Advertisement

Ebo Whyte's Corner: What are your contractions?

Ebo Whyte

When Jesus was leaving his disciples, he told them to send the gospel to the very ends of the world. But for months, they were content to remain in Jerusalem preaching, fellowshipping, performing miracles and generally enjoying the presence of the Lord and the respect of the people. 

They had not left Jerusalem and yet their numbers were increasing every day and everyone was saying good things about them. The apostles were held in awe because when they walked in public and their shadows fell of any sick person, that person was healed instantly. 

Touch the body of the apostles with a hankie and go and lay it on any sick person and that person gets instant healing. It was a great time to be an apostle and a great time to be associated with them, no wonder their numbers kept increasing.

Then, the religious leaders of the day got jealous and uncomfortable with the growing influence of the Jesus followers and began to persecute them. They started arresting them and stoning them and a lot of them had to escape from Jerusalem, while those who could not leave had to go underground. 

And those who escaped the persecution in Jerusalem took the gospel wherever they found themselves. And in this way, for the first time since Jesus left them, they were fulfilling the very mandate he had given them, namely to take the gospel beyond Jerusalem to the ends of the world.

If there had not been any persecution, if the religious leaders had not made living in Jerusalem dangerous for the followers, they would not have taken the gospel beyond Jerusalem, which they had a duty to do. And that is typically human. We don’t do what we have to do; we don't do what we need to do; we do what we are forced to do. Think about it.

We don’t move in the direction we need to go until and unless all other directions have become blocked or when we are chased in that direction. That is just human behaviour. 

You are probably where you are today because something or someone forced you to move on.

Let us take the concept of catalysts further. Some of the things that go wrong in your life are meant to force you to move on because left to you alone, there is no way you will do what you really have to do. 

There are people who are running their own businesses today because they were either fired from one they were very comfortable in or their boss made life so difficult for them that they had to move on or they hassled to find a job to no avail and so they started something small in the mean time. Today, that something small has become a big company.

I know many people who are living in their own homes today because their former landlords began to make unreasonable demands on them or evicted them painfully and out of the pain and frustration, they made all the sacrifices to put up their own houses thanks to some wicked, unreasonable and greedy landlord.

There may be circumstances in your life that are causing you a lot of pain or stress or discomfort and making you very bitter.

Did you know that but for contractions, babies will never be born? Babies would have remained in the womb forever but contractions set in and begin to push them out of the womb. And the same contractions also compel pregnant women to do whatever they can to push the baby out. 

That is why babies come out of the womb screaming in protest. What contractions are there in your life today? What unpleasant circumstances are you crying over or complaining about? Have you ever considered the fact that these are meant to give you new birth, into a new kind of life?

When my father died, I was sure my world had come to an end; I was afraid of the future and very bitter with God. It seemed very unfair for my father to die at the time when I needed him most. 

I was then compelled to leave my whole planet called South Suntreso to come to Accra to live with my uncle and his family at Kaneshie. 

Today, I look back to the death of my father and I thank God that my father died at the time he did. His death pushed me out of the cocoon that South Suntreso had become to me and into a new reality I could never have imagined and through the hardships, struggles and difficulties of coping with the new reality, I have become the man that I am today. 

The death of my father became the contractions that forced me out of the womb of South Suntreso that I may become the person I needed to be.

What are your contractions? And what is your reaction and attitude to those contractions? 

Pregnant women know too well the meaning of contractions. When contractions set in, they know that it is time for the baby to be born. 

We all need to get to the point where we recognise the contractions in our lives that signify that a new chapter in our lives is just about to open.

Babies are upset by the contractions because they don’t know what it is. And most of us respond to the contractions in our lives like the unborn baby. 

We tell ourselves that our world is over and yet, the contractions are only setting the stage for birth to take place. 

May there be contractions in your life this year, circumstances and situations that compel you through tears and distress to move in the direction you need to move to experience the turning of a new page in your life.

By Uncle Ebo Whyte


Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |