Alone With God

Quite a number of people are afraid to walk alone, but I have come to discover that Christianity is a walk alone with God. Yes, there are collaborations, but it is more of a lone walk with the Master. This fear of walking alone is what has caused many not to live their dreams or fulfill their divine purposes. Yet others have been driven to partner with the wrong sets of people to their pain. Truly, we cannot really be faulted for wanting to ‘click’ or 'belong' with people. It is the way we are wired. We are primarily relational beings. However, when destiny calls we need to learn to separate from the ‘clicks’ to walk alone with God. By walking alone I do not mean living an isolated life. No, that is impossible as no man is an island. We are a sum total of the people we’ve been with and the experiences from those relationships. What I mean is having the courage to identify and own your unique voice, dreams and purpose in God. I have also discovered that the best people to collaborate with are those who have found their uniqueness in God and are confidently walking in that position. These people are strong contributors and they bring much value to the table.

When destiny called on Abraham, he was specifically asked to leave his father’s house to the land that had being prepared for him by God. But Abraham being human had issues disconnecting completely from his extended family. He chose rather to take Lot, his nephew with him. On the surface what he did looked noble. It looked like he was a caring family man, but he was in disobedience. Jehovah God never spoke to him again until he summoned the courage to separate from Lot. His lack of courage in telling the likes of Abimelech that Sarah was his wife stemmed from his fear of walking alone through the shadowy valleys of life. I admire the "woman with the issue of blood" in the Scriptures. This woman bled non-stop for twelve years and was impoverished by this disease. She lost everything she owned trying to get cured, but to no avail. Eventually, she had enough and with her last feeble strength she took the bull by the horns and stepped out to get her healing in Christ. No one escorted her and no one wanted to be seen with her in public as she was ‘unclean’. She could have been stoned to death for daring to step out, but she damned the consequences and walked alone to meet Jesus for her healing.

We all have to come to that place in life where we learn to walk alone. This is a place where we take our destinies in our hands and trust God that it would be well with us. People have their own issues too. How long do we think that friends and family would be around to hold our hands? We have to arise and be strong to take those tough decisions that would propel us forward. When David's people threatened to stone him to death in 1 Samuel 30, it was not a problem for him. Naturally he must have felt hurt that he was blamed for everyone’s misfortune, but he could take it. He was used to being alone with God and so his first thought was to ask Him the way out of the trouble. When you learn to walk alone with God His presence becomes more of a reality than the physical presence of man. Singles, take advantage of your season and learn to walk alone with God. Those who walk well with Him walk well in marriage.

In our present times, a lot of people have resorted to asking friends and family for financial and material support. There is nothing wrong with this, but for how long? If your friend gives you $100 today, will you go back and ask for more tomorrow? If your uncle pays the tuition of your children today, what about next school term, would you go back and ask him to bear that same burden knowing he has his own responsibilities? Whatever hand life deals us we need to summon the courage to seek our individual solutions in God. Seeking help and comfort from man is only going to delay the flow of God’s grace into our lives. God is a jealous God. We cannot trust in Him and trust man at the same time, too. Here is my stand in Christ. If Isaac planted and harvested his way through famine, we can. If Jacob got a revolutionary idea for animal husbandry, we can do better now. Recessions or famines are not designed to impoverish God’s children but to unleash our best potentials. So let us stop running helter - skelter seeking whom to ask for favors. Rather let us make a resolve to quiet our spirit and seek the Lord in fervent prayers. May the Lord guarantee your permanent lifting in Jesus name.

Bible References: Genesis 13: 1-18 Genesis 20: 1-13 Mark 5:25–34; 1 Samuel 30:1-19 Genesis 26: 1-14 Genesis 30:25-43 Genesis 31:1-21

The Heart Without Understanding

The Seed

People fail to make a difference in their communities because they think that they have nothing to offer or what they have is inconsequential in comparison with the need at hand. But Jesus did not think that way. When faced with feeding a multitude of more than five thousand people in a remote region, He asked for a seed. His disciples scouted amongst the crowd and found a sower. He was just a young boy, but he was willing to offer his five loaves and two fishes (probably his lunch). Jesus gratefully received this seed and lifted it to God in thanksgiving and asked His disciples to share amongst the people. As they stepped out in faith sharing the broken pieces of bread and fish it kept supernaturally multiplying until everyone ate! Not only that, after all had eaten to their satisfaction they gathered twelve baskets of left over bread and fish! (John 6:1-14)

The seed is powerful. Jesus never thinks of anything offered to Him as too small as long as it is given willingly and cheerfully. That was why the widow with her mite enjoyed His commendation. (Mark 12:41-44) Everything in life is a seed. Our smile is a seed. Giving a helping hand to another in need is a seed. A bottle of soda is a seed so is a small pack of biscuit. Playing the drum or guitar in church is a seed as well as cleaning the church. Helping an old lady accross a busy road is a seed likewise giving up your seat in a crowded bus, train or waiting lounge for a pregnant woman. Volunteering at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter is a seed, also.

