by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Hebrews 12:1-7

Might I also ask?

• Are you ready to give up in the face of challenges? We addressed the way out in our admonition yesterday. Don’t give up; look beyond your struggles to God’s appointed purpose, His word concerning your life. In Isaiah 55:8-12, mountains and hills which represent immobility and permanence are exhausting to climb, but in your prevailing, they become landmarks of victory, evoking testimonies of praise. Trees of the field, onlookers of the world who behold in silence your travails turn out with jubilant accolades when you triumph;
• Are you chaffing at not getting help from an expected source? Look to God the ultimate and beneficial supplier with no strings attached. The Psalmist in Psalm 121:1-3 outlines the place of assured help if you choose to turn to Him and Paul eloquently admonishes us in Philippians 4:6 on the same. Could you for once get rid of this false, ‘I can help myself’ stance and choose to be DEPENDENT on God and His promises!
• Are you interfering in God’s ordained process being worked out in another man’s life by your merciful snip that in reality is cruelty? I read of the story of a man who took home a cocoon so he could watch the emperor moth emerge. As the moth struggled through a tiny opening, the man enlarged it with a snip of his scissors. The moth emerged easily – but its wings were shrivelled. The struggle through the narrow opening is God’s way to force fluid from the body into the wings! The man’s help crippled the moth! Pray to God to guide you when compassion that does not interfere with life process has to kick in.

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 1 John 3:17

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:12-15

Selah.

Photo by Frankie Mish on Unsplash