Big Picture

Ps.23:³ “He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake” (NRSV).

Today, we will pick up from our closing thought from yesterday’s devotional which is that God will lead you in the right path for your life because of His character and His reputation. What an assurance! It is not because you can pray better than the next person, or because you can fast for long than the next person, it is because of God’s Name. “For your name sake” actually means in furtherance of God’s reputation and for the fame of God’s character; in other words, for God’s glory. God will lead you in the right path and make sure you do not miss it for His Name sake, for the of His reputation and the fame of His Character. It is so important that we get this.

It is for His Name sake, not for my name sake. David did not say, He leads me in the path of righteousness, in the right path for my name sake. The problem most times is we think it is about us. This is why we make statements like; “If I lose my job, what will my story be?” It is because you think it is about you. I used to think that way too. A lot of people are trapped in bad relationships because they are thinking, “If this relationship does not work out, what would people say, and they know I am a child of God?” “If my health does not improve, what will my testimony be, would that not mar my testimony?” “If my marriage hits the rocks, what will my story be, what will my testimony be?” It is a wrong way of thinking; God taught me this a long time ago. It is not about your story, it is about God’s glory.

Stop getting fixated in your story. Stop getting fixated on your testimony. It is about God’s glory. That is why God could tell a prophet to marry a prostitute; it is in the Bible. We gloss over the weight of these things sometimes. But imagine a prophet marrying a prostitute! He probably said, “Lord, that would be a bad testimony!” God says, “It has nothing to do with you, it is not about your story, it is about My glory”. I shared my story with you; I was serving, 1 I felt I was wasting my time in Northern Nigeria. All my colleagues were buying cars as youth-corpers, but I was waiting for government allowance. It was just a bad story and I felt it would end badly. Then I went for a conference in Jos, it was a really intense prayer session. At the conference, God said, “You are afraid that you would be a reproach?” I said, “Exactly!” God said, “If you become a reproach Femi, let the reproach be on Me!” In other words, if you become a shame, then shame on me. I immediately realized that I am just a part of God’s big picture.

Prayer [song]: Father [Jesus, Spirit], I adore You. I lay my life before You. How I love You. Amen!