HAS GOD FORGOTTEN ME?

 “………….Fighting temptation to give up virginity... Will be turning 43 in January and this fleshly desire is pressing.  It hasn't been easy having more and more ungodly men to ward off especially when I feel alone... Every where I turn my friends talk about either their work or their husbands or their children or their family... all of which I don't have…………..”

I culled the above paragraph from a mail sent to me today. I could feel a tear dropping down my cheek when the email implied a sense of being forgotten by God. Especially considering this season of the year when the last month is fast approaching and time seems to have gone by with little hope of anything good happening.

The possibility of feeling rejected and abandoned is very high. All the things ever hoped for in 2012 do not seem to have happened and may not happen. More painful it is when ungodly people seem to have what they want and are not burdened with all the yokes we carry.

Every victorious woman of faith goes through times of dryness. These include dryness in every sphere of life. Drought of trustworthy friend and special person to love is the most excruciatingly painful to endure. The sense of being alone and unloved is killing. Most of the time, words alone cannot explain why this should be happening to us at all.

Listen my Sister, the whole of 1Samuel chapter 1 (Please read) focused on the life of a woman called Hannah. She married Elikanah but was unable to have children. So her husband decided to take on another woman as second wife who had sons and daughters. Imagine the pain of being abandoned for a woman who began making babies like a factory and she couldn’t. She must have felt emotionally abandoned by the husband, emotional taunted by the contentious second wife and sadness of heart at the birth of each of the other wife’s children. Verse 6-7 said 

“But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. This went on year after year. Every time she went to the sanctuary of God she could expect to be taunted. Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite.”

Most painful was the fact that the Bible said it was God who closed her womb in Verse 5. You may ask why? What has she done? Why did God close her womb? What was the reason? My answer is God has a bigger plan. God had set her up for a show of His glory without her knowing.

Did Hannah fold her arms and rebelled against God? No. Did she try shorter routes? NO. What did she do?

Hannah, driven by desperation, pursued God to a place of reckless prayer and weeping before God. Without dignity or laid down formality she begged God for a son. She knew she had a destiny that must be fulfilled. She realised the fulfilment can only be found in God. She chased after God with all fervent prayer of hope and not of self-pity. She fought to overcome the consuming ache of inadequacy within herself. She was willing to go to war in order to fulfil destiny and not live a waste. All the weapon of prayer she used is still available to us all today.

Did God answer? Yes, He did. God responded to her. God saw her tears, He heard her prayers, and He rewarded her faith because He saw the passion of her broken heart. Hannah’s son, Samuel was the only one we know of in scripture. The other woman and her children were no longer heard of.

My sister, only you can develop within you a very passionate zeal to see your God given destiny come to fulfilment. If you become so lethargic and complacent, if you put on the coat of ‘it doesn’t matter’, if you become less bothered and just carry on living, you will read of others breakthrough and no one is ever able to read yours. 

Allow all the present dryness to drive you towards God the almighty and not away from Him. Away from Him doesn’t cost God anything but may cost you all the fullness of what He has in stock for you.

Like the paragraph of the email I quoted earlier, if that is where you are and you desperately want God to come through for you, inject very serious passion into your prayer when you get to the place of pouring your soul and your tears to Him.

Like Hannah, may you leave your place of prayer in peace. May you find favour before Him and may your petition be granted you. May your countenance be changed from sadness to full joy. May you be fed with the food of rejoicing.

May your glorious end be greater than your former in Jesus name. Amen.

I love you Sister. 

JESUS CARES.

DEAL OR NO DEAL

I stumbled on this gambling game programme on channel 4 (UK). The player had a box of 10pence and £100,000.00 on the last round. He was hoping to gamble on the box with the highest amount of money. Players do not know what is in each box but the cash board tells what is left in this last round. The manager of the game known as ‘The Banker’ was trying to make an offer to this player for a deal of 33,000 pounds.  

Most of the co-gamblers advised him not to deal. The player refused to accept the offer and hence no deal. To close the game, he was left with the only option of opening the box on his table. Whatever was in that box was his money. His box had 10 pence unfortunately.

I am not a gambler. When I heard ‘no deal’ on that last round, I felt immediately this player had lost something. He lost an opportunity for a lump some that could have added value to his pocket. He missed accepting an offer that was far more real than what was to be gambled. There is a huge difference between 10p and £100K. He turned down what could have been a juicy offer of £33k.

I am sure some of us would argue (those who gamble especially) that the player could have also won the 100k. Yes, which is why gambling is not realistic. It is a world of guesses. It was not a guarantee or surety. What was real at the time was the 33k that was offered.

Unfortunately this is what some of us have done or are doing with our life and destiny. We listen to the voices and noises around us shouting at us saying ‘No Deal’; we forget that they will not share with us the consequences of that decision.  We have gambled away our precious life and time with unreliable and undependable men because they appear at that moment full of empty promises and unrealistic hopes. We get swayed and fall for their lies only to realise when it is too late that they are worth less 10pence.  We had probably encountered many who had appeared like that 33k, but we turned them down because we thought we can still get 100k from this other ones that appeared more like it.

The Banker could be likened to God, our heavenly father who new that the box we have on our table and hoping to contain 100k actually had 10pence. We have left God out and ignored His offers because it was a little too small and would not be enough. Those were the men whom he offered but weren’t so trendy, don’t seem to have much money, and not too good looking. We made off with the clean guys in top labels and with some bucks to spend. We got off with them to realise they were empty inside and so full of themselves there was no place in their hearts for us. They are like the 10pence but we thought by our outward calculations were 100k.

There is no point crying over spilled milk. Let the mess be cleared. God is still willing to do a new deal. It is up to us to either deal or no deal

When the creation got messed up badly with sin, God made another offer of a deal. He sent Christ Jesus as ransom. Those who said deal to Jesus are in. Those who said no deal are still out. It is the same with us and how we respond on the matters of life and destiny. Our choices are very vital to our future.

So, making the right choice has both immediate and future benefit if it is in God’s will and aligns with His word and the plans he has offered us “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah29:11(NKJV).

He said again that “No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it—What God has arranged for those who love him. But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.” 1cor.2:9-10(MSG)

The only major difference in dealing with God is that it is never a gamble, it is a guarantee. It may take a bit of time but still happen in its time, Eccl.3:11 “….He has made everything beautiful in its time….”

So what is God offering today? Here it is: “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the bad lands.” Isaiah 43:18-19(MSG)

If you say ‘Deal’, you are in. All you need to do is “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” Psalm 27:14(NKJV)

If you say ‘No Deal’, you can be sure to experience what that gambler experienced, from the hope of a 100k to taking away just 10pence. God forbid; this one life is not meant to be lived on a guess work. Only a deal with God guarantees the best deal of a lifetime.

Be sure to say ‘Deal’ when you are sure your offer is from the banker (God) and you have peace that the offer is rooted in Him. Even when the offer doesn’t contain all you wished for, you can trust the banker (God) to stand surety for you.  All full benefit will be added.  I testify to His faithfulness. I am a living proof. He’s done it for me; He is able to do even more for you.

  “People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, and God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” Matthew 6:32-33(MSG)

 On behalf of the Ultimate Banker (God) I present again to you the offer of full obedience to Him and His will for you for the benefit of a fulfilled life both here and in eternity

DEAL OR NO DEAL???