THE WIND OF CHANGE

John 3:8 The WIND blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of THE SPIRIT.

Last night, as I put my head down to sleep, I heard the Lord speak gently into my spirit. “THE WIND IS CHANGING.” Let me explain a bit. You see, sometime at the end of November last year, our landlady came with this unexpected announcement. Our house…where we moved in on our wedding night…and where our daughter has called home was soon going to be sold. Suddenly, our lives were turned upside down. For one…renting a house in our town is almost an impossible affair. Most houses are built for sale…and rarely do you find a house for rent. Secondly, because of the scarcity of rental houses, those available are at exaggerated rates.

But earlier in September, we had began thinking of looking for our own house to buy and settle down. We had an eye on a particular house…and the excitement was getting on as we prepared to get things moving in the right direction. Then…again, quite unexpectedly, the plans to relocate were soon interrupted. God closed the doors on us. Yes…the time for CHANGE was here but THE WIND OF CHANGE was not. Finally, when our landlady gave us notice of three months to move out…something happened to both of us, my husband and I at the same time. It was as if God had been waiting for this ONE MOMENT in time for a long time. Without a a long discussion or compromise, we knew that NOW…was the time for us to move out. Not out of our house…but rather to move on with THE WIND OF CHANGE.

ARE YOU BEEN INSTRUCTED?

Job 22:21-22 Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. ACCEPT INSTRUCTION FROM HIS MOUTH and lay up his words in your heart.

Are you been instructed? In our modern world, we have learned not to take TIME to be instructed but instead, we want the shortcuts to our destination. But truth be told, as long as you are here on earth, there will always be some area in your life where you are less conversant with, and therefore you will need INSTRUCTIONS. So the question still goes out to you. ARE YOU BEEN INSTRUCTED?

If you are a Christian, then you ought to know this. The Bible is GOD’S BOOK OF INSTRUCTIONS. But why do we need instructions? Of what good are instructions for the believer? First of all, let’s have a look at a book in the Bible which specializes as a manual of instructions for the children of Israel. After 400 years in slavery, and 40 years in the desert, God gave the children of Israel instructions from the book of LEVITICUS on how they should live and conduct their daily life affairs.

From the book of Leviticus we have the RULES OF LIVING which range from worship, the office of priesthood, sexual relationships, food laws, feasts unto the Lord among others. It was the mandatory obligation of the head of the family, that is, the father to instruct their children about these rules of living at every turn of the corner.

I HAVE SEEN YOUR WIDOW’S OFFERING

Luke 21:1-4 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a POOR WIDOW put in two VERY SMALL COPPER COINS. ‘I tell you THE TRUTH,” he said “this poor widow has put MORE THAN ALL THE OTHERS. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she OUT OF HER POVERTY put in all she had to live on.”

It is just but a little over 6 months since I started this blog. This morning, as my hands were busy doing the dishes, my mind was also busy wandering here and there. How I had managed to keep up with the pace of posting is only by the GRACE OF GOD. And yes, partly because of a blogger friend, Elaine Davenport, who stood by me…urging me on. A month or so before I started this blog, someone I had thought of as a friend suddenly turned their back on me and my family….and caused us much harm. If she had stopped there, maybe it would have been different. But no, she took it upon herself…to cause damage on relationships I had established with others…whom she had come to know through my friendship with her. And after all the pain and heartache she had caused, I forgave her….and moved on.

But…I was not the same person. Then again, two weeks later, after I ventured into the blogging world, another painful blow happened to me. But this time, even though it was as painful as the first one, I refused to be shaken. No…I had nothing except CHRIST to hold on to! And each day, despite the battle within…I kept writing. I kept giving….more than I had. I kept going…believing, hoping against hope. Some days, I had wings, but most, my hands felt feeble and weak. I never stopped. I don’t know why, but I kept going!

A COVENANT OF WORDS

Isaiah 59:21 “As for me, this is MY COVENANT WITH THEM,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, and MY WORDS that I have put in your mouth will not DEPART from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants, from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

“Words…words, words. I don’t need words. I want to feel, I want to touch, I want to see.” These were my friend’s words as I took time to talk to her about God and why I believe in Him. ‘Why should I put my trust on Someone who is not tangible?’ she argued out her case. And at best, even though I couldn’t be able to give her what she wanted…eventually, she did confess this. ‘Even though I cannot see God…I feel Him in the air…and I want to reach out and touch Him. But HIS AURA is here with us…thanks to your words! And right there and then, I realized that she had made her own confession…not in a faith that is tangible, but a faith that comes through hearing…and hearing the Word of God.

In many aspects of life…many people have become hard of hearing. If one cannot hear, then words have no meaning to them. And when words lack meaning…they are not repeated and when they are not repeated…they are not passed on. When they are not passed on…then a generation raises up which has no connection with the past generation. Then…history repeats itself.

DID HE SAY WAIT?

Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and WAIT PATIENTLY for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Yesterday…he almost succeeded at his scheming…yes, I am talking about the devil. For awhile, he almost had me by his side…but note, I said for awhile. I couldn’t sleep because I needed to hear HIS VOICE last…the voice of THE SHEPHERD. So, I woke up and reached out for my bible and went over to the Psalms. Psalm 37 caught my eye and I started reading. If I had reason to feel upset…I heard HIS VOICE through these words in verse 8; REFRAIN FROM ANGER AND TURN FROM WRATH, DO NOT FRET_ IT LEADS ONLY TO EVIL.

Just a few verses before the Lord had said BE STILL…AND WAIT PATIENTLY. What? What does He mean I wait patiently. God…are you serious? Right there and then…I saw something amazing hidden between the lines of Psalm 37 that I had never seen before: THE LAND...my inheritance. And at the same time, I also saw something else which had escaped my notice up until last night. In Psalm 37 alone,…the word WICKED and EVIL is mentioned 19 times which is 15 more times than the word LAND which is mentioned only 4 times.

DID HE SAY WAIT? Oh my goodness…how can God ask me to wait patiently while all the while evil and wickedness is all that I see and hear all day long? Lord, how can I wait in the midst of so much evil and wickedness? Then He brought me back to the 4 times the word LAND is mentioned.