Impossibility specialist, He will cause nature to work in your favour

King Ahab and his godless wife Jezebel turned the Israelites into idol worship. Scripture confirms that, “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him” (1 Kings 16:30). God has warned His people not to serve any other God apart from him. The acts of Ahab and Jezebel were known by all. “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). Literally, the prophet declared a famine in the land. The prophet was also affected by the same famine. The famine was not just in the house of the wicked king and his wife but even the righteous people in the land experienced it. Imagine suffering from a famine that came about because of your zeal for the Lord. 

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (1 Kings 17:6)

Elijah’s life was in danger because of his prophecy. 1 Kings 17: 2-4 states that the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” Elijah did as God commanded and he enjoyed the food sent by the ravens until the brook dried and the Lord directed him to a widow. The story of Elijah and the ravens teaches us about God’s provision. Sometimes, in our zeal for the Lord, we tend to go through challenges and persecution. Daniel faced a similar situation. He defied the king’s order and prayed to God and that caused him to be taken to the lions’ den. Even in the den, God sustained him and the lions who in previous times had manhandled others, had their mouths shut. The three Hebrew men (Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego) refused to bow down to an idol; their action took them to the fiery furnace. But, God defied nature by turning the fiery furnace into an air-conditioned room. They were neither harmed, nor did their clothes smell of smoke.

God is able to make the elements of nature: animals, sun, moon, stars, rain etc. to be in our favour. The sun stood still for Joshua and Israel until they won the battle with the Amorites. 
“On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!” (Joshua 10:12‭-‬14).

Whenever we are in doubt of God’s grace and provision, we remember that ravens fed Elijah, lions had their mouths shut, fiery furnance became airconditioned room and the sun stood still. Life can be full of challenges but we need to know that we are children of the impossibility Specialist. Even when there seems to be no way, He can cause creation to work in our favour. Surely,  God is good, and He will definitely provide

Look at the heavens, Come to Him and be satisfied

Have you ever felt extremely thirsty and yet you did not have access to water? What did you do when you finally found something to quench your thirst? I guess your answer is, “I drank and was satisfied.” Thirsting for water can be a daunting experience for people without access to it. Did you know that our souls can also thirst for the presence of God just like we desire to be satisfied when we are thirty? In Isaiah 55, God gives an invitation to the people to come to Him and have their spiritual emptiness filled by His provision. The clarion call is popular in evangelistic messages:
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.” (Isaiah 55:1‭-‬2)

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

How can God satisfy our spiritual hunger? The presence of God fills our hungry souls. In fact, human beings have insatiable needs and no politician can completely satisfy our souls. The emptiness in our lives can only be filled with the presence of God. How does God do that? First, we have the responsibility to seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near (Isaiah 55:6). God has a plan to dwell in humanity. He has made a way to abide in us. Through Jesus, we have a personal relationship with God. No matter how far we have gone from Him, God is ever willing to return to us when we seek Him. God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not ours. Why will God choose to forgive us our sins when we turn to Him? He loves us (John 3:16). If you are still struggling to comprehend God’s ways, look at the heavens. God says: 
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:8‭-‬11)

God’s love is so high that we cannot jump over it. He used the heavens, rain, snow, and planting to show us how His word nourishes and feeds us. Every word spoken by God will not return to God empty but will fulfill the purpose for which God sent that word. No matter how far we might have gone from God, He wants us to come to Him and He will satisfy our souls. What do we do when we return to Him? The word of God says: “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7)
When we return to God, He gives us reasons to rejoice. He promised the Israelites that when they return to Him, He will do this:
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” (Isaiah 55:12‭-‬13)

God used nature to reveal His desire to satisfy our souls. His love for us is higher than the mountains but we can only experience it when we come to Him. It is a personal decision and we have the sole responsibility to either accept or decline. 

Do not worry, look at the birds

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)
If worrying can prolong lifespans, humans would live for a very long time. Unfortunately, worrying excessively about everything can cause an early death. Worrying comes from fear of lack, fear of not being able to fulfill all your dreams, fear of missing out etc. In fact, fear is the mastermind of worry. If we replace fear with faith, we shall worry less. We live in unusual times and the average person is constantly exposed to news that causes one to be worried about something. After the world went on a relapse for almost 2 years because of the global pandemic, most of us expected life to be normal but it is not. Maybe the new normal is to navigate through life with all the things happening around us. As believers, these things should not be ‘new news’ because Jesus warned us to expect them (Matthew 24:3-31).

Life can be full of uncertainties but with God on our side, we can navigate through. Jesus’ sermon on the Mountain presents diverse issues of life. Jesus told the people that they should not worry. The message on “Do not worry is presented in Matthew 6: 25-31:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’”

Jesus used two creatures to teach why we shouldn’t worry; birds and flowers. According to Jesus, birds do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet God feeds them. Flowers do not labour or spin and yet they are more beautifully clothed than the rich king Solomon. If our heavenly Father cares for birds and plants, will He not care for us? It is good to make plans for food, water and raiment but if all hope is lost, we should know that our Father in heaven will provide. God provides through people, organizations, charities, churches etc. Instead of worrying, Jesus admonishes us to do the following:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33‭-‬34).

All ‘these things’ refer to those things/desires/needs etc. that cause us to worry in life. Instead of worrying about everything, let’s seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness and trust God to bring the provision. I pray that God opens uncommon doors for us and turns our worries into celebrations. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. 

Go to the ant and consider its ways!

Several years ago, my parents used to have a farm which was far away from the house. There was no means of transportation to the farm as at that time, so the journey to the farm was made by walking on a long path, on stones, stepping on a couple of anthills accidentally and crossing a little stream. As a child, the only motivation of going to the farm was the free view of beautiful vegetation and admiring other people who were also trekking to the farm. I specifically loved the anthills along the way and the busyness of the ants who dragged their food to their castle. The teamwork, the determination and the persistence of the ants were admirable. We lived in a tropical zone and the rainfalls were torrential rains that mostly caused the little stream along the way to the farm to flood. Humans struggled to cross the stream at its flood state but the ants would be in their anthill enjoying the food they had saved for the period. What does this teach us about life? 

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. (Proverbs 6:6‭-‬8)

First, the ants are not lazy, they invest in food for the future. While the weather is good and jolly, they work to store food. No ant is left out, the team of ants or an ant colony with queen(s), workers and male ants work together to ensure a good storage. No ant is aimless or lazy. There is orderliness and that is why their population never reduces. You may spray out a bunch of them today, but they will be around tomorrow. They don’t give up. Proverbs 6:6-8 admonished the sluggard or the lazy person to do this: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” Maybe you have accidentally stepped on and killed a couple of ants, maybe you care less about ants, maybe you hate them for taking over your home, maybe you are just not an ant person etc. Most of us are just like that, we would rather live an ant-free lives than to bother studying ants. However, we cannot miss this, the ants teach us about life.

When we understand that “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:10‭-‬11), we will make some important ant-steps to prepare for the future. For example, we engage in work to be able to take care of ourselves, help others and invest into the future. Ants are economical; they don’t consume all their food at a go, they invest the rest for the future. Ants are teamwork specialists; they know how to work together to achieve a definite goal. Ants have orderliness in their colony; they have the queen(s), the workers, the male ants etc. This structure helps them to achieve their goals of saving for the future and also ensures sustainability. Ants may all look alike, but none goes unnoticed. No ant hides under the guise that all of them look the same and avoid work. The anthill is for all the ants, no ant is homeless! No ant is poor, no ant is an orphan and no ant is different. All the ants work together to store their provisions in summer and gather food in the harvest.