She let God use her when it was most inconvenient and risky. Mordecai was the one who made sure of that.

You will one day be thankful to someone who in one way or another inconvenienced you by making you do the necessary, even when it was the most inconvenient and uncomfortable thing to do. God will greatly reward you for being inconvenienced, and also those who by faith inconvenienced you. The truth is that the success of others may require that they inconvenience you, and the same goes for you. No one truly succeeds in any venture who has not in any ways inconvenienced others. That is just the way life is. 

So make room for the inconveniences that faith will generate in your life. Be sensitive to the Spirit of God! Let Christ be at the center of your decisions and actions! Don't be quick to dismiss a golden opportunity disguised as inconvenience! Let's make room for holy inconvenience! We need each other to succeed in life. Welcome holy inconvenience! It is a disturbance generated by someone's faith. Holy desperation, dogged determination and feisty faith are allowed in the kingdom of God. Holy inconvenience is a creation of feisty faith - faith that won't give up and faith that must find a way to get a thing done. "Jesus saw their faith" - don't forget that! Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter