Despite the dismal situation
one can yet be delivered. But it depends on how he handles the events of each
day in his life. Can you apply joy into all circumstances of your life despite
what happened to you? One of the ways to overcome dismal situation is to
increase your joy over your tragedy. Not minding what you are passing through makes
sure you are celebrating victory in advance.
Let your joy supersede the
situation or tragedy. Simply don’t let your problems overwhelm you or dampen
your spirit because perpetual happiness and joy induce success
spontaneously. You will not even know
when you succeeded. In fact, this is one of the ingredients that can guarantee
your eventual triumph, no matter how difficult, arbitrary, irrational or
insurmountable the dismal condition may seem. There is enormous power of
deliverance given to someone when he/she rejoices not minding what he is
passing through. Are you aware of this power?
Rejoicing always is a sure way
of telling the Almighty God that “I am grateful for what you have been doing
for me and I know you must definitely see me through in this ugly situation’’.
That is showing appreciation to God always not minding what is happening around
you. God is always happy when you accept with happiness and joy the calamity or
peril that fall upon you. I know it is very difficult for someone to
laugh when he is being whipped or hurt. But crying and worrying over one’s life
and future cannot equally alleviate or solve his problem, rather it must
aggravate it. Jesus says:
Therefore,
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own. (Matt. 6: 34 NIV).
Therefore, we should not add
more troubles to the ones of each day.
Job says:
A man
born of a woman has but of few days to live and those few days is full of
troubles. (Job. 14: 1)
Jesus Christ at a time could
not bear His own pains; that was why He shouted and cried unto the Lord “Father! Father! Why has thou forsaken me;
if it be possible let this cup pass away.’’ But He did not forget to tell
His father ‘’above all things, let your
will be done not mine.’’
Despite the dismal situation
can you permit the will of God to happen in your life? When you still recognise the
will of the Father in your life, the father will know that you are grateful for
all He has been doing for you and on that commitment He will have no option
than to see you through in your present calamity.
Count your blessings one by
one and you will see the reasons to give God glory and you will always make a
joyful noise unto the Lord. When you are doing so, you are invariably telling
the Father ‘Thank you’ for what you
have done for me. ‘I know you are seeing me now in my dismal situation, and I know you
must certainly see me through at last. But above all things, your will are the
final verdict that I will take. They are the best for me’.
Rejoicing always despite the
dismal situation is the sure way of inviting instantly the comforter (Advocate, counsellor, Helper,
strengtheners, intercessor and Standby) to comfort you mostly when you are
not the architect of your pain or failure. The instantaneous presence of the Holy Ghost
is inevitable because you did not focus on your problem but on God. You
believed that the problem you are passing through presently perhaps is above
your strength; but you did not doubt that you have God who is above all
problems.
The Bible says:
“Ah
Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power
and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jer. 32 : 17)
And ‘For with God nothing shall be impossible.’ (Luke 1: 37)
Because, ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they
that dwell therein.’(Psalm 24: 1)
Therefore, the failure of any
child of God is always directly proportional to his success. The more he fails,
the more he succeeds. The measure in which he fails must determine the
increasing rate of his success.
This fact can be carefully
and clearly illustrated beyond all reasonable doubts by the graph of failure
against success/ miracle with respect to a child of God. It is always a straight
line graph.
X-axis - Failure
Y-axis - Success/Miracle
Scales
used
X-axis - 10% to
represent 1 unit
Y-axis - 20% to
represent 1 unit
As you can see from this
illustration above:
(i) When failure is at 10%, success is 20%
(ii) When failure is at 20%, success is 40%
(iii) When failure is at 30%, success is 60%
(iv) When failure is at 40%, success is 80%
As failure above increases,
success also increases.
Permit me to say that failure
is always the fastest or quickest means to success. And it is also a
determinant factor to success or miracle.
No wonder St. Paul says:
“And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans
8: 28).
For we are assured, we know
undoubtedly, for we are not guessing and it is neither under speculations nor
assumptions, that every dismal situation or condition that a child of God is
passing through is always a “Red Sea” to his “Promised Land”. Every stumbling
block on his road is always a stepping-stone to his success. It means that God
almighty is always and blissfully aware of every storm you are passing through
and He is passing through the storm along side with you.
Take for instance the
Israelites. They wandered for years in the wilderness before they could locate
and enter into their promised land. Consequently, any dismal situation a child
of God is passing through is working together for his own good or success.
Those failures, misfortunes, adversities, disappointments, unpleasant
circumstances, witches, wizards, secret societies, shrine, native doctors,
herbalists, are working together for your own good. Their activities, works,
deeds and conducts, against you on earth must certainly and ultimately
contribute extensively to your success both on earth and on your race to make
heaven. That is why you must rejoice despite the dismal situation because you
are more than a conqueror.
Take a lesson from Paul and
Silas on how to overcome dismal situations. Paul and Silas were the apostles
that passed through severe punishment that they did not commit. They bore the
pains of injustice and assault. They were whipped and imprisoned. They were brutalized,
tortured, maimed and whipped with rod for no just cause. But what they did that marveled me was their receptive attitudes and adaptive features to their
present calamity.
