Joyful Homes: Between our expectation and manifestation - Basic Storylines
By Funmi Komolafe
It’s a new month. The first day in the month of March. Let’s appreciate God for his goodness to us in the last two months even as we look forward to more of his blessings in the new month.
At whatever level we are, we surely want to move up. The rich wants to get richer, the barren wants to fruitful, the unemployed desires a job, the single hopes to get married, the sick wishes to be healed. Others want to be promoted from one position to another.
We can go on and on. Though our desires may be different, we all wish to go on to another level.
As human beings, we make efforts to attain our goals but some issues are clearly beyond us. With all that we may have put in, we just find that results aren’t anywhere close by.
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When situations like this occur, one needs to do a sober reflection on what to do to attain those goals.
As Christians, such situations put our faith to test. Let’s take a cue from the words of our Lord Jesus during a conversation with his disciples as recorded in Mark 11 vs. 22-24 “
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”.
Brethren, the period of waiting for the manifestation of our expectation is that of the test of our faith. When human efforts have failed, we need to turn to God who can do all things.
For instance for a couple that have been waiting on the Lord for children, who may have tried IVF, artificial insemination and other medical options, the solution is not to keep away from church or to be angry that God has not answered prayers.
Rather, it is the time to have a closer relationship with God.
While taking our case to God, we need to be equipped with his word. What does his word say about your situation? Do you know that there isn’t any situation that you are going through now that others have not gone through? Once you are able to convince yourself that a particular challenge didn’t begin with you, focus your mind on those who have overcome such challenges. Then begin to imagine your freedom from that challenge.
For a couple trusting God for children, they need to know what the Scripture says about bareness. Is bareness the will of God? Certainly not.
Psalm 113 vs. 9 states, “ He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord”.
If you believe that God can make the barren woman to be a joyful mother of children, then this should be your prayer point. You need to constantly remind the Lord in your prayer that he has promised to make you a joyful mother of children.
Deuteronomy 7 vs. 13&14 “ And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of they womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers give to thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle”.
Verse 12 gives us the conditions for the fulfillment of these words. It states: “ Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye harken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers”.
So, we see that we have a covenant of fruitfulness with our Father. It is therefore your duty to live according to his words and remain in touch with the Lord through prayers. Our prayer should remind him of his words even as we ask for mercy.
To access his mercy, we need to first acknowledge our sins some of which might be responsible for the challenges we are going through. Either this is the case or not, we need to ask for forgiveness of sins and ask for his mercy. One who does not acknowledge sin and repent may be far from obtaining mercy.
The Lord’s mercy overrides judgment for us. It is his mercy that gives us what we don’t deserve.
Brethren, let’s not down play the fact that sin could be a reason for barrenness and we are yet to find a medical practitioner that can cure sin.
While giving his laws to the children of Israel, they were warned to keep off sins that could lead to childlessness.
Leviticus 20 vs. 20&21 “ And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin: they shall die childless. And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing; he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless”.
You may say, I have done no such thing but the Holy Bible gives us another example in the home of King David. You are familiar with the story of how Michal, David’s wife and daughter of King Saul despised David for dancing for the Lord in public.
2nd Samuel 6 vs. 20, 21 &23: “
Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!
And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD”.
Verse 23 gives us the consequence of the sin she committed. “ Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death”. Brethren that will not be our portion in Jesus name.
As we wait on the Lord, we must do our best to stay away from sins and when we do commit sins, we must necessarily repent, ask the Lord for forgiveness and mercy.
Let’s as usual lift up a faith with this edited testimony published by Redemption Testimonies of RCCG.
The lady said she had been waiting on the Lord for the fruit of the womb for three years. She attended, one of the Holy Ghost Services during which Pastor Adeboye gave a word of knowledge which she claimed. Before then, she had four miscarriages. She took in but she had challenges. According to her, “ I had to undergo a caesarian operation to have my baby because she was on one spot.
I was a Muslim but after I accepted Jesus, I have been praying that I wanted to see Jesus. During the operation, my spirit travelled and when it was coming back to my body, I saw Jesus in the form of a shinning light and He said all will be well”.
She gave birth to a baby girl and both are healthy.
Let’s ask for the grace to keep away from sin and our expectation will manifest as testimonies in Jesus name.
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