By Pastor William Y. K. Brown Ph.D
(Resident Pastor)
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Osu-Bethel.
Tel: 0244165628/0243310773.
wykbrown@gmail.com
FRIDAY
THEME: HOW DO YOU ANSWER GOD IN YOUR DESPERATION?
SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 32:17,27
“[17]‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. [27]“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
REFLECTIONS
When disturbing challenges have overstretched you, and you seem to doubt how God can change the tide and bring you relief and smile promptly, pause and think about the One you are relating with. You can be confused about how God will deal with your peculiar situation because you remain human and finite. To cause you to look beyond yourself to avoid human limitations, God gives you a direct question to answer: He states, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” What is your answer to God on this question?
Suppose you have waited on God for too long. You have prayed for months and years and claimed all possible promises in the Bible, and still, nothing seems to go in your favor; how would you answer God? Has there been any ray of hope – a bright day among gloomy days? Even as you whine and pine, remember you still have life – something you have no control over. As you remain overwhelmed by negative occurrences, delayed answers to your supplications, and tempted to “curse God and die,” the Lord brings again to your attention: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” What is your honest answer?
Centuries earlier, God had asked Abraham and Sarah the same rhetorical question: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14). Sarah doubted a repeat of the promise of childbirth, which had been hinted several years back (Genesis 18:10-14; 15:2-6) and so God needed to draw attention to the reality that He is omnipotent and can do anything. Even the weeping prophet Jeremiah, despite all the trials and torture he had to endure, was convinced that nothing was too hard for the God He knew and served. Jeremiah attested with evidence: “‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” Jeremiah made God’s promise come alive.
Psalms 91:15 emphasizes God’s promise – “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” So, there will be troubles, but God will be with you and deliver you. For emphasis, God repeats the promise in Jeremiah 33:3 – “‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’” We are to call on God and learn to wait on Him. When we wait on God and keep busy, no time gets wasted, and every minute of actively waiting is precious and fits perfectly in God’s overall plans and schemes for your life. God does not delay in acting as we may think, but any seeming delay from the human perspective is God’s opportunity to prove a point. We cannot put God under pressure. He will always act when He should act because He is God. He will act as God should act, not as humans. While humans act by impulse and emotions, God moves by knowledge and laid-out principles.
Be patient and wait on God, for He acts according to His purpose and well-articulated plan and order. Zechariah 13:9 confirms that there may be troubles, but God’s plans will be fulfilled. “I will bring the one–third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people,’ And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” There is no doubt that refined silver, gold, or any metal is more valuable, precious, fortified, and enduring than in its raw form. But someone has to take the initiative to refine the silver. This person has a clear purpose and does not care how long it takes, provided the expected quality is obtained. From your testing experience, God will magnify your worth. When you have been refined through your test, you will attain an experience that, looking back, you can appreciate. May the Lord help you to be patient through your struggles and come out appreciative of God’s thoughts and actions.
MY SONG OF COMMITMENT
“When Upon Life’s Billows”
LET US PRAY
– Praise and thank God for His specific promises to meet your trials and needs; thank God as you count your blessings one by one; pray for a firm faith in the Lord and trust His promises;
– Pray for Christians, friends, family members, and acquaintances who have had to wait on God for seemingly too long; intercede on behalf of people who are determined to wait on God alone;
– Pray for victims of disaster, wars, and violence; pray for the spread of the good news and success of evangelistic campaigns that are ongoing;
– Pray for the peace and prosperity of the nation; pray for grieving families, the sick, the lonely, the unemployed, and starving families; pray for couples waiting on God for the gift of a baby child.
