In those days, the worst humiliating experience I had was in 1961 when, one day, I was cheering my college First Eleven soccer players, instead of being cheered by the spectators. That day, someone was playing on my wing because of the injury I sustained during a cup championship. Like a wild animal, I was moving around the four corners of the field, cheering our soccer players. I was also shouting at the person that stood in for me, especially, when he missed scoring opportunities I would have exploited, if I was there.
I continued all months, desiring the restoration of my health. One day, the injuries were healed and I started playing soccer again. This is how everything in life goes if we are patient in endurance. Yes, our pains will go and good things will be our portion. Let us wait patiently for it, not giving up, for God will manifest His blessings for us.
Joseph did not die as a house servant in Egypt, where he was sold. He did not die in prison also, when his master’s amorous wife framed false accusation against him for refusing to sleep with her. One day, his sufferings ended, as God lifted him up to be the Prime Minister of Egypt. We thank God that the boisterous wind that attacked the boat in which Jesus was, was forced to stop. It was Peter, who denied Jesus, but he repented of it. It was he, who was pointing fingers at the Jewish leaders for murdering Jesus, our Saviour. Of a truth, the Lord Jesus was crucified and buried, but He did not remain in the grave. It came to pass that He arose triumphantly from the dark grave. Ascending into Heaven, He declared, “All power in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me”. No one contested it.
It is possible for someone to have a ‘dry’ pocket. Financial illiquidity results often from recession in one’s business. Most of the richest men in Nigeria, if not all, had passed through this ugly tunnel at one time or the other. Today, they are in prosperity. It is possible for a lady to be single while her mates have become grandmothers. In some cases, one wonders what is causing the delay, since she may be beautiful, of good character and well educated. She may be a child of God, cherished by many Christian brothers, but none of them has made a marriage proposal to her. There are some brothers also, who have been receiving, all the time, a no response from sisters. One unexpected day, a wedding card is being distributed and it is the marriage of that sister or brother. Yes, the unusually long waiting has come to an end!
It is the same story in childbearing. Abraham was not spared of it. One day, the good news was in the air, Sarah, his wife, had given birth to Isaac. In my case, since the degree examination of my bride-to-be was coming up three months after our wedding, we did not want her to be pregnant at that time. After her degree examination, when we expected her to be pregnant immediately, it was not so. There was a delay for some time, and by the grace of God, we changed the situation by fasting, prayers and my ministration. Our first daughter and spouse did not have her babies until seven years after wedding. We called on our God, the God of the miraculous, and He answered and they were blessed with twins twice. In three years, God gave them four children. The agony of waiting for babies ended!
We can be misunderstood by people and it may lead even to false accusations. It is very painful where your good intension is misunderstood by those, who ought to know better. May it not bother you, as you remember that the Lord Jesus was not spared from the mud! On the resurrection morning, His victory carried the day.
Some wives have been rejected by their husbands and in the same way, some husbands have been rejected by their wives, because of submission to the Lord Jesus. My boss, who loved me much, turned it to bitter hatred when he saw that I had crossed the Rubicon in my faith. One day, my persecution stopped as I accepted the company’s new retirement proposal. The company even kept me on contract for six months on higher remuneration.
Whatever pains you may be passing through must come to an end one day. What evil benefits you are ‘enjoying’ now, in the same way, will come to an end one day. The story of the rich man and Lazarus, as narrated by the Lord Jesus, justifies this. On earth, Uncle was very rich in material possession and had no time for God. One day, he died and his situation changed. It was in hell that he found himself, a place of perpetual suffering. A man, who never bought ‘pure water’, even for his dogs, wanted a drop of water but was denied of it. All his luxurious lifestyle had ended!
Lazarus was poor in this world but rich in the things of God. One day he died and God’s angels carried him to Heaven, where he was sitting at Abraham’s bosom. He was no longer an unknown person, but had become so prominent that the rich man was pleading for a drop of water from him.
One of the greatest miracles in the Bible was the day people, including believers, heard Paul preaching the gospel. They wondered how he could, a persecutor of the saints! How would he, who had obtained the authority to arrest God’s people, and was on his way to Damascus to do it? For sure, his old life had gone and he had started a new life, the Jesus type of life, after his encounter with Him.
We learn a great lesson from this, never to give up on anybody. I laugh each time I remember, how a Christian brother was shouting, “Even this one”, when I was testifying about God’s goodness after my conversion. He never expected that I would be born-again but I was!
We must know that good things will come to pass, and know also why they will come to pass. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will abide forever,” Mt. 24:35. God is Omniscient, and so He knows the beginning and the end of every one and of everything, while we are limited in knowledge. His Words are immutable. It is to our advantage that we are dealing with such God. Think about it, if God, Who promises us eternal life, tells us at the end of life and time that it was a joke, and that He did not mean it!
Whatever good thing or circumstance God has promised you, please, believe me, it will come to pass, sooner or later, especially, if you are a child of God. Yes it will come to pass!
For further comments, Please contact: Osondu Anyalechi: 0909 041 9057; [email protected]