I, like so many of those who knew her, believed that Twawni Davis was destined for great things. In addition to her model good looks, she was the most talented individual I had ever known, and as a young person I was always mesmerized in her company. Of course, she dated the most handsome, popular guys in high school, and when she left town in pursuit of a theater degree, it seemed that everyone at college was as enthralled with her talent and presence as we were. The local paper chronicled her achievements, and they were many. Before completing her degree, she landed a small part in a big theater production and had the opportunity to work with celebrities most of us have heard of. The pieces were coming together. We all thought she was on track for the stardom she had always dreamed about, but things did not pan out the way Twawni had hoped, and she fell to depths none of us could have imagined.
The bible contains everything necessary for Godly living within the earth. There’s not one issue, problem, concern, circumstance, consequence, condition, or situation that cannot be handled successfully by applying God’s Word. Truth is razor sharp, and it will cut through anything that doesn’t fall in line with it. Even if you and I lived ten thousand lifetimes, we would not exhaust the truth of God’s Word and would still be in a position to learn more from it. As we live and breathe today, we haven’t yet covered even a pinhead’s worth of its knowledge. So, there’s lots that we don’t know, but as it relates to being alive on earth right this moment, there are some truths that we don’t have the luxury of overlooking. We must have them firmly under our belts, or else we will fall and not be able to get back up; we will stay down.
Twawni did not have a dream deferred, but a dream demolished. The enemy stole from her in the most despicable and deadly way. Some referred to her as a fallen woman, someone who had tremendous promise and potential; who had everything going for them and seemed to let it all slip through her fingers. I was bewildered and saddened by her plight for a long time. I needed to understand how such a thing could happen to someone so smart, talented, and kind.
Some would say, “Well, that’s the Lord’s Will…” or “Sometimes these things happen in life, and you can’t understand them.” These were never satisfactory in my mind. I’m a “WHY?” person. I believe the wisdom of God’s Word will help us make sense of things. He’s a God of supreme order, and He is not the author of chaos and confusion. He said in Hosea 4:6 that His people are being destroyed because they lack knowledge about Him, and indeed they refused this knowledge. When we know better, we can do better, and all of us must be interested in being and doing better for our God.
There are some things we cannot know, but there is an infinite amount of knowledge that we can know, so that we can keep our lives anchored in Godliness. God has made the knowledge of His Word a must for us. Without it, we succumb to the tricks of the devil because we are blind to them. Without knowing the truth of God’s Word, we will abdicate our sonship rights and lose the treasures that belong to us.
In John 18:33, shortly before his crucifixion and after Jesus Christ had allowed himself to be taken into custody, Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him by telling him that his Kingdom was not an earthly kingdom, if it was, his followers would have wiped out everyone to keep him from being captured. He then made the most tremendous statement. He said, “But my Kingdom is not of this world.” In John 18:37(NLT), Jesus further explained, “I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
Jesus Christ came into the earth to give us the Kingdom of God! Heavenly Father tells us in 1Peter 2:9-11(NLT), “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy. 11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”
Because of Christ, the Kingdom of God is within us through His precious Holy Spirit. This is a truth that no believer can afford to miss. We sometimes think we can skim the surface of it and be okay. Not so. Some of us think we can get away with not treating the reality of this glorious truth with the awe, gratitude, and majesty it deserves. Not so. We cannot put what the world offers before our Kingdom reality. God has graciously bestowed us with certain gifts, talents, and abilities. Some of us think that just because the world throws out the welcome mat to these things, that we should choose the path it offers. Jesus Christ warns us not to do this. In Matthew 6:33, he commands us to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness above every other thing. Then, the blessings we seek will be added to us.
It is a grave mistake to think that what society and the world can offer us is better or higher than what the Lord, our God, has already provided through Christ. It is our greatest tragedy to lose our souls to the world and neglect the purpose to which we were born. We are not to rollover and hand over our destinies for fame or money. We cannot smother our purpose in the Will of God with desires of the flesh. Heavenly Father has a purpose for the gifts He’s given us. We must find out what He desires us to do with them and make this the focus of our lives.
The treasure we are seeking is already in us through the person of Jesus Christ. Twawni pursued the wrong kingdom and was blind to what she was doing. Let’s not ever make this mistake. Let’s pray we will always recognize that everything we need can be found by walking in the power of God’s Spirit through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Fallen Woman”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
