(Psalm 32:2)
I once boarded a taxi in Abuja, Nigeria. The taxi driver was not wearing his seatbelt, and I asked him why. He told me an interesting story…
“A friend of mine died because he wore one”, he said. I asked him to elaborate. How so?
“He had an accident while driving and his car caught fire. The seatbelt was jammed because of the accident- he couldn’t get out of the car! He was burned to death!”
Hmmmm…
I asked him, “so, that’s why you don’t wear your seatbelt when driving?”
“Yes!”
Fair enough.
Then I asked if he had another example of anyone who died because he wore a seatbelt, apart from his friend. He had none.
I asked, “But do you know anyone who was saved because he wore a seatbelt?”
To my surprise he said he knew several people who were saved by the seatbelt!
Then I said, “you know ONE PERSON who died because he wore a seatbelt, but you know SEVERAL PEOPLE who lived because they wore seatbelts! Why then are you living your life based on the EXCEPTION? That does not portray you as an intelligent person!”
He had no response to my submission.
I see this happen very often: people justify their action with the EXCEPTION to the Rule, and somehow, they think it makes sense! The taxi driver thought so too- until I punctured his submission with superior logic.
I was once in Church in 1988 and some people came out to give testimonies. The first person was a woman: her testimony received a very loud ovation from the Church. Her husband had traveled on Friday in a commercial vehicle and was involved in an accident: he was the only survivor.
The last person was another woman: her husband was also in that same vehicle, but he was one of the casualties!
The Church went quiet.
The Pastor then came up to preach. He asked why we were so happy about the first testimony, why we gave a loud ovation, screaming and shouting, praising God for the husband that survived, but somehow lost our voices when we heard the last testimony. Were we not aware those who died had families too? Did we ever imagine the survivor and the dead could be members of the same Church? He was aware of the accident, he knew both wives and he arranged for them to give their testimonies first and last to see our reactions to them, he said.
That was almost 40 years ago and I learned a lesson that day: There are always EXCEPTIONS to the Rule.
God can go out of His way to deliver ONE PERSON out of hundreds and thousands.
God goes against the Rules once in a while- even His own Rules.
In the story of Creation (Genesis 1:16), God set a Rule: The Sun to govern the Day, the Moon to govern the Night.
But in Joshua 10: 12-14, God went against this Rule when the Israelites were engaged in a Battle: Joshua ordered the Sun to stay up longer than usual and God obliged him and kept the sun up for the entire day.
But that was the EXCEPTION to the Rule.
In the story of the Fall of Man (Genesis Chapter 3), we read about God “WALKING in the Garden in the cool of the day”- Verse 8.
We also read about Jesus WALKING on the Sea (Matthew 14: 25).
Jesus also WALKED through Solomon’s Porch in the Temple (John 10:23).
“And Jesus, WALKING by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen”– Matthew 4:18.
But there was an EXCEPTION to this!
In the Story of the Prodigal Son (Luke Chapter 15), the Father (God) did not WALK: He RAN! “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”- Luke 15:20.
Let’s see another EXCEPTION to the Rule in Scripture…
Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man SITTING at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”- Mark: 14:62
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has SAT down at the right hand of the throne of God.”- Hebrews 12:2
So, Jesus SITS at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.
But look at this scenario: “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus STANDING at the right hand of God and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man STANDING at the right hand of God!”- Acts 7: 55-56.
Jesus changed the narrative for Stephen!
In Psalms 32:2, the Psalmist wrote; “Blessed is the Man whose sin the Lord will NOT hold against him!”.
That is the EXCEPTION to the Rule, folks.
And as God went against the Rule and took the Path of Exception for Joshua, the Prodigal Son and Stephen, God will take that Path of the Exception for YOU too: just BELIEVE!
You ARE Special to Him!
Your story WILL be The Exception to the Rule!
Shalom,
Haruna Daniels