Psalm 40:1~4 “I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” NKJV

Many a times Christians encounter very difficult situations and circumstances and sometimes they wonder if God still remembers that they are living. The psalmist found himself in such a situation and out of personal experience he advises us to wait patiently for the Lord.

Our God is not deaf, but He wants us to develop patience because the same shows maturity of our testimony and faith in the great works of the Lord. Some situations demand an answer yesterday and not today, I know that when such situations arise, Christians start having doubts whether their prayers were heard or not.

This psalmist was in a bad shape, he was in a situation that he could extract himself from, whenever he thought that he was making progress, he always found himself slipping back to the same situation he was trying to get out of, whatever his situation was, it is evident that he had no ability to get himself out of it.

Like the psalmist, we constantly find ourselves entrenched in habits that we can not later on free ourselves from. A drunk mostly starts it as a social activity which he comfortably thinks he can quit at will. After some time the habit continues to gain roots until he cannot extract himself from it; a smoker might start it to please peers or to conform to a group of peers. This includes both legitimate and illegitimate substances which slowly continue to take control and eventually ruin lives.

It is under such circumstance that everybody needs somebody who is stronger and more powerful to remove them out of such horrible situations. Our God is God who loves His people so much that He could not hold His peace while seeing them self-destruct but He sought a solution for the whole mess once and for all.

No matter how far we think we have gone, He is always ready and willing to help us to have a resounding comeback in life as long as we are willing to forgo every binding habit or condition that is holding us back; the only hindrance is ourselves and not God. Whenever we let ourselves be controlled by our thoughts and our ways.

Isaiah 55: 7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” NKJV

All the conditions and situations are always governed by their own principles; these principles hold people of God back from making meaningful progress in making good of their exit from their strong tentacles. God says that as long as we are bound by these principles we cannot be saved; it is therefore imperative that we forsake our thoughts and our ways because as long as we hold back to our understanding we cannot be helped.

Some of these are the believes that we can control our smoking, drinking, injecting drugs and many other nasty habits that we constantly find ourselves held by. The truth is that we can’t and we require God’s help and the only way to receive this is by forsaking our knowledge and let Him guide us and pardon us by His mercies which are everlasting. The examples used are not exhaustive but only used as examples, everybody’s circumstances are varied but no matter how varied the solution is the same.

John 3:16, 17 ^“”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” NKJV

This is what I meant when I said that we need to embrace God’s offered love and we will be able to successfully come out of all bondages of this world. It is only by the help and love of God that you and I can live meaningful lives that please our Master. The purpose of God’s Son is to bring salvation and not to condemn the world, He came so that all can have life and life in abundance, that is to all those that are willing to wait upon His everlasting love.

Day and night the Word is forsake your thoughts and your ways and wait upon the Lord for deliverance because He sent His only Son to bring salvation and eternal life. Meditate upon this Word and let God take control of your life and you will have less worries, disappointments and heartaches. I know that surrender is not a very popular word but it is the only way to let God help you in whatever situation you are going through, waiting without surrendering is meaningless. God bless you.

This devotional was written by Bishop Joseph Koburu Mukiira of Maximum Victory and Joy Worship Centre Nairobi–Kenya and brought to you courtesy of Journey 2 Joy International Ministries Inc. USA

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