TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Wednesday 14th April 2021)
Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, rather than a fool in his folly.
Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house. Proverbs 17:12-13 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 104TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
God has been faithful and gracious to us. He has not given us to the will of our enemies or allowed us to be destroyed by our foolishness. Hence speaking to us yesterday about personal foolishness.
Personal foolishness is enough problem but living with someone who is leading you through their personal foolishness is much more of a problem. That is why when they say tow heads are better than one, I will say one good head is better than tow foolish heads.
The baptism of personal foolishness is the worst from of Baptism on earth. It makes a man not just a curse to himself but a curse to others. I want to urge you to return to yesterday’s devotional if you missed it. It was a destiny recovery devotional.
Today God has a word for us. But I want to begin by asking some questions! Have you ever wondered why people move from one persistent problem to another? spiritually, financially, physiologically, or in their marriages? Have you ever wondered why some lives just seem not to be free from problems?
In a sense, no man will ever be free from problems because we live in an imperfect world. That is why there are good problems and there are bad problems. Good problems are welcome but bad ones are not needed. Good problems are always attached to good things.
HOWEVER, TO BE MOVING FROM ONE BAD PROBLEM TO ANOTHER IS NOT THE WILL OF GOD FOR ANYONE.
Bad problems include sicknesses and diseases, poverty and lack, trouble marriages and destructive relationships, death and sorrows of death, and etc. When another man or woman takes over your marriage, it is a bad problem.
When you try moving on in life and you are not having headway, it is a bad problem. There are no few words to describe what bad problems are. We all know them. The world is actually plagued by bad problems. That is why we need the wisdom of God to lead our lives.
But good problems are different.
They are actually the challenges that are attached to a life of prosperity, sound health, right relationship with God, a peaceful and trouble free life on earth and etc. They are the challenge attached to living in a very beautiful place, maintaining bliss in marriage, or keeping productive relationships.
Good problems are sometimes considered the burden of God’s blessings in a man’s life.
For instance, when a woman is pregnant and she is going through the “problems” that are related to the development, it is s good problem. You do not pray against that. When a lady gets married and she need to stay awake some nights to keep her marriage blissful it is a good problem.
Marriages sometimes grow sour when spouses treat good problems as bad problems. Personal foolishness will make anyone treat a good problem like a bad one, resulting in them destroying their lives.
For instance, whoever works with me gets very good care but there is a problem. You must keep to standards that guarantees success. Some consider that a bad problem and go one to be saying all manner of nonsense about me to those who love listening to their gossips, but the wise sees it as a good problem.
Walking with a tough leader is a good problem that will protect and cause anyone’s future to blossom. But our generation of rebellious men and women do not understand.
SOMETIMES A GLORIOUS FUTURE IS DESTROYED WHEN WE SEE GOOD PROBLEMS AS BAD PROBLEMS.
I have seen men and women who destroyed their marriages by refusing to give their husbands the legitimate things they want in their relationships – food, sex, and comfort. Things they truly have but foolishness will not let them give them.
A God fearing man once told me that he had to use the Bible to convince his wife to submit herself for intimacy with him all the time before she does. The wife later confirmed it to me. She said there are seasons she hates being intimate and I marveled, because of how many marriages are being destroyed by the same act of personal foolishness.
Friend, is it not better to do what you hate in other to keep what you love?
Well, the result of her personal foolishness was terrible. The man started sleeping with her younger sister and even got her pregnant. This man is one of the most caring husbands I have met in my life. He treats his wife like a goddess, bathing her with beauty products to enhance her glowing skin. She is indeed beautiful to behold.
If you look at the couple, you will see that God indeed blessed that women with a husband, but her personal foolishness made her to see her good problem as a bad one, hence causing a crack in their marriage.
Friend, you must understand that Good problems are actually attached to all good things that happen to mankind on the face of the earth. If we treat them as bad problems, we will end up destroying the good things good is using them to protect or bring into our lives.
God use good problems to bring good things into our lives, and use good problem to protect those good things in our lives. It is a principle of the kingdom that we must understand and keep.
Ladies have destroyed their marriages for seeing cooking for their husbands, especially in odd hours, as a problem. My mum can cook anytime for my Dad! Others have destroyed their marriages by seeing submission in all things as a problem.
MEN HAVE ALSO DESTROYED THEIR LIVES FOR SEEING “LOVING A SUBMISSIVE WIFE ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURES” A PROBLEM
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Some have left Good men of God and forfeited blessings because of the responsibility or “problems” of having a good Pastor over your life. It is not easy to walk with the anointed of the LORD my friend; ask Elisha! The challenges must be seen as good problems for the reason God sent them your way to be accomplished.
There are also people who have departed from good wives, some from husbands because of the good problems that was attached to the relationship; or because of the responsibility of having and keeping such relationships.
Personally, I have come to discover that most Ladies, know how to manage bad husbands than good ones. They are gifted in putting up with bad men and lacking in wisdom to manage good ones.
That is why when God blesses them with good husbands they will maltreat and ill treat him until the men give up on them. The same is applicable to some men! They are good in putting up with manipulators and agents of Jezebel but cannot put up with gracious and kind women.
THIS IS AN EVIL I HAVE SEEN UNDER THE SUN.
If you have the wisdom to manage bad things and lack the wisdom to retain good ones, your life will never be free from troubles. Good things will always be going away from you!
Your life can move from glorious to inglorious, famous to infamous because of treading good problems as bad ones.
Yes, marriages can grow sour or break down completely, or finances disappear and bad things set in when we treat good people badly because of the challenge of having them in our lives. Good problems are sent to protect the good things of life. If you eliminate them, you have eliminated the good things they came with.
This season must be for us a season of dealing with all forms of personal foolishness, and opening up our hearts to divine wisdom. We need to ask the LORD for the wisdom to manage the good things of life. Sometimes we can be so concerned with managing the bad that we forget how to take care of the good.
A key highlight in our devotional text today says, “Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house”. It is easy to reward evil for good if you do not know how to manage the good. Persistent problems are actually caused by rewarding evil for good.
The woman I stated earlier who refused her husband the legitimate, rewarded evil for all the good the man had done for her and ended up planting two abominations in her house – adultery and her husband getting her sister pregnant. God did not design our planet to bless people who reward evil for the good done to them. That is why we must be careful.
For instance, if you forget people who took care of you when you were trying to succeed after you have succeeded, your success will one day breed worms and devour you. If you forget your parents who took care of you when they were in need, the Bible says your protection will be removed.
If you don’t reciprocate good deeds with good deeds, you will open a wide door for bad ones to be happening to you. That is what the wisdom of God teaches.
Learn to manage good things by making sure that you treat the problems attached to having them in such a way that you will not reward evil for good!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 17:15 NKJV