Never Forget

Psalm 89:^1-2 “I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.”

Have you experienced God’s faithfulness? The truth is that many of us have experienced God’s faithfulness at different levels. However, we go through challenges and those challenges try to make us see the enemy as bigger than our God. The reason some people do not stand is that they have submitted to the fact that what is before them is greater than Who is within them. But the converse is the case, the Word of God says in 1 John 4:⁴ “You are of God… and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (NKJV).

1 Kings 19:^3-4 “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors…” (emphasis added). Why did he have to pray to die? Jezebel wanted to kill him, why did he not just stay there and die? Why run all the way to the wilderness and sit down under a broom tree and say, ‘God kill me!’ If he really wanted to die, he should have just gone to Jezebel. This is not a prayer request Elijah.

Elijah had had enough. When we feel we have had enough, what we do speaks volumes. When we think we have had enough, heaven is saying there is only one thing to do and that is to STAND. Dig your heels in and stand, just stand. But Jezebel is coming, and she has threatened to kill me – stand! Why run to the wilderness then pray to die when they already want to kill you – just stand. Then you will discover that your life is not in anybody’s hands. Stand! When we feel like we have had enough, we make the same mistakes Elijah made. And the first thing we do most times is to run ourselves down. “I am not better than any of my ancestors…’

The second thing we do is that we shut people out. Elijah left his servant in Beersheba and ran to the wilderness, to a solitary place. Elijah wanted to shut his door, be alone, and throw a pity party with only one invited guest – himself. The third thing we tend to do, which is what Elijah did, is to focus on the negatives. When we think we have had enough at work, at home, in our marriages, and in our lives, we just tend to focus on the negative. The fourth thing Elijah did, and we tend to do when we think we have had enough is to forget God. Pause! Breathe and remember God’s faithfulness and thank God for what He has done in time past.

Prayer (Hymn): Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Amen!