Let's Papaya!

Courtesy of Deborah Cardenas via Unsplash.

A minister who never failed to amaze us with his creative use of acronyms showcased one in a sermon in which he shared a "funny" experience on a mission trip. On this particular trip he was graciously offered papaya for breakfast. In case you're not familiar with this tropical fruit, papaya has such a distinctive smell (one not-a-fan likened it to that of spoiled meat) that, though highly nutritional, it is repugnant to many. This young man found himself in this category. However, heeding Jesus' admonition to "eat such things as are set before you" (Luke 10:18), he tried to hide his distaste, meekly expressing gratitude for the offering.

He came to question his words (but, really, was there any way he could have couched his dislike of the fruit in words that did not offend?), and learned a great lesson. The power of PAPAYA. When one expresses gratitude for something, the giver is motivated to give more of the same. That's how the young minister, unlike the other members of the ministry team, ended up getting papaya every single morning of his stay there—simply because he expressed gratitude.

His lesson? Applying it to spiritual principles he came up with the acronym PAPAYA:

Praise

Always

Prepares

A

Yes

Answer —from God

PAPAYA.

While a little simplistic (God sometimes answers "no" or "later"), perhaps an addendum to that principle would be that praising God prepares our hearts to hear from Him.

Remember Elisha? In 2 Kings, chapter 3, when the kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom came to him for guidance in their war against Moab, he answered them with, "But now bring me a minstrel (the Hebrew lexicon identifies this word as 'someone who plays a stringed instrument'). And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him." And thus it was that Elisha heard from God the words that he should relay to the kings. In other words, he experienced PAPAYA—praise prepared the way for the prophet of God to hear from Him.

I have a dear friend who once mentioned to me one of her older sister's complaints. "Our parents always gave you so much more than they gave me!" My friend looked at her and gently chided her. "Didn't you ever realize why? I was always so grateful for everything they gave me, while you grumped about everything you got. If it was a dress, you'd say, 'I don't like this color!' Or if it was a toy, 'I don't think I'll like playing with this.' You always complained about whatever you got, so of course they were hesitant to surprise you with gifts. On the other hand, I always expressed gratitude for whatever they got me. It encouraged them to bless me with even more surprises. I wasn't trying to manipulate them, but they simply appreciated and reacted to my gratitude."

Doesn't the reaction of those parents resonate with you? Don't we as humans appreciate the expression of gratitude? Doesn't it make us want to PAPAYA?

The Bible tells us that God made man in His own image. The emotions we experience have their origin in the divine: laughter, humor, love, sadness, joy. Even anger. While emotions, then, are not innately wrong—after all, God made them part of our DNA that is derived from Him—they do need to be tempered and put through the sieve of God's perfect will (as in the admonition, "Let not the sun go down on your wrath" [Ephesians 4:26]). But that is why we can say unequivocally that our appreciation of gratitude is a reflection of one of God's own attributes. Just as gratitude provokes a desire in us to react positively to praise or thanks, to give more, it is because He who created us to react positively to praise or thanks does the same. PAPAYA. A way for us to hear from our Creator.

I haven't counted how many times the Bible tells us to praise, so I'll just share what Christian theologian Godwin Goziem Jirah wrote: "In the King James version of the Bible, praise occurs 259 times and worship 188 times. But the verses specifically addressing the subject of praise and worship of God, totaling 254 (Praise 183, Worship 71)." Whatever the exact count might be, it's a lot!

So much so that I think it's safe to say that making a resolution to praise God more consistently this coming year would be a good one. A resolution whose "umph" will not wear out, nor its power to bless both God and us.

In case you struggle with how or what to praise God for, there are several "go-to" themes in the Bible, especially in the Psalms: for the joy found in Him (Psalms 95:2), giving thanks unto Him (Psalm 106:1), for His works and character (Psalms 66:2), and exalting His holiness (Psalms 99:5). Remember how the Israelites crossed the Jordon? The waters of the Jordan didn't part until the feet of the priests touched the water of the river (Joshua 3:25). It might feel like a laborious effort to start praising and worshipping on your own, but once you dip your feet in the stream, the miracle of God's presence and blessing will come over you. All you need to do is take that first teensy-weensy step and you will experience PAPAYA!

How about it? Let's purpose to PAPAYA our way through this new year!

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hums and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Colossians 3:16).