I started off my week with God’s word impressed on my heart through pastor Lawrence Oyor. I have been following his series about David; the man of many Encounters for the past three weeks or so. This last week was about the third part of the series and the series has thoroughly blessed me. Amongst the many things He shared last Sunday, one of the things he said that stayed with me all week was his admonition for us to convert our pains to profit the kingdom of God. He shared briefly how he navigated through the pain of the loss of his father and his resolve thereafter. You can check out the sermon here
As I proceeded into the week, it just seemed like everything around me was pointing me back to the wise words of Pastor Lawerence Oyor. One of the ways was through God’s word as I am currently doing a study plan on Youversion with a friend; the title is “Trusting God’s Plan in the Waiting”. The Bible plan takes us in-depth through the life of Joseph and I am pleasantly surprised and excited about the things I am learning from the study of the life of Joseph. I have read and studied his story so many times, that I didn’t think I could still glean new wisdom from his life. But that is the beauty of God’s word, it is new every morning – with the help of the Holy Spirit.
With all of that said, today I write to you because I am confident God wants you to know that He is with you through every challenge you may be going through. He wants you to grow through this challenge, rather than stay or feel defeated in it.
Do not Let Your Pain Push You into Sin: We have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, who in every way has gone through the things we have gone through but yet He did not sin against God – Hebrews 4:15. A quick scheme through the bible characters and stories in my head and I can say of a fact that there is no man or woman of God who walked the earth who wasn’t posed with challenges as they walked with God. Our faith walk and journey with the Lord is an adventure. O the Lord would have you go on rides with Him! The Lord took Papa Abraham on an adventurous journey from the known to the unknown, He took the whole of Israel on the same as well. King David had many adventurous events in His life, and so did the Apostles such as Peter, Paul, John, and co.
Even our dearest Jesus Christ was not left out at all, an innocent man who did not deserve to die was tempted by the devil, crucified, and hung stack naked on a cross to die. One thing that all of these men of faith have in common is the fact that they all held steadfast to their faith in God.
It is very easy to curse God and choose death in the face of life-threatening challenges as advised by Job’s friends. But God has not forgotten about you! When he turned around the captivity of Zion; it felt like they were dreaming – Psalm 126:1. God is able to turn around your situation so quickly! Joseph went through horror for about 17 years of His life and God was with Him all through his journey. He might have doubted this on certain days and times but the bible tells us that the Lord was with him. And by the time God will turn around his situation, the bible tells us that God did it quickly – Genesis 41:14
My dear friend in Christ, do not allow that situation to swallow up your faith in God; He is with you and He will turn your situation around quickly!
Wait Patiently on the Lord: Oh! I know how overwhelming it could be to wait earnestly for something and not seem to see a trace of it anywhere. But my dear, the Lord admonishes us to wait on Him. They that wait upon the Lord, the bible says shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles and they shall soar – Isaiah 40:31. I would love to emphasize the phrase, “wait upon the Lord”. It doesn’t tell us to just wait idly doing nothing- it says, “They wait upon the Lord”. To wait upon the Lord means that in our waiting our eyes are fixated on the Lord, and our ears are in tune with the Lord, waiting for his instructions. “They that wait upon the Lord” also means we are waiting still consumed with all of God- that is how our strength is renewed while we wait. And that is how we soar with wings as eagles. We definetly can see this in the life of Joseph. Although he was sold off into slavery, He still served the Lord with his life and skills. His relationship with the Lord was so evident that he was made chief of the captain of all the slaves in Potiphar’s house. And even when he was thrown into prison, he was made head of the prisoners too- because he was like “they that waited upon the Lord”. And true to God’s word, Joseph soared high as an eagle.
Sow in Tears and You will Reap in Joy: Oh! The Lord opened my eyes to see this verse in a brand new light the other day – Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy – Psalms 126:5, Don’t waste your tears, my beloved, plant the seeds you want to see grow and water them with your tears. I am not telling you not to cry, by all means, cry out to the Lord, and express yourself and your emotions to the Lord. But as you do so, get up and begin to plant. O! I can imagine Joseph going to bed with his pillow soaked in tears, that is even if he had a pillow “sef”. Nonetheless, as he had his pains, he was planting seeds in the way that he did his tasks, in the way he cultivated his relationship with God, in the way he honed his skills, in the way he communicated with people, in the way he acknowledged God in all he did. His over 17 years of sowing, of planting in tears definitely reaped him a bountiful harvest of joy. A practical way to sow in tears is to find the things God wants you to do for Him and go all out. And as you do these things(sowing), talk to your father in heaven -“Lord as I do this for you, take care of my own business”. The Lord is too faithful to fail His beloved who sow in tears.
And to you my dear friend who is outside of the kingdom of God, I use this opportunity to extend an invitation to you. The Lord wants to help you, He wants you to maximize that pain that you feel right now, and He wants you to grow through it all so that you can comfort generations to come – II Corinthians 1:4. But in order to do all of this, you must first know Jesus Christ as your friend. You can do this by confessing the prayer here and beginning to fellowship with other believers at a bible, Jesus Christ-believing church. Yes! it is that simple.
Do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns :).