ON MONDAY MORNING, I entered my bedroom and my eyes were directed to a book on my wife’s chest of drawers.
It was under about five other books but something was telling me to pick it up, which I did. The book is titled God’s Epic Battle With Evil – War In Heaven and is authored by Derek Prince.
I opened the book and was presented with this: “For more than two years, while working on this book, I experienced an ongoing battle against many forms of sickness and infirmity. Some of the enemies I have encountered have been two forms of cancer, polymyalgia rheumatic, double pneumonia, congestive heart failure, eye surgery, two hours of surgery on my scalp, a gallstone attack.
“At one point in time, I was delirious for more than a week due to an infection. Twice I had the experience of going to bed in one place and waking up in a hospital bed in another place. Through all this, I have been continuously upheld by the love and the prayers of thousands of Christians in many parts of the globe. I never knew there was so much love available to me! To all who have prayed, I now gratefully dedicate this book.”
Many Christians have read, watched or listened to Derek Prince, who was a prominent and successful teacher, speaker and writer of just short of 200 books. When I read those words, I recognised there was a message hidden amongst them.
When the rain falls, it falls on everyone’s home. The rain is constant but what is different are the homes. We are all going through challenges and trials – that’s the rain –and the houses represent our lives. Most people are very private and generally keep the doors and windows to their lives closed. As a result, we assume that others aren’t going through challenges or trials and it’s only us – primarily because of a lack of information.
Most only saw the success of Derek Prince but very few saw or knew of the challenges he faced in his life. Two forms of cancer, polymyalgia rheumatic, double pneumonia, congestive heart failure, eye surgery, a gallstone attack and being delirious for more than a week due to an infection is a lot to deal with in a lifetime.
Derek Prince, the prominent and successful man, experienced all of this in a few years. It makes you wonder what else he has been through. Hopefully, this opens our eyes to the realisation that the rain falls on everyone’s home.
If we had access to people’s homes/lives, we would realise we aren’t the only ones with challenges. Sometimes we think we have it bad until we learn what others are going through and then we start thanking God for our issues. Hopefully, this would teach us not to covet or be envious or jealous of others based on what we see from the outside.
Why is it that we often see wealth, success and material gain in individuals’ lives as the absence of challenges and issues?
We have our own burdens to bear and those burdens are ours alone to carry. Saul in his kindness offered David his armour (his burden) but David responded: “I cannot wear these – I have not proved them,” and he took them off.
Basically, he was saying: ‘These are your burdens designed for you. I cannot carry them, they weren’t designed for me.’
Have you ever borrowed a friend or family member’s shoes that were already broken in? Even though they were your size, they were never a perfect fit, neither were they totally comfortable. The longer you wore them, the more discomfort you experienced. So much so that if you wear someone else’s shoes over a long period, it may affect the way you walk and even cause damage to your feet, back or spine. The same is true about carrying other people’s challenges and burdens.
I was in a conversation with a friend and started to share some of the challenges in my life, to which he responded: “Wow, that’s a lot.” I said, “Yes, it is but they are mine to bear. If you tried to carry my burdens, they might destroy you; similarly, if I tried to carry yours, they might destroy me.”
Life affects everyone and some people handle challenges/rain better than others. Where possible, let’s be kind, merciful, forgiving and supportive of each other because the rain affects us all.
• Corey Worrell, a former Commonwealth youth ambassador, is director of C2J Foundation Inc., a project-based NGO focusing on social development. Email coreyworrell@gmail.com