It does not take too much to be a blessing. For instance, my articles and posts are my seed. When I write, I write with a hope that someone may be encouraged and blessed. Many who visit my blog or read my posts on social media never ‘like’ or make a comment, but I push myself to write anyway. I do what I do because I have a burning desire to encourage and give hope through God’s word. More than five thousand people ate from the five loaves and two fishes that young boy offered to Jesus, but how many sought him out to say, thank you or well done? None! The lesson here is that if we are unduly concerned with recognition and praise we may never make a difference or touch lives. You may not be aware, but life is tough for many. Everywhere you turn there is a need and a concern. The world is in dire need of encouragers and hope givers. The good book says that whatever a man sows he shall reap so join me and let us begin to sow good seeds. Shalom!

You Will Get There!

The hand of the clock finally crept to 4:30pm. Hurray! It was Friday evening and I was really looking forward to going to Church for prayer meeting and then home to my family. It was raining as I left. Nothing new there as it’s been raining nearly every day for a while now. I got into my car and set off, very sure that I would be at church give or take 45 minutes considering traffic, of course. Alas, that was not the case! A journey that ordinarily would have taken 30-45 minutes took approximately four hours and thirty minutes! Pretty much of the way we were crawling at snail speed and the rest was long stand stills. To crown my frustration, my phone battery ran out and my battery charger was not in the car! I knew how concerned my family would be and I wondered what they were thinking. There was no way to detour as everywhere was blocked! I felt trapped! Initially I was at peace even though I was not happy that I missed Church especially as I was on duty to minister. I may have been at peace for about an hour or so when I felt the frustration and anxiety mounting within me.

In that situation, I could not help thinking of God’s people waiting to be helped or rescued from one situation or the other. I could not help thinking of the couples waiting for a child, the singles waiting to be married, the college graduate waiting for a job, the sick waiting for healing, families waiting for a miracle to save their homes. And the community of believers persecuted and massacred all over the world waiting for deliverance. I could go on and on. Waiting is not easy. When waiting understand that we will experience different conflicting emotions before we arrive at our desired end. In the early stage of the process, it looks like a walk in the park. “Yeah, I can do this!” we tell ourselves. Then we wait and wait and there is no visible change.

The pressure begins to mount and we begin to ‘hear’ the silent creeping steps of doubt, frustration, anxiety, anger, despair, depression and discouragement. If we are not spiritually and emotionally intelligent the enemy may easily hijack the moment and shipwreck our faith. Satan knows that he alone cannot destroy our expectations. He needs our collaboration. Why he keeps succeeding is because we have given him too much credit and are ignorant of the workings of the waiting process. The key is not to agree with the emotions that creep on us, but agree with the word of God. These emotions are natural, but we must step up to the supernatural to make it through. Your faith in God and His word in you act as an impenetrable wall of defense around you. We must never let our faith wall down! That was why Jesus interceded for Peter that his faith may not fail. (Luke 22: 23) If our faith does not fail our miracle would be sure. In that traffic, I discerned the different emotions dancing around my heart. I recognized frustration, anxiety, irritation, anger, self-pity, sadness, loneliness and despair. I recognized them because once upon a time they were my constant companions. And I know well that their company does not lead to profit. Just as we disconnect from toxic human relationships we must be intelligent enough to disconnect from these toxic internal companions that flirt around our hearts.

Remember that God comes through always. If there is a seeming delay it is because of the conflict of interest between God and us. We are interested in the destination, but He is more interested in the journey i.e. the process. So, I decided to align my interest with His interest, the journey. I became grateful for every crawl that took me closer to my family and decided to maintain my peace. Waiting time is word time so I busied myself listening to gospel music and sermons on CD. It took longer than I expected, but I made it home with my faith intact! Friends, my waiting may be trivial compared to yours, but the lesson is the same. I am here just to assure and encourage you that you will get there in Jesus name! Peace!

A Supernatural Experience

It was 7 am in the morning when the call came in. I picked up the phone on my bed side stool. ‘Hello!’ I answered, and I heard a female voice on the other end. It was a woman that I knew and respected. I was wondering how she got my number, when she said, “Sis Ebiye, Good morning! The Lord asked me to give you One Million Naira (i.e. approximately $2,500 today). Could you see me at my office this morning? 'Excuse me, ma?!', I asked in shock. “See me, today, if you can.” And she hung up. I cannot tell you how long I held that phone in my hand or how long before I closed my mouth that was hung open. All I could utter was, ‘Oh my God!’ I sat on my bed with my head in my hands and the tears of joy rolled down my face. It was just yesterday, I thought, just yesterday when I had a nudge in my spirit to sow a hundred dollar seed into the life of a very notable and influential woman of God. I struggled sowing that seed even though I was certain it was the Lord nudging me to do so. I obeyed, but it was a struggle as it was the only money I had at the time. Now this strange, but pleasant phone call! I realized then that God did not want my money. He was only testing me. I got the money later that morning and my walk with God changed forever. It’s been nearly fifteen years since that fateful phone call, but I remember it like yesterday.

