Tag Archives: Encouragement

February 23, 2022 · 10:04 pm

STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

Recently, I had to go through a test that involved riding a bicycle for 6 minutes at different speeds to generate power. I started with an initial target of 60 Watts and ended at 145 Watts. It was very easy at the beginning as I had full energy and the required effort was not much. As it got harder, my energy waned, the required effort increased but I needed to complete the task. During the last 30 seconds, I almost gave up. The assessor had to count down for me. As he got closer to zero, I managed to pull together a burst of energy to make it to the end. When I almost quit, the countdown from the assessor and his reassurance somehow gave me the courage to persevere to the end. It didn’t matter that my legs were quaking at the end, what was important was that I didn’t give up. I made it!

The first chapter of Joshua has 18 verses and the phrase “Be strong and courageous” appears in 4 of those verses. 3 times God used this phrase to charge Joshua and the last time, it was the response of the people to his ‘commencement’ speech as they prepared to go into Canaan.

This same Joshua was one of the 12 secret agents that saw the giants in the land and had the temerity to bring back good news to the people, telling them that they could take over the land even though they were indeed minuscule when compared to the size of the giants. Even when 10 of them rationalized and buckled. Before then, Joshua had passed through intense mentoring and internship in the school of Moses. He had both theoretical and practical experience. Also, Moses had deposited a measure of the Spirit in him by laying hands on him. Yet, when it was time to lead the people into the land of their promise, God felt he needed this charge. Why?

Moses had put his hands on Joshua and appointed him to be the new leader. Then Joshua, son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom. So, the Israelites began to obey Joshua, and they did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Deuteronomy 34:9

Joshua had the commission to lead the people, the people had the promise that they would inherit the land. God’s promises are sure and steadfast, but it did not mean that there would be no obstacles and hurdles along the way. For God to repeat that phrase multiple times suggests that in spite of the anointing, Joshua’s work experience and the foundation of God’s infallible promise, some of those obstacles had the power to initiate the thoughts of quitting in his mind. If he gave enough thought to the obstacles instead of fixing his mind on the promise, nothing would have stopped him from giving up on the way. That would have made the people to miss the bounty that God promised them.

Joshua went, saw and conquered. The promise of God did not remove the giants that they had seen during their reconnaissance visit. They still had to fight and overcome them. He held on to God’s promise and the charge to be strong and courageous. He led the people to their inheritance. He has left the stage and we are on the scene now. As sure as the rising of the sun each day, we will face our own giants. Reasons to doubt the efficacy of God’s promise will abound. We will get to the brink. When those storms arise, we have the same charge and promise. Indeed, we have more than enough promises to keep us going in the Bible. If He did it for Joshua, He is able to do it for us as long as we remain strong and courageous, fixing our eyes on Him and His word.

Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (CEV)

Image credit: Blue Pea Pod

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January 1, 2021 · 9:19 pm

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

Some of the best memories that I have and the best friends that I have kept so far were made between 1990 and 1995 in a remote village in Niger State, Nigeria. Those were my secondary school years. Those days bring loads of smiles to my face and I still catch myself singing the anthem of my school often and of course I’m still in touch with most of my classmates and some teachers.

No matter how much I enjoyed those days, I had to move on in June 1995. I had to take my eyes off the rear-view mirror, move on to University and also move on from there when my days for that phase were completed.

Sometimes, what we see in the rear-view mirror may not be as pleasant as my secondary school experience. The road to where we are coming from may be awash with pain and losses, but we have to keep moving, as long as we are still living.

No matter how bitter or how sweet our past experiences may be, we cannot afford to chain ourselves to those experiences. Paul captured it perfectly in Philippians 3:12 – 14

I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfil and wants me to discover. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however, I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.

My fingers have been burnt multiple times in different aspects of life. I will not wrap my fingers in bandage and refuse to do anything because of fear of being burnt again. Instead, I will heal and learn from the experience and ensure I don’t get burnt in the same way again.

During some of the low ‘valley moments’ that we experience, we may not be able to see beyond the boundaries of where we are. In such times, I believe the best counsel is for us to put our hands in God’s hands and let him lead us, one step at a time. Most times, we may not be aware of the end game, just like Joseph was not aware that he was going to eventually rub shoulders with royalty when he was sold by his brothers. He lived his life glorifying God, one day at a time, bearing no grudges as he moved along. Reaching new heights as a servant and a prisoner before he eventually got to the palace. He never let the bad moments drive him to despair, laziness or mediocrity. He always showed up.

We also have a few examples of people that were too attached to their rear-view mirrors and they didn’t go too far that way. Lot’s wife is one example. Another example is the group of Israelites that left Egypt for the Promised Land. Over 600,000 men with their families left Egypt. Sadly, only 2 of those men made it to the Promised Land. Many times, they got offended at God because they compared their experiences on the trail to the ‘luxury’ they had in Egypt 

We are at the beginning of a new year – 2021. No matter the cards we were dealt by 2020, we have to move on. We will not make any progress if our vision of the future is constrained by the lens of 2020 stuck to our eyes. The year may have been great. The year may have been ‘ungreat’. It is time to take our eyes off the rear-view mirror and steady ourselves on the forward journey. We have to show up every day, pray, have faith and put our best feet forward in whatever our hands find to do. The same way the Lord was with Joseph as well as the 3 Hebrew boys, He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Go through each day with this assurance in mind. God will go with you.

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April 25, 2016 · 9:11 pm

IN RETROSPECT

A while ago, I was going down memory lane with a few friends that I have come a long way with. Having known each other for almost 20 years, we reminisced about the days when we had little or nothing to call our own. We collectively shared the little that anyone had and no one complained about the proportion of individual contributions. The common denominator was that we were all students and we were all Christians. We talked about the years immediately after graduation, remembering how we walked long distances not because we wanted to exercise, but because we could not afford the transport fare. We also survived on meager rations and lived in shared accommodation, all in our bid to become independent men. Looking back at those years together, we all came to one conclusion: God has been good.

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With those memories safely in the recesses of our hearts, we can always look back at how we overcame with God’s help and develop an unshakeable resolve that the same God who has not changed will always come through in whatever present challenge we may have. Little wonder the Israelites were always commanded to tell their Children of their past victories:

Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’  And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.                     Exodus 12: 26 – 27 (NLT)

In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’ “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people.  He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors.                               Deuteronomy 6: 20 – 23 (NLT)

We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”                                            Joshua 4 : 6 – 7 (NLT)

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Challenges will always come our way; however meditating on the problems will only magnify the problems at the expense of our faith. When next the feeling of being overwhelmed by the challenges of life comes, just take a thought down the memory lane and like the ageless song goes, it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Strive to keep the memories of those past victories ever fresh on your mind and

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February 9, 2014 · 2:45 pm

But Why Me?

I was driving around recently and my attention was caught by a funny mother-son scene playing out in my neighbourhood. I thought to myself: “I have definitely seen this before and I have acted this scene before”.  The mother got out of the car and released her toddler son from the shackles of the seat belt. She went to the other side of the car to attend to another infant and then without warning, the toddler took off.  With the infant in hand, she gave the toddler a chase and after some lengthy dribbling, she eventually caught up with the little one.

I have been involved in this sort of chase more than a couple of times and the temptation is always there in the heat of it all to think that other parents don’t have this kind of worry and that the case is peculiar to me and my kids. Anger and clouded vision created by the circumstances in which we find ourselves have a way of magnifying situations beyond what they actually are. We are often tricked into believing that we personify the term ‘long suffering’, and we involuntarily forget that the scriptures say that there is nothing new under the sun. Those questions that don’t have answers flood our minds: “Why is my own case different?”, “God what did I do to deserve this punishment?”, “When will I become like my mates?”,  “God Why…?”

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It’s not unusual to be overwhelmed by situations around us, but we can count on God to keep His promise, made in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT):

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Many more of these promises exist in the Bible and it is our duty to search them out.  They are there because our Father loves us. He loves us so much that He will not just sit by and watch us grapple with pain and anguish. Put your arm in His arm and let Him lead. He knows how to take care of what belongs to him.

What’s the storm you are passing through right now? Be encouraged! God is on your side if you abide in Him.

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March 25, 2013 · 3:37 pm

Talk is Cheap!

‘Talk is cheap!’

I’ve heard this cliché used in several places and I’m sure I’ve used it more than once too. I was in a meeting recently and the speaker made some comments that painted a picture of this cliché in the church. He said that the easiest thing we do when one of us falls into sin is to spread the news, pass judgment and cast aspersion.

This is so true, especially in our social network generation, ‘gist’ travels faster than the speed of light. You will hear comments like: “How could he stoop so low to do that?”, “He is a disgrace to the Kingdom of God”, “I thought as much! I have been suspecting him since.” These comments come out easily from us and they do more harm than good, both to the person involved and to the church.

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More often than not, the ‘accused’ persons end up spiritually lost. The world does not accept them and the church treats them as lepers, depression sets in and they go on a downward spiral. The outcome would be the opposite if we could decide to follow the advice of Paul in Galatians 6: 1-3

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.

If we actually sit back and think about how God forgives us each time we fall into sin; how He welcomes us back with open arms like the father of the prodigal son, we would realize that we owe it as a debt to help restore anyone that missteps. The least we can do is to pray for the person and not help in spreading the story of the ‘fall’. If we stand, we only stand by God’s grace.

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November 11, 2012 · 5:12 pm

Chasing The Sunset

Recently, I have taken to a favourite past time of chasing the sunset. Each evening, I drive around looking for the perfect location for a perfect shot of the setting sun. It’s always such a wonderful sight to behold as the sun goes to sleep behind the clouds. It doesn’t always end on that positive note. Sometimes, I end up chasing the wind and getting no shots.

One thing I have found out in my quest is that every sunset has its peculiar DNA. No two sunsets are the same. The sun’s sleeping time is different each day. The sunset location is different and the ambience is different. If I set up at the scene of the picture-perfect shot from the previous day, I’ll be met with disappointment, because the sun in its wisdom would have found another resting place and the cloud profile will obviously be different. No matter when and where it chooses to happen, one sure thing is that the sun will always set each evening. There is no contention about this fact. I’m pretty sure that this applies to the sunrise as well. I’ve never had the luxury of seeing the sun rouse from sleep.

This phenomenon is analogous to the different paths that we follow in life. The easiest natural thing to do is to expect a life synchronised with a pre-conceived pattern. Somewhere in the recesses of our mind, we have already determined the time and location of the sunset. We have decided when we’ll graduate from school, get employed, get married, have kids and go on that dream holiday. We often start to lose sleep, when things don’t turn out as expected. We forget that even for identical twins, the stories don’t quite end on the same page.

Somehow, we manage to forget that we serve a faithful God, who created a highway in the Red Sea for His Children to pass through and made sure they never went to bed hungry every day for forty years. He made Abraham and Sarah parents in an illogical way. He sent a raven to deliver food to Elijah as he was hiding by the brook. In answer to Elijah’s prayers, He sent down fire to consume the sacrifice and He held up the rains for three and half years. Joshua prayed and the sun stood still, till the battle was over. What a mighty God we serve!

No matter how your sunsets are shuffled and everything seems out of place. You may have missed all your set targets. In all things, always remember that God promised to give you an expected end. As long as the sun rises each day, there will always be a sunset and God is too faithful to forsake you. Hold on to His unflinching promises.

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