Thursday, 30 June 2016

He Gives Joy Instead Of Mourning

The world’s economy is obviously not the way we would like it to be and the situation in my Country may be worse than in most places. Many of us, believers and unbelievers alike are greatly troubled and rightly so; the more we pray the worse it seems to be getting and though we know that God is working everything for our good, it still is bad and many lives have been turned upside down. People, believers and unbelievers alike, have been impacted yet we must not allow who we are or even our posture to be determined by what we are going through. Thank God for Jesus Christ who always causes us to triumph in every situation and has made us more than conquerors so that we are never a sad people but a people filled with joy unexplainable that flows endlessly from within us. But for the presence of God in us, most of us would be sad for the challenges that life currently throws at us consistently but it requires some deliberateness to maintain the right posture. We must learn to laugh as well as maintain the right attitude of mind despite all that is going on. God wants to be who describes us all the time and He made us much bigger than whatever difficult circumstances we may face at every point in time. It doesn’t need to change for us to see God.

Psalm 112: 1 “Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands.”

1 Peter 1: 8 “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him: and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”

The sad reality though, is that many of us have been greatly impacted these very disturbing issues and we are letting go of our faith. Of course the challenges are in our faces but we need to be on top of the issues. Most of us have been so adversely affected that we have become really sour and bitter; so much so that we allow us to be described by how we feel. Reality is that we go through several different experiences (good and bad) in life but it is not wise to be so affected by these things that we are described by either. We are who God says we are and how wonderful it is to know have Him always, such a strong defense and an unwavering ally. People tend to think that life must be really perfect for those who don’t wear their challenges as a cloak but they forget that we all have the right to decide what we want to be in every situation. God has empowered us to be who we choose to be. We must remember that we are more than conquerors. We can choose to be Ruth instead of Naomi and we have been empowered to live the path we choose. Never be deceived; it is not for lack of challenges that some appear to be sane. God is that perfect ally who always ensures we are in charge and rule despite the storms of life but we must lean on Him. We have to remember to cast our cares. Storms are a reality of life and it could be anything including challenging economy.

Psalm 112: 7 - 8 “they do not fear bad news: they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their woes triumphantly.”

Reality is that there is a command of blessings over every believer’s life. The fact that we are blessed is a positional thing. As long as one is in Christ, He is blessed in every sense of the word and the manifestation of these blessings get more intense as long as the believer keeps getting more deeply rooted in Him. When Naomi returned to her home land, she was a bitter woman. She had let the challenges of life affect her so much that they charted the course of her life. Her major life’s decisions appeared to have been heavily impacted by what was going on around her and in her life. There is no doubt that terrible things happened but we must hold on to life and not allow ourselves get burnt. When it was tough in Israel, Naomi left and went where life seemed better but she suffered even more loss. It got worse where she went so again she made a decision to return to her home land. It was so bad and she so bitter that she told people to call her ‘bitter’ as she was indeed bitter but thank God Ruth refused to be dragged into the bitterness drama. Ruth was focused on living and living under the control of this God that Naomi had introduced her to. It could not have been easy especially when the person she lived with seemed to have lost hope and no longer found strength in that God. Salvation is indeed personal. No matter how close we may be to anyone, including even the persons who introduced us to Christ, whether or not they are our parents, we must find our own personal relationship with Him.

Psalm 112: 4 “Light shines in darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.”

The sad thing about naming one’s self by the challenges in their lives, is that they just get really sad and even loose hope ending up totally disappointed. It is like prophesying evil over one’s own life. Like Naomi’s situation, some of us have allowed all the pain and bitterness eat so deep in our hearts that we struggle even with seeing the light that already started to shine. It was so bad for Naomi that even when her people greeted her with a lot of excitement, she didn’t see or feel what they did. When we choose to see all what we are going through, we inflict more pain on ourselves and frustrate the people around us. Let us look beyond what we see to what we don’t yet see which will soon begin to unravel in the physical. That which we don’t yet see is more real than we think. God will not leave us without help so please let us expect that help and keep our hopes alive.

Romans 8: 25 “But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.”

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