Iyanu: Our miracle of enduring substance

 

Once upon a time, a little boy named Igbagbo walked down a street called Aye. On that street, he met a kind old lady called Ara. She gave him a piece of candy. It was the milkiest ball of chocolate he had ever seen, covered in golden sugar flakes that made Igbagbo’s mouth water.

 

Excited, Igbagbo accepted Ara’s candy. As quickly as he ate it, he realized that the candy was awefully bitter.  It made no sense! He wanted to protest but Ara had disappeared.

 

Dejected, Igbagbo abandoned his journey and headed back home.  Somewhere along the way, he met another old lady called Iyanu. She showed him her candy.  Afraid of being deceived again, Igbagbo rejected it.  Besides, her candy looked mundane, there was no way it could have been sweet.

 

Iyanu had known that Igbagbo would reject her candy. So, she asked him, “Would you trust my candy if I showed you where to obtain the ingredients for it and how to make your own?”

 

Igbagbo was not sure what his answer was but he was surprisingly attracted to the idea. He realized that he had never actually wondered where candy came from as he had always gotten his candy from adults.

 

Still weary of trusting Iyanu, Igbagbo asked Iyanu three questions:

 

“what makes you think I can make my own candy? I am just a child”.

 

“How can I trust that the candy I make will not turn bitter?”

 

“Why not trick me to collect your candy? Why teach me to make my own?”

 

Iyanu answered his questions in the opposite order in which Igbagbo had asked them.

 

“I am not every old lady but the old lady who invented sweet candy. These other old ladies have stolen and corrupted my recipes to deceive little boys like you.”

 

“Your candy cannot be bitter because it will be made of the right ingredients, which I will show you”.

 

“ Because your teacher will be the old lady who knows the right ingredients to make the candy you need”.

 

Curious, Igagbo followed Iyanu.  She took him to a fountain whose waters sustained a particular plant called delight.  There, she taught him to make candy from the nectars of delight.  She called his candy Truth.  It was plain like the one she had offered but when Igbagbo tasted it, it was sweeter than anything he had ever tasted.  He felt a spring in all his senses like his entire existence had been awaiting the taste of Iyanu’s candy.

 

He had to tell all his friends! He begged Iyanu to come with him to teach all his friends how to make candy from delight so that old ladies like Ara would never deceive them again.  “I will tell them to stay away from Ara’s candy because it only looks sweet but your candy, Iyanu is truly sweet”.

 

“How precious is your unfailing love o God!

All humanity finds shelter

In the shadow of your wings.

You feed them from the abundance of your own house

Letting them drink from your rivers of delights.

For you are the Fountain of life…”

– Psalm 36: 9

 

Logically, because of his experience with bitter candy,  Igbagbo had expected that the taste of sweet candy would heal his pain. But Igbagbo’s pain did not stem from the bitter taste of candy but from a child’s trust crushed by an adult.  Not exactly the kind of pain sweet candy could have to healed.

 

It is true that God desires goodness and happiness for all of His children. But He is willing to forfeit the immediate thrills we seek in order to make our miraculous stories more substantial.

 

Igbagbo eventually tasted the sweetness he thought he needed, but this was not his miracle. His miracle was something greater: a life-changing encounter with the one who healed his heart and empowered him to make the candy his senses had always desired.

 

When he dashed out to tell his friends, he did not go with a simple tale of how he had tasted sweet candy after a painful experience with bitter candy. He went with a narrative of how he had discovered the nectars of delight and learned to make true candy. Now, he and his friends would no longer have to rely on deceitful old ladies for candy. His new friend Iyanu, the maker of true candy could teach them all how to make the sweetest candy.

 

Sometimes God allows us taste bitter candy to ignite in us a thirst for the true sweetness only He can offer. And in our thirst, we are forced to run to His arms, where He heals and grooms us to be stronger than the wiles of life. This is our miracle of enduring substance.

 

Everytime you ask Him to heal your father or  attend to your finances; send you true love or fix your mistakes?  He says to you:

I will do all these things but like the taste of sweet candy, they will not be your miracle, only accessories to compliment the tale.  If you allow me step in and do things my way, I’ll teach you about the principle of my healing. Beyond winning the lottery, I’ll introduce you to the kind of grace that will afford you a life that surpasses  the limitations of your bank account.  Through this grace, you will enjoy provisions directly from my limitless storehouses.  I’ll introduce you to the true meaning of love and I’ll secure your heart in my love so that you’ll never again depend on the love of another human being to be happy.  I will not simply fix your mistakes. I’ll create something so beautiful from them that even ugly memories would become somehow beautiful.

My child, I’ll not just give you a miracle. I’ll give you a miracle of enduring substance. 

Consider these words by apostle Paul:

“We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again” – 2 Corinthians 1: 9-10.

 

Perhaps it is time to change your definition of a miracle. God, the miracle worker, has not abandoned you. He is already working a miracle in your life. It may not be the sweet candy you desire but it is the miracle of substance that you need.  The latter will bring you the satisfaction your heart truly desires.

Pray with me today:

Father, open up my heart to your healing and your transformation. I still desire change but do it your way and give me a miracle of substance.

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God bless you!!

Sincerely,

Tamilore.