Created To Endure

Isaiah 60:¹ “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” (NKJV)

God’s Word to us today is Arise and Shine. Why would God be telling us to arise and shine at such a time as this? Is that not counter-intuitive? However, I believe very strongly in my heart that God is speaking to you and to me and He is saying Arise and Shine. How? Like a tree. God likens His children, believers, to trees. Why? The first reason God likens us to a tree is, that He wants us to Think Long Term. God wants us to realize that we are long-term beings . Human life is short and human beings typically are short-sighted. However, it is not so for trees. There are trees alive today that were alive in the time of Moses. Unbelievable, right?

Trees live for hundreds and thousands of years. God wants us to realize that we are long-term beings, and He wants us to think long-term. When we make decisions, God wants us to think of eternity (long term) because we are long-term beings. Trees survive seasons; seasons come, and seasons go, but trees remain standing. So, God is saying you will flourish like the cedar of Lebanon. You will flourish like the ancient trees that last for centuries. Say Amen! And that is just so beautiful. When the season changes and becomes harsh for example, in places that have four seasons, when the season changes to winter, the tree can shed its leaves, but the tree will stand strong because it knows that winter will go, spring will come and summer will also come.

You may be in a challenging place right now, a harsh season, I want you to know that you are like a tree. The season will pass, and you will still be standing in the Name of Jesus. Why? It is because you are created to endure. Sadly, sometimes we make decisions based on myopic views and short-sightedness. Then later, it becomes a thing of, ‘I wish I had known’. How many times have you made decisions based on short-term pains or gains? The question to you is, what will your life look like now if you had thought long-term in days, months, and years past?

One of my spiritual sons was saying to me that when we did the series, ‘Thinking Clearly About Your Finances’, if he had been doing the things that we said we should be doing, he would have had an excess of eight million naira in cash today. But now he is struggling and trusting God.  The truth is, where you are right now is where you planned to be. You just did not know it but that is where you planned to be. Yet, this is not the end of the story. There is good news!

Prayer: Father, I arise and I shine for my light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon me, in Jesus Name. Amen!