You have worked hard in your job, but it was you who got laid off. Unfortunately, you are in the age bracket where no one is going to hire you. You taught your child well and brought him up with all good morals, but he is deep in addiction, and there is no coming back. You had an amazing friendship, but it is now broken beyond repair. You have a chronic illness, and you are buying time with no hope for the future. Dear friends, this is what “absolute deadness” looks like in our life situations. It’s a place in life where every option has been covered, and all hope is lost.
We are not alone in this journey. Centuries earlier, there lived a man called Job whose life is narrated in the Bible. He was a man of integrity, feared God, and was extremely wealthy, with a large family. The Book of Job states that he lost everything on a single day except his integrity and fear of God. When he lost everything, ““He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”” Job 1:21 MEV. Wow… what a perspective! In the “absolute deadness” of his situation, he blessed God’s name. To give a crux of the story, Job goes through some serious suffering before being given double what he lost.
The solution to absolute deadness is to wait with hope. Lewis B. Smedes, a renowned Christian ethicist, theologian, and author, said, “Waiting is the hardest work of hope.” During this wait period, there are few serious questions we need to ponder. They are:
What is happening within me?
What is happening around me?
What is going to happen through me?
These three questions are absolutely crucial because they will dictate your internal, external, and spiritual well-being during this waiting period. Hopelessness during the waiting period can stir up monsters within us that we never thought existed. They come in the form of self-pity, jealousy, envy, greed, and ungratefulness. These corrupt us and hurt those around us. We become more toxic and incompatible.
The reason to ask ourselves these questions is to find out whether we are viewing this situation God-centric or self-centric. If it’s self-centric it is unbearable, if its God centric its uncertain. Hence, we will rather be self-centric and throw our emotions around than wait on God’s beautiful timing and embrace uncertainty. The Bible says, "For with God nothing shall be impossible.". Luke 1:37 (Bible).
One thing we fail to understand is that “absolute deadness” situations attract God’s divine intervention. Now, why do I say that. There is a couple named Abraham and Sarah who were given a promise that their descendants will cover the earth. They waited 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled. God created the nation of Israel from the dead womb of Sarah, and she gave birth to a son when she was 90 years old. There was a man named Lazarus who was Jesus’ close friend. He died and was laid in the tomb for four days. Jesus cried, comforted his grieving sisters, and call him out from the grave after four days. The man walked out. In Jewish tradition at the time, it was believed that the soul hovered near the body for three days before departing. Waiting four days ensured that death was permanent and undeniable, emphasizing the miraculous nature of his resurrection. So was Jesus’ resurrection. Max Lucado, a well-renowned author and a pastor, says, “Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks.”
These events prove that Jesus, the living God, is waiting to speak to your “absolute deadness” situations. It is when His absolute power is unleashed. Maybe you are facing one right now, and it has made you bitter and hopeless. Put your trust in the living Jesus, as "He has made everything beautiful in its time….." Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV). It’s the timing that is the game changer, dear friends. It is the waiting period that is the focus. It is not acquiring the blessing but the purpose it serves that will transform your life. Seek Jesus to have a personal relationship with Him and see how He transforms your “absolute deadness” into a “thriving life”.
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