Have you ever been in a situation
where you begin to question the validity of God’s work in your life? Have you
ever wondered and doubted the presence of God in areas of your life? If yes, I
want you to know that God knows everything that you’ve passed through. He knows
your sorrows and he records every drop of tears that have ever fallen down your
cheeks (Psalm 56:8-9).
Many young believers, even older
ones too, do not know that there are some times in a man’s life when situations
don’t just add up. There are certain times when God seems so far away and when
He doesn’t make sense. In such cases, the best virtues we can have as
Christians are patience, hope and faith.
The Bible teaches us that God’s
timing is the best. The Bible also makes us to understand that God has plans
for each and every one of us; His plans are for good and not of evil. We have
to know that every situation we find ourselves is scripted by god Himself. God
knows the beginning from the end, even when God seems 100,000 miles away from
our affairs; He is still close enough to touch us.
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Some years ago, a young friend of
mine went to the seminary to become a priest and to gather more knowledge on
the Bible. I was happy for him because he was someone who we both lived
waywardly in the past. I wished him well and encouraged him to do his best.
After about 6 years, he was thrown out of the seminary for what he knows
nothing about. He came back home depressed, broken and embarrassed because
everyone around him is already referring to him as a priest. He cried for
months and decided never to ever attend a church again. He was pained to that
point.
Everyone around him tried to
persuade him to reverse his decisions but he refused. He had lost everything;
his friends, his family, his time, his resources, his passion, his hope and
faith in the Lord, he lost patience with everything and everyone around him. I
felt so bad for him that I decided to visit him at home, I met him sober and
drunk whilst embracing a bottle of beer. I had no idea what he was going
through, but I had to try to encourage him.
We discussed extensively and
intimately, he poured out his heart and mind to me and I didn’t know when I
began to cry for him. I was almost at the point of giving up myself, because
things weren’t actually going well with me at that time. I broke down too, felt
bad for my own situations and began to question God, WHY ARE THESE THINGS
HAPPENING TO ME?
It took the grace of God for me
to be strong at that time. Finally, we prayed together and I left for my place
of work (I worked in a factory then). That very morning for I was on the night
shift, I thought deeply and I began to reminisce all what God have done for me.
I remembered all I have overcame and all the battles I have conquered through
the divine help of God. I took it upon me to convince my friend to restate his
decisions. To the glory of God, my friend not only grew back his faith, he also
became a stronger Christian.
From the little story I just
shared, we can deduce that people who have lost their faith and believe in God
because of one situation or the other find it difficult to return back to God.
They feel pain and uncertainties about serving God. The greatest danger for
people who have experienced such tragedy or worse is that the devil will
maximize their pains before them, and minimize the presence and power of God
working in them.
If you find yourself walking a
lonely path with different struggles of life, with different challenges coming
your way, if you find yourself without a helper, if you find yourself asking
the questions; Why me Lord? I am a dedicated worker in Church, why are all
these happening to me? I want to let you know that God is present. Do not confuse
His silence for disinterest in your affairs; He is silent to know how you would
react to such situations. Remember that in an examination hall, that favourite
teacher of yours who always talks in class would be silent to see how well you
would do in the examinations.
God have promised never to leave us (Matthew 28:20), hold on to that
promise. Hold on to His faithfulness. God’s word can and will never go back to
Him without fulfilling its purpose.
This article is written
specifically to people who have been in situations where God feels distant from
them. I know you are hurting, I know you are tired of serving God. I know that
things aren’t working the way you have planned. I believe I understand your
pains, fears and struggles. If your children have betrayed you or your loved
one in whom you have placed so much hope and trust in have broken that trust, I
know how that feels. If you can’t explain how you’ve lost your good paying job
even when you are a dedicated worker to the kingdom of God, or you can’t fathom
how fire have engulfed your business place even after sprinkling the Holy water
and holy oil on a daily basis. These examples are endless, but my work for you
today is “God is in control”. Allow God to drive you to your place of destiny
and you’d laugh at the end. Be still and know that He is God – (Psalm 46:10).
Imagine you’re in a situation
where you are merely hanging on to a thin rope and you are about to fall off a
very high mountain, then you call on God to save you and His response is “Let go
of that rope and I’d catch you”? You then look down and you can’t see his hands
or a support below you. Imagine the fear that would grip your mind at that
time. If it were me, I’d rather try to reach for my phone to call for help, or
better still ignore that voice of God and call out to any other person for
help. In such a case, I know that it would be extremely difficult to let go of
the rope. Even strong believers would find it difficult to obey God at such a
critical moment. But God have told us to trust Him even when the odds are
against us.
- If we can trust the public bus driver with our lives to commute us safely to our destinations, most people even sleep in the bus and feel relaxed, why do we find it so hard to trust God?
- If we can trust and believe our family doctor over issues of our health, why can’t we trust God who is the creator of our lives?
- If we can trust or investors to invest our finances wisely, why can’t we trust God with our tithes and offerings in church?
- If we can trust in the promises of our rich uncles and aunts, why can’t we trust in God’s promises?
Finally, I want us to understand
that there is nothing God wants of us more than the exercise of our faith. He
wants us to trust Him at all times even when circumstances do not warrant such.
Just as Psalm 34:17-19 says; “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears
them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the
brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may
have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all”
See you at the top…