gracetidings:with dr doug mamvura
In these trying times, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit remain our anchor and the only credible source of strength and direction. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He is our very present help in times of need (Psalm 46:1).
God knows the end from the beginning. His timeless advice to us is “Be of good cheer”. Our victory is in Christ. The boat is not sinking, we will cross over.
Most of us are facing various challenges world over because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many people are in a panic state and some are living in perpetual fear.
God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.
Some people are even attributing this pandemic to God. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need to know the true nature of God. God is a loving Father and would never do such a terrible thing to His children. God took all His wrath on Jesus when He was nailed on the cross. He can’t punish us for the second time. Indeed, judgement will follow and this is after the second coming of Christ. God is not angry with us. Jesus paid the price.
Being born again doesn’t eliminate challenges, trials and tribulations in this fallen world. However, God promises to deliver us — “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). As a believer, you are the righteousness of God. He who knew no sin became sin so you would become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus Himself warned us that in this world, you would have trials and tribulations but “be of good cheer for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This confirms that all of us whether we are believers or not will at some stage in our lives face challenges.
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The Bible offers so many solutions to any believer who is facing challenges.
First Peter 5:7 – “Casting all your cares (all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns) once and for all” on Him, for He cares about you with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully).
It is very important to note that, the Bible says “once and for all”. Once you have cast them upon Him, there is no need for you to continue worrying about the same issues because you have cast them on Him. The moment you continue worrying, it means that you still have that burden and so how is God going to deal with it if you are still hanging on to it?
Peter tells us that He cares for you “watchfully and affectionately”. If you believe that, then there is no need for you to be anxious about anything because He cares.
Apostle Paul confirms the same thing in Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything (every circumstance and situation) by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make (specific) requests known to God. And the peace of God (that peace which reassures the heart, that peace) which transcends all understanding, (that peace which) stands guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (is yours)”.
The word “anxious” means “uneasy and apprehensive about an uncertain event or matter; worried”. This is a command for us not to be anxious about anything. How do we do that? This verse goes on to explain that we are supposed to take our needs and problems to the Lord in prayer. Anxious people are people who haven’t thrown their problems over on the Lord in prayer.
Notice that all our supplications are supposed to be made with thanksgiving. That’s very important. Sometimes people just tell the Lord all their problems and call that prayer. That’s complaining. But when we voice our needs to the Lord and wrap them in thanksgiving, that moves us over into the realm of faith. If there isn’t thanksgiving in every prayer we pray, then we aren’t abounding in faith (Colossians 2:7).
Paul said we were to give thanks when we make our requests to God. A request is something asked for but not yet received. We wouldn’t request something to happen that has already happened. So, we are supposed to thank the Lord for doing things before He does them. That’s what the Bible calls faith.
A believer is not supposed to be anxious or panic when faced with a difficult situation. We serve a God who makes a way in the wilderness or who make streams of water in a desert. A God who can make water come out of a rock. I am reminded of the time when the children of Israel were running away from Pharaoh. They were facing the Red Sea in front of them and behind were the Egyptians marching after them. Some of them started panicking and started complaining to Moses just like most of us normally do when we are faced with a difficult situation.
Instead of allowing faith to rise within us, we allow fear to creep in and start focusing on the challenge instead of focusing on God. “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What is this that you have done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Did we not say to you in Egypt, Leave us alone, Let us serve the Egyptians?” (Exodus 14: 11-12).
The Israelites forgot what the Lord had done for them in Egypt and provoked the Lord at the Red Sea. They didn’t operate in any faith at all. All they could see was themselves dying.
Sure, in the natural, they were no match for the Egyptian army. But they had seen great supernatural manifestations of the power of God through the 10 plagues that brought them out of Egypt. They were not limited to the natural. If they had just thought, “Why would the Lord bring us out if He was going to let the Egyptians kill us in the desert?”, they wouldn’t have said what they said. Logic would have told them that such a powerful and faithful God as they had witnessed would deliver them once again.
But fear isn’t logical; it’s emotional. And it is free to have dominion where people aren’t totally convinced of the love of God for them. As 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casteth out fear.” These people had seen the power of God, but they still didn’t understand the love of God for them. The same is true with us when we let fear dominate us.
In Matthew 11: 28-30: “Come to Me all who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn from Me. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Just like what Jesus was saying in the previous verses, this is totally against the wisdom of this world. The way to get ahead in the carnal mind (Romans 8: 5-7) is to work harder, but Jesus was saying, “Come to Me and rest.” There is a place in Christ where all we do is simply in response to what He has already done for us. This is in stark contrast to us labouring in order to get God to move. You don’t have to go on a fast to get God to move. God is not stuck. It is your unbelief that is the problem.
David in Psalms 23:5, says that God “prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. It is therefore important for you and I to focus on what God has prepared on that table, not the enemies. I believe on that table, there is a big bowl of Healing, there is another big plate of Victory, there is also a huge bottle written Prosperity and a delicious dessert called Deliverance. Don’t focus on the size of the enemy. Focus on what is on the table.
This is how you overcome challenges. Whatsoever is born of God, overcomes the world.
l Dr Doug Mamvura is a graduate of Charis Bible School. Feedback: [email protected] or Twitter @dougmamvura
