IT IS YOUR TURN TO SHINE

Happy New Year!!! This is the way we greet one another in my Country at the beginning of every year. It suggests that you wish the person a glorious year. That and more is what I wish you. If you live in Nigeria, you woke up to “bad news” on that very first day of this wonderful year – cost of fuel has gone up by over a hundred percent. Your mind immediately starts to run through your entire life and you are wondering –how will I cope? You are not alone; it is the question on a lot of hearts the world over. In truth, how does anyone cope when the economy is falling apart almost all over the world?

Psalm 91:1 “those who live in the shelter of the most high will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

I thank God because those that put their trust in Him shall never be ashamed. The psalmist says through his life, he never saw the righteous forsaken nor did he ever see their children begging bread. The expedient thing to do would be to take one’s focus off the system, government or economy and to set it on God. God has said this repeatedly through the scriptures and in present times, even more directly through the mouths of His children. 

Psalm 37:25 “once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.”

Please recall that when things get tougher, then it is our time to shine. Reality is that life will be tougher. The greater reality for those that call on the name of the Lord is that our economy is kingdom based; an economy that never fails or disappoints those that invest in it. Returns are certain but the problem lies in the fact that it is not a physical economy but a spiritual one. You can’t watch your seed multiply neither do you have the advantage of monitoring your investment. It is kingdom based and we are compelled to trust in God’s invest capacity. You have to trust Him to do all that needs to be done and give you the returns that are your due. He is not a cheat.

Isaiah 60:2 “Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.”

This can only happen as we trust God and His word but how can you trust a God you don’t know or trust the word you don’t know. That is why now more than ever before, we have to study the word of God. As my pastor would say, “it is enlightened self-preservation” to do so in this current economic situation. You are not doing God a favor; indeed, He is doing us a favor by allowing us share in what is His. I am not by any means suggesting that we do not work hard or that we fold our arms and wait for God to throw down returns. We work hard, pray hard, worship hard and then watch Him bless the work of our hands.

I shall leave you with the scripture below which I hope you will keep before you always. Remember this will be the best year for you and I because like never before the glory of God shall be revealed and we have the privilege of being the ones through whom it shall be revealed so you must wake up every day and declare to yourself – I am blessed.

Isaiah 50:7 “because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do His will. And I know that I will not be put to shame.”