ENOCH!
Lessons I learnt from the movie.
I do not know if you saw the movie ENOCH which was released on the 2nd of March, a biopic about Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye. A movie that has moved thousands to tears. It was trending no 1 on youtube, and it probably should still be.
In case you haven't watched the movie, I'll drop the link below.
So there are quite many lessons I learnt from the movie ENOCH and I'm going to highlight a few of them below. Here we go!
1. You must have a good mentorship and cover if you must grow: spiritual Fatherhood was well depicted in the movie ENOCH. Pa’Akindayomi was a spiritual covering over Pastor Adeboye. When he (Pastor Adeboye) had just given his life to Christ, Pa’Akindayomi made him understand that Christ is his Father, and then he went on to give him an instance of having a Father who is very distant and the only way he communicates is through letters, then he asked him, would you or not open the letter when you receive it? Of course! Just as a letter from a distant Father is to his son, so is the word of God to believers, the Bible is God’s letter to us and the only way we can know Him truly is by reading His word.
1b. Consistency in mentorship is a weapon: Pastor Adeboye had asked Pa’Akindayomi if he could spare one hour every day to teach him the word of God and also pray with him. For effective mentorship, willingness must come from both sides, if the energy received from one doesn't correspond with the other, it can cause a default in the mentorship pattern. So a good mentorship system backed up with consistency is a threat to the kingdom of darkness. Again, your mentor must also be someone who is grounded in Christ. Not someone who is still struggling to find a balance, because their depth and knowledge of Christ will slowly rub off on you the mentee. The oil will flow down without any restrictions or blockages.
2. The Gospel of Christ has no respect for the degrees you hold: Pastor Adeboye as a PhD holder went about preaching the gospel of Christ. When the fire started burning in his heart he could no longer keep shut about what he had received, he was not comfortable that people didn't know about Jesus and so he put aside degrees and titles to spread the message of the Gospel. A lot of us in our age and time have nothing to show off yet we are shy to preach the word of God, some of us are even scared of being tagged because of spreading the message of someone we claim to love. What then is the proof of our love for Him? May God help us in Jesus' name.
2b. The love of Jesus will cost you hard sacrifices: When Pastor Adeboye went to see his mother and found out she was sick, he wept and as much as he wished he could stay to take care of her he said something that made me think and cry, he said in Yoruba "Mama, I have handed your life over to Jesus oo because it is only Jesus that can heal you, I love you so much, I love you very much, but I love Jesus more and I have to do his work”. That moment struck me because it was a very hard thing for him to do. So if say you love Jesus, there are still great sacrifices you'd have to make in the long run, so, be prepared!
3. You can have everything and still feel empty without God: Mr Adeboye was doing so well in life, he had a good job, a good family, and he even owned a car yet he felt an empty void, a feeling of incompleteness, and he sought the help of herbalists to procure a solution to his problems. A life without Christ will always feel incomplete, it'll make you wander without getting answers so the best thing is to surrender all to Him so that He can help you carry your burden and give you rest. The earlier you acknowledge Him, the better.
4. Your passion fuels your hunger: as seen in both academic and spiritual life, Pastor Adeboye was determined to succeed in life, it was his decision and no one was going to stop that, he hungered to go to school, he had never worn shoes in 18 years of his life yet his natural shoes stood out among those with artificial shoes. He excelled above them all because there was a strong drive a determination! You also can achieve anything what matters is your approach towards it.
4b. You must however allow the will of God to dominate yours: As a Christian, although humanly, you have the freedom to ride on and make your own will, you must learn to inquire about God’s will and understand what He will have you do. You must not be slothful likewise, you must work! Christians do not pursue their wills. Nonetheless, you must work, God wouldn't endorse idle hands.
5. Love makes you do humanly nonsensical things: one thing that stood out for me in the ENOCH movie is the alignment of purpose. When Pastor Adeboye had gone to empty his account as Pa’Akindayomi had instructed, he got back home telling Mummy Foluke about how he did not sleep over the night because of the money, Mummy Foluke also brought out her envelope from her bag and said "I emptied mine too”. That was a crazy display of love there! Some of us can waste money on frivolous things but giving to God is a problem.
6. God does not call the qualified: despite the 14 days of fasting and prayer Pastor Adeboye had held with his wife, he was still called out and anointed a Pastor. Now, when Pastor Adeboye went to see Pa’Akindayomi, weeping and telling him that he is not fit to become a Pastor, Pa’ Akindayomi said something, Olorun I kinpe eni to ye, meaning God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies those who He has chosen and gives them the power for the work He has called them to do. His divinity doesn't work with your past failures, mistakes and errors.
7. The opposition would always rise: When Pa’Akindayomi’s will on who would head the church after his demise was read out, a lot of the Pastors there opposed Pastor Adeboye becoming the General overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, they went on to say different things about them being the ones that mentored him into knowing Christ, one of them even said "were we not the ones that taught him how to pray when he wakes up?”. Beloved, the opposition would always rise but you have to be well-rooted in God to know how to respond and what action to take when such happens so that you do not become discouraged, frustrated and fed up.
8. Even when it doesn't look like it, obey!: When Pastor Adeboye became the G.O he and Mummy G.O had to leave all they had ever worked for, he had to let go of his dream of becoming the youngest Vice Chancellor in Africa to relocate to a one-room apartment in Mushin, with three children compared to the house he lived in, in Ilorin. I do not need to tell you the result of that obedience as it is evident for all to see today. To follow Jesus pays! God cannot mismanage your life, (Personalize it). You must obey God and even likewise constituted authority except they're going against the word of God.
I hope you've learnt a thing or two today. I'm glad I've been able to share this with you. It delights my heart. God bless our Daddy and Mummy G.O., and may He use them even more mightily for us in this dispensation.
Ps: I felt so uncomfortable using "Pastor Adeboye and Mummy Foluke” I don't know if this is relatable. Lol.
Again, I'll be back in a week.
Take care
Love Fiyinfoluwa.
Thanks
Wow! Thank you so much, Fiyinfoluwa. God bless you.