The greatest Teacher that ever lived, by way of parable, recounts the ordeals of a King whose son was to be married. Like any proud and excited father, the King took on the task of organizing a grand wedding feast. The ceremony would run on for days. It would feature the best artists and performers in the kingdom. The large dance hall of the palace would honour the presence of the high and mighty in the society. He had also sent words to the kings of neighbouring kingdoms, to invite them and keep them in the know of the biggest event yet… the King’s son was getting married!
The D-day came in with light showers. That was a good sign. Heavy rains would have ruined the celebration, but light rains were symbolic– the union was blessed. As the King made the last rounds, double checking the perfection of previous arrangements, He sent a group of servants to remind the elites of the wedding slated for later in the evening.
He had just checked in with the florist, asking her to prop up the wedding hall with more white roses when the servants came in, faces drooping. The invited guests regretted to inform the King that events took a different turn, and previously laid out plans had been interrupted by unforeseen eventualities. They were not coming.
What? Not after a month’s notice. And none of them had the courtesy to call in. Besides, how dared they treat Him with so much contempt?! He strove to keep His temper under check as He dispatched another arm of servants. Only three came in after some hours, disheveled and wounded. The others had been killed. The guests were insisting they would not come for the wedding.
Enraged, the King dispatched a troop to destroy the elites. It was an insult to turn down His invitation so abruptly, but it was outright contempt to kill and batter His servants. How dared they!?
When He finally got hold of His fury, He ordered another arm of servants to go and invite just anyone they met on the streets since, “The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.” The servants set to work, and I set myself to wondering…
Were those guests not worthy before they were invited? The elites, all whose names were on the guest list; were they not worthy before the King called them? They most certainly were. They were probably respectful men of the society, high-brow friends and partners.
Kings don’t permit just anyone into their space. Often, they look to associate with people of class, royalty, elitism, skill and wealth. I believe the invited people invited fell within some of these categories. This means that the King actually considered them worthy of acceptance into His royal courts. So, they were worthy when they were called.
They however lost worthiness by their response to the invitation. The King deemed them worthy but they proved unworthy.
This answers some questions people ask when they say, “Can God tell you that this person is your spouse only to change His mind later?” Or, “I got a directive to partner with this person for this deal, and shortly before we signed the deal, I’m redirected otherwise. Is it that God is confused, or He just changed His mind? Or am I not hearing well?“
Chances are that you heard very well. And no, the Lord is not confused. Nevertheless, the Lord also didn’t exactly change His mind. The problem could be that either you or the person proved unworthy of that union or partnership. And when that happens, the Lord will not put His integrity at stake, and so, He stops it before you make it worse. His plans change but not His purposes. The wedding guest list can change but the wedding must take place.
This also shows us that the Lord is not set-on-stone as some people think. He is eternal, but His methods vary. In order to protect Moses, The Lord brought him into the King’s house. In order to protect Jesus, the Lord took Him far away from the King’s reach. Purpose stays the same, only the methods changed. When Adam flopped, the Lord did not destroy the earth and start with another Adam from the beginning. That would have affirmed that He had only one way of achieving His goal, which is to populate the earth with His sons. No. Rather, when that plan failed, in stepped Jesus. And thank God that Jesus didn’t fail. If He did, it is unthinkable, but I’m pretty sure God would find a way to work around it.
The purpose remains, only the plan may change. And sometimes, when the plans change, it is due to the unworthiness of one of the parties.
The Lord is not a hard task master. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman who would never force you against your will. This is why the first thing that happens after repentance and adoption into the family of God is a renewal of the mind. In the process of renewal, the will of man is taught to submit to the will of God. When the Holy Spirit comes, He simply informs you of God’s will. Your obedience to it is proportional to your level of submission. Only the willing can be made to do anything. And only those who ‘will’ to do a thing, will be qualified. God doesn’t qualify the called, the qualifies the willing.
What is your level of conformity? What is your level of death? How is your alignment? Are you devoted to answering the King when He summons or are you stuck on your own priorities, thereby making yourself unworthy of His promises and propositions.
(You can find the parable in Matthew 22:1-14)
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