Predetermined

“For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you the victory!” Deut.20:4 [TLB]

Years ago, a friend of mine came into the country and as he settled into his apartment, he noticed there was a football match on television. Communication back then was not as it is now. It was a match  between Nigeria and Brazil. And Brazil scored the first two goals and he started shouting at the players. In the second half, Nigeria scored their first goal and by the time Nigeria scored the second goal, he started shouting again. But he noticed that the whole neighborhood was not echoing it and he wondered why. Nigeria equalized, he jumped up, he carried his chair and shook it, and ran around the room. Then Nigeria scored the winning goal and my friend went berserk, ran to his neighbor’s flat, knocked on their door and asked if they were not watching the match. What match?, they asked. And he said the one between Nigeria and Brazil.  Are you not seeing this action? His neighbors laughed and said they played the match two days ago. The score is already determined!

The question to you is this, if my friend knew the final scores from the beginning, when Brazil scored their first and second goals would it have bothered him? When their third goal came would he have been under stress? When Nigeria began to score goals, he would just have smiled because he would have known that more goals were coming.

I am here to tell you the result upfront; victory is the outcome for us, in Jesus Name. So are you  going to be stressed because you are down by three points now? You should not because the match has just started. Calm down! What has made the difference? You already know the scores. “Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act!  Keep traveling steadily along His pathway and in due season He will honor you with every blessing…” Psalm 37:34 [LB’, emphasis added]. Make no mistake, God will help you but it will be on His timetable. So trust Him! And when the situation looks defeating, think of  God’s greatness. When the situation looks depressing, think about God’s goodness. And when the situation looks dark, think about the closeness of God.

Prayer: Father, in the Name of Jesus, I thank You for being closer than any brother. Thank You for the promise of Your Presence in every season, in Jesus name.