Sunday, 14 July 2013

WHEN FEAR FAILS, FAITH WILL FLY!




(Do you know that your worries are the only warriors against your progress?!)
Back in Nigeria when I was much younger, there was this song we all grew up with and which most of us will still remember. It says:

Leave it for God
Don’t worry yourself
Leave it for God
Cry no more. Jesus is alive
Praise God, You can face tomorrow
He understands
What you are passing through today,
Let it defend his name

So many times in our lives, certain challenges, situations, needs, or circumstances will arise. As humans we will not stop thinking or bothering about them until they are ameliorated or solutions provided to them. Sometimes, these issues take such a toll on our minds, it literally reflects on our physical bodies. Some become emaciated, some depressed, and in some worst case scenarios, some go down with hypertension and even high blood pressure! 


One thing you my dear reader will agree with me is this – never in the history of this Earth has anyone solved a single issue or challenge by bothering. It has never been recorded that a situation came up, the manager started bothering then all of a sudden it stopped, NEVER! You notice that when big time organisations or employers are hiring for top managerial positions, a major quality they test their would-be employees is their ‘Problem Solving’ skill or ‘Managerial Quality’! 

Bothering, over-thinking and over-worrying have NEVER solved anything! They have NEVER solved any challenge! Rather they over-complicate them the more physically, mentally and even ‘materialistically’!
Now that we have established the fact that WORRYING & BOTHERING are useless, let me now let you in on a spiritual mystery I recently discovered by the guidance of the Spirit! Do you know that Worrying and Fear are spirits? Do you know that they are actually spirits from hell?! Did I hear a ‘NO’? Go to Romans 8:15a – 

“For ye have not received the SPIRIT of bondage again to FEAR”

and

2 Timothy 2:17 –

“For God hath not given us the SPIRIT of FEAR”

If you agree with me that any and every thing that happens in real-life transcends from the spiritual realm, and you agree with me that worrying and fear have caused both physical, health and mental harm to individuals, you will agree with me that these two are terrible spirits sent from the depths of hell, sent to restrict us from receiving our blessings, BUT, “we have overcome, by the blood of the Lamb!” 

Let’s go back in time… some 2,000 years ago when our Lord Jesus still walked on this planet in the flesh! There came a time when Jesus heard of the distasteful death of His fore-runner John ‘the Baptist’. He was so sad; He decided to take some time off from His work. He took a boat and went to another town. The crowds He was running from heard He was there then quickly organised themselves into boats and went to meet Him. Jesus been the compassionate saviour and messiah that He is decided to attend to their every needs – that was where He fed the 5,000 men (excluding women and children) with five loaves of bread and two fishes! Hours later He will escape overseas again! His disciples decided to take the next available boat and go wait for Him at the other side. Mid way their journey across the ocean, Master Jesus, Creator of the Universe, The One who sits in Heaven and uses the Earth as footstool, The One who parted the Red Sea and Israel walked on dry grounds, The Beginning and The End, The First and The Last, came walking to them, wait for it… ON WATER!!! As He approached, His most zealous disciple (Peter) shouted “Lord, if it is really you walking towards us on water, tell me to come and join you!”Jesus happily invited him over for a ‘walk on the sea’. Peter steadily climbed down the boat and glory to God; he too started to walk on water! He walked steadily at first, then faster towards Jesus. As he was approaching the Master, it was probably then it dawned on him that he was walking on water! He looked around, “Oh my God! What am I doing here?! O Lord! Who sent me message?! Which kind ‘oversabi’ be dis abeg?! Look at those huge waves! OMG! That big wave is coming straight at me! Gosh, look at the water under my feet! I can’t even see the end of this ocean! O lord why me! Why me!! WHY ME!!!”
 
IMMEDIATELY he began having these thoughts, worry set in. from worry it became fear and the Bible in Matthew 14:30 states that:

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”

Peter was very very okay until he saw the PROBLEM! While his eyes were on Jesus, he was walking on water, doing wonders. Immediately he turned to the ocean that was the end of his victorious sea-walk!
Dear reader, this should be a lesson to us! Honestly if you are to be yourself, you will agree with me that you have never achieved a thing by worrying. Not until you stood your ground, stood your ground and DID SOMETHING did the solutions come! Guys, girls, ladies and gentlemen, let us LOOK UP TO JESUS AND ONLY TO JESUS! Man will fail you! Your parents will fail you. Your friends will surely fail you, but there’s one man I can vouch for that will never fail you. He is JESUS CHRIST! Never you look to man for anything! Man is limited and constrained but Jesus and H;s father God Almighty are the makers of this world! He said in Jeremiah 32:27:

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: IS THERE ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR ME?”

He Himself reiterated this same word again in Matthew 19:26 where He said:

“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.”

My friend, it was when Peter turned his eyes away from Jesus and decided to focus (worry, bother) on his problems, before those problems had power over him. Please have FAITH, turn your focus away from problems right now and look to Jesus, ‘the AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF YOUR FAITH!’ LOOK TO JESUS!!!

One time, Jesus went to His own hometown to teach. His own people turned their focus from his being the messiah to him being the child of a carpenter they once knew! That was the end! In the whole of the Bible, it was only in this place that it is recorded that He did not perform many miracles! Check it out in Matthew 13:58
“And He did not do many miracles there because of their UNBELIEF.”

Because of their FAITHLESSNESS, even Jesus could not do much! This goes to show how much the frame of our minds matter when we’re expecting God to perform a miracle in our lives. Worry and Fear are the greatest enemies of Faith and God functions only by Faith! 

Your worrying is what is holding you down! Cast all your burdens upon Jesus, have FAITH that He will solve them then leave the rest to Him. You will be shocked! 

I don’t know what’s bothering you right now, I really don’t want to know because ever since after this exposition, ever since I knew that my worries where the only warriors against my progress, I have decided against looking at them. I am right now looking at Jesus and He’s taking care of every single challenge in my life! Serve God like there is no challenge, in your very eyes; you will see them all melt off! 

Lastly, so you can be encouraged and know that this mystery is REAL, I will briefly tell you some great thing God recently did for me! I reside in the UK for now. In June we were all to be evicted from my hostel as our contracts had expired. I had nowhere to go and I had not even made preparations for another accommodation. The reality of this development hit me when I saw everyone packing and moving. It hit even harder when one day I came back from an outing and my whole floor was cleared. There was no one left. I was expected to move out Monday of the next week, the day was Friday! I just said a simple word of prayer “Lord, please calm this storm of life for me, in Jesus name!” Long story short, I was supernaturally given an additional week’s stay. God was not done. The manager of our hostel called me and told me that I could stay in the room a month free! Next they were to move us to another housing facility as they wanted to renovate the one I was in. I didn’t like the new one I was given as I had to share toilet and bathroom with 6 other people! I went back to my Father! This time He doubled the miracle. The manager called me and told me “Femi, you can keep the keys of your former room. You can still use that one if you like coupled with the new room. And you can stay till September RENT FREE!!!” HALLELUJAH!
When I told people, it was almost hard to believe until my friends came and saw me living like a Landlord in my hostel! I have two rooms now and the best part is - they’re both FREE for me for the next two months!!! This does not happen anywhere in the world, talk less of the UK! NO ONE could have done this for me but JESUS!!!

My brother and my sister, YOUR WORRIES ARE THE WARRIORS AGAINST YOUR PROGRESS!

Leave that problem alone! FORGET ABOUT IT! 

Turn to Jesus! TURN TO JESUS!! TURN TO JESUS!!!!!!!!! 

I'll leave you with the wonderful song by Don Moen - 'Trust In The Lord': 
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SHALOM!  

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