Since that experience I have never withheld anything from the Lord, especially if He specifically asks for it. God does not need our money as He owns everything in the world. When He asks it’s because He wants to do something good for us. Some may ask, does it mean that we have to pay for His blessings. No, but what I do know is that before we can experience testimonies in our lives we have to go through tests. And before a harvest there is usually a planting season. Sometimes, we are led to give because He wants to test our faith in Him. The bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) At other times, He tests us to enable us experience Him from a fresh angle. In my case, He wanted me to experience Him as Jehovah, Jireh, The God who provides. Today, I am very thankful that He supplied the grace for me to do so. In a relationship, trust is everything. I have been made to understand that you can take thirty years to build trust, but destroy it in three seconds! Trust is fragile but the backbone needed for a relationship to thrive. Whether it is a marriage relationship or a business partnership, trust is needed for continuous growth. That is why adultery is the worst kind of betrayal in marriage. It usually takes divine intervention for spouses to forgive their partners when this happens. Even when forgiveness is given, the relationship is never the same because trust has been broken. A relationship without trust is a suffocating environment to live in.

God needs to know that we trust Him. He needs to know that we sincerely believe that He will never leave or forsake us. When we trust God, we will wait on Him and there would be no desire in our hearts to disobey Him or seek alternative gods. In a time of severe famine, a widow in a city called Zarephath was asked to give her last meal to a prophet of God. It was a tough decision to make as she also had a son to take care of, but she obeyed. Miraculously, this widow and her son never lacked for food throughout the famine. Her son who took ill was also supernaturally healed. (1Kings 17: 8-24) Like it or not, we would be tested by the Lord and when He does it is so that we too may experience the supernatural on earth. There is a whole new level in Christ awaiting your entrance. It is my prayer that you would be discerning when your next test comes in Jesus name. Amen!

The Winners Attitude

The journey of life is not always smooth. If the truth be told it is marked with bumps and holes! But life must be lived and progress made. We must therefore learn to program our hearts for the tough times, for the rough rides that none of us want but inevitably happen. The mere fact that others are making progress in spite of the obvious odds is a pointer to the fact that we can too. For instance the fact that some couples celebrate 50 years in marriage is a pointer to younger couples in marriage that their marriages can make that number and more if they apply their hearts to make it work. When a woman that had waited for twenty years for the blessing of a child finally conceives and brings forth it should assure others in waiting that their miracle is possible too. Life is about perspectives. It all depends on what you see. Sadly, we all do not see the same pictures and so our results in life are different.

Mark Zuckerberg during his famous visit to Nigeria pointed out that the first quality of an entrepreneur is an unquenchable passion and ‘a never give up’ attitude. He suggested that if you are hungrier than other dreamers it is most likely that you would be the one to make it in the end! This is true for nearly all aspects of life. We must approach life as entrepreneurs. As an entrepreneur must make profit from whatever goods or services he is selling, you too must make profit out of your existence on earth. The trick is to dig your feet into the soil of life and force it to work in your favour. When you are a person that gets easily discouraged and gives up at the sign of trouble you will never see the beauty of life nor experience the miraculous power of God. We must understand that troubles are the raw materials for miracles and tests must come before testimonies can be reported.

No matter the number of persons that give up on you or your cause, you must never give up! The moment you do, the devil has you for dinner! Job was dealt a cruel hand by life at some season in his life. He lost all his business investments and all his children in one day! As if that was not enough he was struck with some strange boils and skin infection that made life a living hell. His situation was so pathetic that close friends who came to empathize with him could not speak for seven whole days! They just starred at Job. Once upon a time, he was the wealthiest man of his day, but here he was reduced to a bag of bones, and what flesh was left on his bones was ravaged by disease. Job must have stunk, too! What a pathetic sight to see, but here is what Job said, "...All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes” (Job 14:14, NKJV) Job was not in delusion. He knew his condition was bad and the circumstances bleak, but he resolved to wait on the One who has power to make impossibilities possible. Job must have realized that he would be required to give account of how he spent the life that was given to him. Would he give a report of woes, sicknesses and failures or would he give a report of impact and glory? Job yearned for a good report. He could not die defeated after starting out so powerfully in God. He refused to succumb to the lies of the devil after tasting of the love and mercies God.

Somewhere in his sufferings, Job made a resolve in his heart to wait on God until there was a change in his situation. He refused to give up and began to hope expectantly in the Lord. His faith blossomed and we know that nothing pleases God like faith. A man who calls those things that are not as if they are is a man that is irresistible to heaven. That is a man that operates in the class of the IAM THAT IAM, Yahweh, The Almighty God! Expectedly, Job’s turnaround came gloriously. “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters…After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of years” (Job 42: 12-14, 16-17, NKJV) If Job had given up, he would not have experienced this glorious restoration. He lost all his children at some point but God gave him more children and grandchildren too. This can be your end and mine too, if we make up our minds long before the trials of life to hold on to the promises of God. “Indeed we count them blessed who endure…” (James 5:11a, NKJV) Peace!