TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 3RD MAY 2024)
“He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”
“As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.”
“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 124TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Glory be to the most High God who started a good thing in our lives at the beginning of this year, who has been building on it day after day, and have shown us that He will also finish it.
We thank God for insuring our lives with His word at the beginning of the year and for being with us up to this moment. We do not take any of His kindness in our lives for granted.
A lot has been happening in Kenya lately; the floods and the rains have been unprecedented. I have never seen this since the first day I stepped into this nation. Yesterday, we had to drive through floods out of the church, after our Bible school class.
I feel for all our members and other citizens of this nation who live in flood plains, and others who do not live there but are suffering due to this mishap. May the LORD send His comfort to everyone at this trying moment, especially to those who have lost their loved ones.
This is the moment for all to look unto our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, and draw survival grace from Him like never before.
We live in a very imperfect world, where mishaps like this are bound to happen. Some, due to nature, others due to human wickedness, recklessness, and carelessness. But God remains everyone’s present help in time of trouble, especially those whose lives are governed by Him.
No matter what is happening, this is the time to remain committed to the LORD. This is not the time to yield to any temptation of the moment and reduce our commitment to the LORD.
A major part of our Devotional text says;
“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6 NKJV
This is not just referring to the money we give to the LORD as faithful kingdom stewards, but a call to remain committed to the LORD in bad times and in good times.
IT IS OUR ABILITY TO REMAIN COMMITTED THAT SHOWS WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST.
The storms of life actually have a way of revealing who we are, and the realm of the Spirit or spirit we live our earthly days from. They have a way of either weakening us or strengthening us, it all depends on how we behave in the midst of them.
One of the many kingdom ways to behave in the midst of storms, is to fix your eyes on the eternal not on the storm. The Bible says,
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 KJV
The first verse of this scripture tells us how to describe any storm of life, or how to treat it, then it shows us what will come our way after the storm if we behave well within the storm.
It teaches us to diminish the storm by calling it “light affliction.”
Then it goes further to tell us what to expect after the storm, “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” However, none of that will be possible without us taking the faith position in the last verse of this scripture, in the midst of the storm.
In other words, the storm will never be diminished into a light affliction, neither will we be able to behave properly in the storm, and come to the place of a far more eternal weight of glory, if we do not stand the way that verse tells us to stand.
The verse tells us to focus on what is unseen and eternal in the midst of any storm. It tells us where to fix our minds and hearts. It discouraged the usual way of fixing our minds and hearts on the storm, and encouraged us to fix them in that which is unseen and eternal.
What is that which is unseen and eternal, that should take our attention when we are in the midst of any storm?
Let us look at the same scripture in another version. Maybe the LORD will help us understand. I will take it from verse 16 unlike where I took it from in the King James version that we read earlier.
THE CLASSIC EDITION OF THE AMPLIFIED VERSION PUT IT THIS WAY;
“ Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.
For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!], we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting”. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 AMPC
Let us back track a bit; verse 16 of this rendering tells us what should be happening to us, children of the Most high God, in the midst of any storm of life. It says our inward man should be experiencing renewal by the storm day by day.
It began by saying, “therefore we do not become discouraged, utterly spiritless, exhausted, wearied out of fear.” Meaning, faith in the midst of any storm is paramount. Jesus said to Peter, “I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail.”
If we lose our faith in the midst of a storm, we have lost the fight, and the storm will not renew our inward man day by day, as designed by the LORD. It will rather thrust us into the realm of becoming discouraged, utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out of fear.
Now, faith comes by hearing and seeing into the Spirit realm. For the faith that is required in the midst of a storm to be born in us, we must strive to fix our hearts and mind on things that are unseen and are eternal.
WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT THE BIBLE REFERS TO AS UNSEEN AND ETERNAL?
Let us begin with what the Bible says about what we might be seeing or experiencing in the midst of the storm. Which brings us to the last verse of that scripture again. The verse says;
We consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting”. 2 Corinthians 4:18 AMPC
The first part of this scripture reveals what can be considered as a verdict from God on all the storms we go through in life. It says they are brief and fleeting, that is if you look at them in God’s eyes.
If you look at them in your eyes, they will look lengthy and everlasting. In fact, you will think they will never come to an end.
The verdict of God in that scripture is what we should stand on when facing the storms of life. The verdict that says, the very things we might be seeing or experiencing in the storms are brief and fleeting (for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting).
Yes, we should add voice to the word, and look at what we might be going through and say, “You have not come to stay!! You are brief and fleeting. You have come to pass. You are temporal and not permanent.”
We are to keep saying that to the storm and to ourselves, over and over, until God’s manifest presence steps in and begins to show us the things that are coming after the storms.
Those are the things that the Bible says are unseen, invisible, deathless, or eternal.
They are unseen and invisible because they are coming from the unseen and invisible realm of the Spirit, and are eternal because they are coming from the eternal God who is our refuge.
If we do all the LORD has shared with is today when we face the storms and floods of life, we will come out better and victorious. We will not be part of those who faint in the day of adversity because we will have the strength to stand.
It’s a new Day for you in Jesus’ precious name. AMEN!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” Proverbs 24:10 AMPC