The Blue Jackal Story
A jackal jumps into a tub of blue dye to escape dogs that are attacking him. The dogs are unable to recognize him in a blue coat after he comes out of the dye, and he plays a trick on the animals by pretending to be a lion, the king of the jungle. However, he loses control and starts howling when he hears wolves howling in the distance, and the animals realize what he has done. They then attacked and killed him. The moral of the story is that people cannot hide their true selves for a long time (Shaili Contractor).
In this story it was the jackal’s natural tendency to howl that got him in trouble, He could not help himself and ended up losing his life. When the rubber hits the road, what we are is what will be revealed.
Luke 6: 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Your influence determines your actions
An uncle of mine told me another story. It was told of an 8-year-old boy named Mba who was stolen from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria. He was smuggled to the United States and sold to a wealthy family. That family gave him the best treatment possible. He was integrated into the family’s way of life and culture. His early education was nothing but the best. His nutrition, clothing and living arrangements were top-notch. Later, in his late teenage years, he was accepted into Notre Dame School of Theology where he studied to become a priest. There he graduated top of his class. Once his education was completed, he served 20 years in a well-established Catholic parish in the US.
During that stint, he was invited on a mission to Nigeria to evangelise back in his country of origin. The plane landed, and all seemed normal. Dressed in the typical priestly robe and a crucifix hanging around his neck, he proceeded to clear customs and immigration. However, as he stepped outside of the little countryside airstrip, to the amazement of his accompanying evangelists, Mba halted all conversations and instantly froze in his tracks as though he has just been stricken by a seizure. A second later, to the horror of the other folks in his party, Mba ripped off his robe, broke the crucifix around his neck, threw it all to the ground and took off into the woods. After his disappearance into the forest, his amazed companions, focusing on the direction he had run, heard the faint sound of the Igbo drums in the distance …doom, do-doom, doom, do-doom, doom, do-doom. Mba had gone back to his people and culture.
What is in you is what you will be. The coat you will wear is made of the spiritual fibre in you.
Worship in the present tense
In 1Cor. 14:25, Paul says that authentic worship of God is dependent on whether or not God is already inside of us. When he has made his tabernacle in our hearts, we become like a river that continues to receive more water than it can carry, so its banks break and water begins to fill the nearby lakes and tributaries. It overflows into nearby plains and valleys. When the spirit of the Lord is resident in our souls, we do not need a praise team or musicians, nor do we need a praise team leader. The praise to God will naturally flow when the spirit takes residence in our hearts. One coat we need to wear is the coat of praise: the coat of worship.
1. John 4:23-24 (NIV):
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
2. Psalm 22:3 (KJV):
“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.”
Notice here that in David’s worship, he recognises that God already lives in Israel. He acknowledges God, not because God is coming, not because God will be here, not because he is descending from heaven, but because he is already here.
Wearing your worship coat within the Struggle
3. 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 (NIV):
In chapter 20 of First Chronicles, servants came to Jehoshaphat the king and told him that three massive armies were coming to plunder Judah.
“After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendour of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army… (this has to be crazy; horsemen are coming, chariots are on their way; scores of foot soldiers are marching towards your city, and you call up the choir? That is like knowing that someone is over here at New Creation destroying the building, and we call to gather the praise team.) …saying ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.’ As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” That is the power of worship in spiritual warfare.
Notice here that Jehoshaphat did not start the worship and praise after the victory. Unlike some of us who wait for victory to give praise – he praises ahead of the victory. Some of us want to wait for the house, for the new car, for the husband, for the new wife, wait for the doctor’s good diagnosis to praise God. The reason Jehoshaphat could praise ahead of the blessing is because the praise was already in him. Worship is the acknowledgement of our nothingness and the power of God in our weakness. It is acknowledging his goodness, not our need to feel good.
Worship can defeat mighty fortresses
In Act 15, Paul and Silas were brutally beaten and thrown in prison after they had dispossessed a little girl of a demon.
“At midnight, despite their suffering, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God, and the other prisoners listened. Suddenly, a violent earthquake shook the prison, opening all the doors and loosening the chains of every prisoner.
In Joshua 6, When the Israelites, led by Joshua, were preparing to conquer the city of Jericho, God gave them unusual instructions. Rather than attacking the city immediately, they were to march around the city once a day for six days. Seven priests were to carry trumpets made of ram’s horns in front of the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times and shout.
The song goes around the walls of Jericho the army went. Seven times without a stop. The army went. But when the people gave a shout, the walls came down.
Worship can overcome any struggle.
Worship can defeat any foe.
Worship can inspire breakthroughs.
Worship can take you where you have never been before.
But remember that worship starts with God, not you.
Worship is to thank and acknowledge God, not to please you.
Worship is not to recognise the problem but to acknowledge that God is carrying you through it.
Most importantly, if God is not already in you, whatever action you are taking is not worship.
When the rain you want is a flood instead
And the roses bloom, but they’re not quite red
When I reach the edge of my bravery
I’ll still be singing at the banks of an unparted sea
Sometimes the only way through is a hallelujah (Offor).