Good tidings must be shared

It is a fact that in this world bad news spread faster than good news. People are not as keen to talk about a person’s good deeds as they are to talk about his or her evil deeds.
 In most cases, good things about a person are shared after his or her death. One man once said, “I never knew I was a very great man until I messed up. People whom I counted among the great ones of our nation and thought had no business knowing me a small boy shocked me when I heard them talk about my mess with such a tone of familiarity. Perhaps, if they had published my good deeds and greatness prior to my moment of weakness it would have worked as a deterrent to me not to stoop so low.”
But as enlightened believers we are not ignorant of the reason why evil spreads faster and wider than good. It is the work of Satan to magnify our bad things and to belittle our good things. His intention is to condemn, discourage and bring us down. Conversely, God’s work is to magnify our successes and to overlook our mistakes. He is a good God who desires above all else to encourage and exalt us to higher levels of glory.
Our God is a wonder-worker. He does wonders for two major reasons: to meet a desperate need that human power cannot meet, and to use the wonders to encourage others who hear about them.
It is a disservice and a denial of honour to God for one to personally experience the wonder-working power of God and remain silent. The example of the four lepers who witnessed the fulfilment of Elisha’s prophecy of incredible supply of plenty of food in Samaria in the midst of a terrible famine teaches us that good news must not be kept secret.
The wonder of plentiful supply had happened this way:  the invading king of Syria laid siege to the city of Samaria and cut off food supply. Four lepers, having decided it would be preferable to die at the hands of Syrians than to starve, went to surrender to the enemy. However, when they approached the Syrians’ camp, they found it deserted. The enemy that had so long hemmed them in had, through some divine working of some mysterious noise, dispersed and left a great spoil behind and there was now plenty of everything. Food lay everywhere. The four lepers ate and drank until they were satisfied. They took all they wanted and hid but there was still plenty. They were tempted to remain silent about the good news but the memory of the suffering masses in Samaria bade them to share the good news. They admitted that they were not doing right in keeping silent and enjoying the spoils alone. Finally, they overcame their selfish tendency and gave information of what had happened.
The good tidings resulted in the saving of many lives, in the praising and worshipping of God for doing wonders for His people and in the sweeping away of all the words of the man who doubted Elisha’s prophecy of incredible plenty.
The good news of what God has done for you is meant to be passed on to your neighbours, workmates, friends and associates and even to your enemies. When your enemies hear about your breakthroughs, which they have been working hard to hinder, they become discouraged and give up on you. Learn to publish, declare, tell and share with others testimonies about the loving-kindness of God in your life.
You never know how many people you encourage and strengthen in their faith, hope and love. You see, the main reason why we want people to share their personal testimonies of God is that God is unseen so those who bear witness to having seen His invisible hand in their life and circumstances bolster our own faith. We will say that if God did it for them, He can do it for us too. And that is what God is looking for: people believing in Him because of the shared testimony.
Do not be stingy. Share with others all the good news you have. Maybe you know some success secrets in business or you know God uses you in the healing ministry or you know how to succeed in marriage, academics, and so on. Do not remain silent, share with others. Sharing with others does not impoverish you, rather it enriches you because God will bless you more and use more.
Those who have experienced and enjoyed the goodness of God and keep silent will be visited by some mischief or calamity because they withhold life-giving resource from others. Let us be witnesses of what God has done to us.
– For feedback call Pastor Mairos on 0772889766 or email mairos78@yahoo.co.uk