They did not go about shouting
‘God, why me?’ Or ‘God, what did I do wrong to merit this calamity?’ They did
not say ‘as a matter of fact, we will not go on evangelism to this particular
city again. We will choose where to go to preach the Word of God this time
around’. They did not start to regret why they were born again Christians. They
did not blame any person to what happened to them. Neither were they sleeping
not nursing their pains in the prison. But rather, they were praying and
singing praises and hymns unto the Lord and the prisoners were listening. They
knew that since they are serving only true God and were not worshipping any
idol or any other god, that the Almighty God must answer them. They are just
like singing:
Unto
thee Oh Lord, do I lift up my soul
Never
let me down and
Let
not my enemies triumph over me”
(Psalm
25: 1 – 2)
They did not stop praying and
singing praises and hymns unto the Lord despite their weak and painful body because
they were aware of this power given to them.
The Bible says:
“And
At Midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners
heard them and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations
of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened, and
everyone’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16 : 25 – 26)
It is apparent that praises,
Hymns and prayers combined can open widely the doors for the captives or
prisoners. This fact is indisputable. I am a living witness to this particular
type of testimony. One day in the year 1994, we were picked by the Nigeria
Police force (NPF) and were conveyed to a Police Station, at Lagos. In the
cell, there was an inmate who had been languishing for more than four months.
Nobody comes to see him. He was unable to contact his people. Several messages
he sent to them were unanswered and that became a problem to him. I picked
particular interest in this inmate because he was always crying for help. When
I asked him, he began to tell me these stories.
Actually what he committed
does not worth such long detention. But guess what happened. At midnight, this
unbeliever was crying, praying and singing hymns and praises, to the extent
that I was touched in my spirit and I began to pity him because not only was he
an inmate but he was seriously infected with sexual disease (Urinating blood from
his male organ). I stayed only two days in that particular cell but I saw what
touched my life. Do you know that some people can be killed in the police
station at midnight if not for anything, since nobody comes for you showed that
you are an ‘Area boy or armed robber’,
as a matter of fact, deserved not to live. But guess what happened, to my
greatest surprise, after his midnight prayer, praises and hymns, in the morning
the first voice he heard was a police officer that called his name. Told him to
pack out from the cell and opened the door for him. The young man jumped up and
made a joyful noise unto the Lord. Note: He was not bailed out by anybody, he
was quietly released. That was the first day I knew that the Nigerian Police
could release somebody without bail even without asking for money.
If God can do this kind of
miracle for an unbeliever; what of you a born again Christian? Do you think God
cannot open your doors and break all the chains of captivity on you? Some
people are in the captivity of poverty. Some are in the captivity of
childlessness or barrenness. Are you in the captivity of satanic attack and harassment?
Are you in the captivity of ill health? Are you in the captivity of exam
failure? When you did not fail, you will not see your result until the
universities of your choice finished admitting students. Are you in the
captivity of consistent accident whether at home or on the road? Are you in the
captivity of armed robbery attack or 419? As a matter of fact, whenever you
bought a new handset, they will collect it from you. Some people, their problem
is that they have been working for years without promotion. Some have traded
for years without any tangible profit, only moving from one big story to
another; and from one kind of business to another. Some young men have money
but they couldn’t find wife. And some ladies were at their old age yet no husband.
Sometimes, when married they will not have children on time. These are
problems.
The summary of all these
problems is: a failure is a failure, what happened or how he failed does not
count.
Therefore, you need to be
delivered from the captivity and oppression of the enemies and demons. Only
what you need now is enigmatic open doors and release from the chains that have
entangled you.
That is why you should not
stop praying and singing praises and hymns consistently unto the Lord despite
the dismal situation or circumstances, in order to propel down the anointing
and vibrating power of the Holy Ghost that can induce deliverance and open doors
in your life.
Jesus says:
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’’(Matthew 28:19-20)
Mark this phrase: And
lo I am with you always (not some times or days), even unto the end of the world. But the
question is, “Are You Aware of This Power?”
“And these
signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils;
they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick,
and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
Go you into the entire world and preach the gospel to
every creature is a command for all believers. Note that if there is no power
given unto them, Jesus Christ couldn’t have commanded them to do so. And if you
are aware of this power given to you, you must exercise and demonstrate it
sometimes even where it is not necessary.
There is immunity given unto you as a child of God. Therefore you are
untouchable and no weapon of the enemies fashioned against you shall prosper (Isaiah
54:17) because you are the anointed of the Lord. God said to Satan: “Touch not mine anointed, and do my
prophets no harm” (Psalms 105:15)
You are the apple of God’s eyes.
But, are you aware of this power? And if you are aware
of it, what were you doing with your own? Jesus Christ answered and said unto
Simon peter,
“Blessed art
thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.
And I will
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17-19)
Keys are a symbol of authority or power and it is not
only given to Peter and the disciples but to as many as received Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior.
David was aware of this power that was why he said:
“Thy servant
slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as
one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said
moreover, the lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the
paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine,’’ (1 Samuel
17:36-37)
Then said David to the Philistine, thou comest
to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in
the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast
defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand: and I will smite
thee, and take thine head from thee ;...( 1 Samuel 17:45-46)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were aware of this
power and that was why they answered and said to the King:
“O Nebuchadnezzar,
we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver
us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, 0 king that we
will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
(Daniel 3: 16-18)
Daniel was aware of this power and that was why he
told Melzar whom the Prince of the eunuchs had set over them that he don’t want
to defile himself with kings food and drink.
“But Daniel
purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the
king’s meat, or with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the
prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Dan. 1:8)
Joseph was aware of this power and that was why he
refused to sleep with Potiphar’s wife.
“And it came
to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph;
and she said, lie with me. but he refused, and said unto his master’s wife,
behold, my master wotteth (knows) not what is with me in the house; and he hath
committed all that he hath to my hand; there is none greater in this house than
I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his
wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen.39:7-9)