BY DOUG MAMVURA
“I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait confidently, expect the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord” (Psalm 27:13-14).
Hope of God’s blessing and faithfulness is what keeps us from fainting. And notice that David’s hope wasn’t just for heaven. He expected to see the goodness of the Lord while he was still alive.
Isn’t it sad that some of us have already given up on life here on earth and are just waiting to go to heaven where there “is no sorrow nor death”. We give up too soon because we have never allowed ourselves to fully meditate on the goodness of God. He is a good God.
The Psalmist makes a powerful point that if he had given up on trusting in God’s goodness towards him, he would have given up. Knowing God and the fact He is a good God helps us no matter what we are facing in life to hold on to Him and His ways because we can be assured to see His goodness manifest in our lives.
You never need to give up on yourself or life as long as God is a good God, and He tells us He will never change. “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6).
Most of us call ourselves Christians but we don’t know this God. I like the prayer from Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1: 16 -23.
“I don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers that God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of His power towards us who believe according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all”.
We already have wisdom and prudence in our born-again spirits. These things came as part of the “package deal” of salvation. We have to draw these things out of our spirits and get them into our minds and bodies to receive any of these benefits in this life. Therefore, Paul was praying that what is already true in our spirits will become our mental disposition. He was praying for a release into the physical of what is already present in our spiritual being.
Our failure to draw these things because of ignorance makes us become victims to the challenges we face daily and hence some of us end up giving up without knowing that God has already given us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
You cannot get a revelation of something that doesn’t already exist. The Greek word “Apokalupsis” translated revelation here means disclosure.
Paul wasn’t praying for the Lord to give us anything new. He was praying for us to receive a revelation of what is already ours. The Christian life is not an attempt to get more faith, more anointing or more favor. We already have these things in their fullness. We just need a revelation of what is already ours.
Understanding this takes away a lot of frustration and doubt. It is much easier to release what we already have than to try to get something that we don’t have. Through Christ we are already blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).
The problem we have is that some of us still believe that Papa is the one who is going to bless me and I have to make sure that “I seed to Papa so I can receive a blessing”. Now when you then “seed to Papa and nothing happens, that is when you get very frustrated and start blaming God. This has nothing to do with God. It has everything to do with your ignorance.
It is just unfortunate that some of us ministers of the Gospel we mislead God’s people through lies and deception and they end up giving up on life and blaming God. Even when we tell then God is good they doubt his goodness because their lives on the ground don’t reflect that goodness. On the other hand, if we know God and have this revelation, we will never give up on Him because we know that though “weeping may endure in the night, joy will come in the morning”. God is faithful. He is not man that He should lie nor son of man that He should change His mind.
Wisdom and revelation can only be received as the eyes of our hearts are enlightened. When you start operating at that level, you will never give up on God because you know that you know that He is a faithful God whose love for you is immeasurable and will never leave nor forsake you.
This was the secret behind David’s victory because he “believed he would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” not just in heaven. Do you believe that my brother or sister? If you do why then are you so downcast? We need to start enjoying the fruits of our salvation here on earth.
There are some who have even taken a vow of poverty. It is never God’s intention that we suffer here on earth. David declared that because God was His Shepherd, he would never lack. His children would never beg for bread. If we really knew how much God loved us as Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:18 that “we may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which surpasses all understand and that we may be filled with the fullness of God”, we would never give up on such a loving Father regardless of whatever we could be going through.
David says in Psalm 27 quoted above, “wait confidently”. In other words, you are not waiting in vain. You know very well that though you may be going through tough times for whatever reason, you will still end up victorious.
The Bible says whatsoever is born of God, overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). The “confidence” comes from knowing that my God is faithful, trustworthy and will never leave me nor forsake me. When you give up on life when you are a believer it means you don’t know God intimately. If you knew Him intimately, you would never give up just like we see with David.
David further talks about being “strong and taking courage”.
As Christians it is important for us to be strong and fearless. Paul says we were not given a spirit of fear, but of love power and a sound mind. The presence of fear is the absence of faith. Faith is a critical password for every believer to access God’s provision. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. There is no room for cowardice in a believer. God tells Joshua to be “strong and courageous” many times in the first Chapter of the book of Joshua.
We have to be strong in our convictions as believers and never swaver from the truth.
I don’t see how anyone can give up on the goodness of God if they really know God and His goodness and have a deep revelation about God’s love for His people.
- Dr Doug Mamvura is a graduate of Charis Bible School. Feedback: [email protected] or Twitter @dougmamvura
