Hi Friends,
It’s exactly three (3) months to the
end of the year 2014...Wow! Where have 3 quarters, 9 months , 39 weeks , 274
days, 6576 hours, 394,560 minutes and 23,673,600 seconds of year 2014 all gone? In spite of all the terror,
pestilence, bombings; we should be grateful to God for the gift of Life; we are
still here!
Quickly, I want to share
with us the story of 4 interesting young men in the bible. Their names weren't mentioned, but they were addressed by the pertinent situation of their lives- they were lepers.
It was a trying time for the city of Samaria; a difficult season of famine. It was so bad that the women were starting to boil their children for food as there was no food and the very few things available for sale were super expensive. God through His servant Elisha; spoke a word that by the next day, there was going to be a turn around and that was how the story and plight of the lepers came into light.
It was a trying time for the city of Samaria; a difficult season of famine. It was so bad that the women were starting to boil their children for food as there was no food and the very few things available for sale were super expensive. God through His servant Elisha; spoke a word that by the next day, there was going to be a turn around and that was how the story and plight of the lepers came into light.
2nd Kings 7: 3
Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of
the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other. 4“We
will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if
we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army.
If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have
died anyway.”
You see, we are all here at some point in time of
our lives; in the valley of decision. Things look so funny that it seems going
backwards is dangerous and moving forward could be catastrophic! But I tell you
from my experience and walk with God; there always, always will be a way out!These four guys had serious issues in their lives. First
and foremost they had a debilitating medical condition which made them outcasts
and unwanted in the society; they were some form of menace, an embarrassment to
their families and community at large.
Secondly they were dying; of hunger. Hunger by any
definition is not a friend of any human being or community. Hunger kills, it wipes
out communities and in their case, it made their lives worse off physically
and psychologically.
Thirdly, there was no motivation for the present
and no hope for the future. It was either they died of hunger or they moved ahead and are killed by the enemies. What a dire situation they found
themselves in.
Anyway, they did something; they moved they took a
risk, they ventured into a future unknown and a terrain unfamiliar……
5 So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when
they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there! 6For the Lord had
caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the
galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. “The king of
Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us!” they cried to
one another. 7So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their
tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives.
8When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one
tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and
gold and clothing and hid it. (
Alas it worked for them! Setting out
worked for them, making a change worked! Taking a leap of faith worked out and
their lives have just taken a turn for the best. The outcasts have suddenly
become the main-cast in the story of victory and restoration for Israel. They
had suddenly become heroes and yes, through them, the word of God as spoken by
the Prophet Elisha came to pass! The siege was over and the Israelites entered
into their possessions. From a position of abject lack, there was suddenly an
abundance of all just overnight! The
heavens were opened unto them.
9Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day
of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning,
some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the
people at the palace.”
10So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had
happened. “We went out to the Aramean camp,” they said, “and no one was there!
The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there
wasn’t a single person around!”11Then the gatekeepers shouted the news to the
people in the palace.
Friend,
that step you are refusing or hesitating to take might be all you need to enter
into the next phase of your life. It might be all you need to bring the heavens
rains upon you; it might just be all that is needed to make the words of
prophecy come to pass. Don't place God in a box by expecting Him to do things in familiar ways. That little nudge in your heart….Hmmn, what do you stand
to gain if you don’t take that step anyway?
I
leave you to ponder on this story again but remember......
Wishing
us a most glorious 4th quarter of year 2014.Peace!
Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour yet? If you don’t, then say the prayers Here.
The
Pen…..
Pictures credit: Culled from Google.
