Under The Mighty Hand Of God

(1st Peter 5:6-7)

Recently, I had been praying earnestly and believing God for some things. I went on in faith with confidence everything would fall into place exactly. To my shock, I didn’t get what it was I was so confident about. I was so disappointed and became angry with God. I had prayed in faith and gone ahead planning that it was all going to be alright. Meanwhile, I didn’t know how to deal with my anger which I knew was a sin. After a while, I had to go back to God and confess my sin; also I asked Him to deal with the anger I didn’t know I had at the time. Equally important, I asked Him where I had gone wrong.

There were some things I learnt in that process which I would want to share under the following headings:

• The journey is as important as the destination.
• Humbling Ourselves Under His Mighty Hand

The Journey is as important as the destination

We as God’s children often see a desirable end and pray to God to bring us to this end. God however in His infinite wisdom has made the journey to reaching our desired end as important as the end itself. He says He knows the thoughts He has towards us,’For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.’ Jeremiah 29:11.

He also wants to bring us to our desired end, but He will use the process or the journey to prune us and shine the light of His Holy Spirit on the areas of our lives that need to be dealt with. For each person, it is different. With some people, it is anger, for some other people, it is impatience. The refiner’s fire will reveal the impurities in us on the way to perfecting us. God is as interested in this purification process as He is in giving us our desires. Indeed, He could give us our desires with a snap of His fingers. Therefore, as we ask for our hearts’ desires, the Lord will allow situations to come that will reveal what is in our hearts. He did it with Abraham and actually said He wanted to know all that was in his heart. The truth is nobody can claim he has victory over something until he has been tested on it. The purpose of the Lord, however is not just to ‘show us up’, He wants to take glory in our lives. He wants His children to show His nature and character, reflecting His glory and beauty.

You can ask yourself this question, Why does it seem at times that God takes us through a tortuous path? John 15:1-2 says, ‘I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit’.

Obviously, God will prune every child of His and it is because He knows He can make you more fruitful through the pruning.  Pruning is not a pleasant experience for the tree as it involves chopping off some parts. The parts being chopped off by the vine dresser or the farmer is the part that will do more harm than good. It is however necessary for its well being.

Humbling Ourselves Under His Mighty Hand

How should we respond at the times when we are disappointed after we have prayed in faith according to God’s word?

First we need to go back to God and ask questions like, “Is there something You are trying to teach me here, Lord? Do I lose hope in God at times like this and look for my own solutions?” Even while He has not done what we had asked, we need to confess whatever sin He has shown us and let Him guide us to the solution.

Often, when we have learnt what He wants us to learn and dealt with the sin revealed  in prayer, the desired answer(s) which we have been waiting for then come. It is then we begin to see our Father as He truly is and as described by Luke ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom’ Luke 12:32,

It is only through humility that we can accept that we are wrong, and indeed accept His ways as the right way. 1st Peter 5 verse 6 says, ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time’

Therefore, it is important to as quickly as is possible, jettison our ways and accept His ways, especially when our ways are contrary. Finally, in my own situation after the pruning process, I did get the answer to my request, even better than what I had expected. Praise God!

Remain blessed and highly favoured.
Titi Obishai (Mrs).