Don't give Up I

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 
A Daily Devotional by Bishop David Bakare

Don't give Up I

Monday, 12 August

 

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Genesis 22:1-12 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

 

MORE LESSON: Daniel 3:16-28 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

 

We are in hard times. People grapple with problems that seem to defile solutions. Sometimes even children of God go through certain difficult situations and Heaven appears quiet concerning their challenges. But whatever the situation you go through, you must not give up; you have to just stay there no matter the storm. When it looks like you have reached the wall of Jericho and nothing you do can bring it down, it is not time to turn back, you must choose to stay there. It is a demonstration of your faith and trust in God. Even if you do not know what to do next, just stay still and wait. That everything seems to be quiet does not mean that God is not doing anything about your situation. In fact, some times, your miracle is in your remaining still and waiting on God.

What should you do while you wait?

1. Make a commitment to remain with God come what may. Let God boast about you just like He did about Job and Abraham. One day God taught me something I had not known before; He asked if I knew why He tested Abraham and I said it was because He wanted to test the genuineness of his love for Him. But to my surprise, He told me it was because He wanted to boast about him. He said that He already knew that Abraham would give Him Isaac but just so that the world would not think that He blessed him by chance, God tested Abraham in order to make a boast about him. The same goes for Job; God wanted Satan to know that He had a man who could do anything for Him. And true to it, no trial that Job went through was strong enough to make him turn his back on God.

You too must resolve to remain with God no matter what happens. You must set your face like a flint as Job in Job13:15 and says, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. and the psalmist in Psalm 108:1, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. The devil truly can become weary of a man who would maintain his integrity before God, the situation not withstanding.

You enjoy unusual supernatural strength to leap over walls and run through troops when you make up your mind to stay with God no matter what. When going back is not an option, you will always find the supply of the Spirit to come out victorious. Our victory is sure so long as we remain on God's side. Know that God is faithful and able to deliver you. But you must decide that even if God chooses not to deliver you, it will not change your mind concerning Him. God's heart goes for such people and there is nothing He will not do for them as Psalm 34:5 assures, They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

 

Prayer/Action

* Receive help not to give in to discouragement in the face of challenges.

 * Pray that all you are going through will end in thanksgiving to the Lord.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Oh LORD, I am Yours. Do to me as it pleases You today and always, in the glorious name of Jesus.