STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS
A Daily Devotional by Bishop David Bakare
Interdependence I
Sunday,
8 September
For if they fall, the one will lift
up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not
another to help him up. Ecclesiastes 4:10
SCRIPTURE
FOR TODAY: Ecclesiastes
4:9-12 Two are better
than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his
fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another
to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie together, then they have
heat: but how can one be warm alone? 12 And if one prevail against him, two shall
withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
MORE
LESSON:
I Samuel 25:2-35 And
there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very
great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was
shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the
name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a
beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he
was of the house of Caleb. 4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal
did shear his sheep. 5 And David sent out ten young men, and David
said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him
in my name: 6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in
prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be
unto all that thou hast. 7 And now I have heard that thou hast
shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was
there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee.
Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good
day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and
to thy son David. 9 And when David's young men came, they spake
to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and
said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a
days that break away every man from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water,
and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I
know not whence they be? 12 So David's young men turned their way, and
went again, and came and told him all those sayings. 13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on
every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also
girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and
two hundred abode by the stuff. 14 But one of the young men told Abigail,
Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to
salute our master; and he railed on them. 15 But the men were very good unto us, and we
were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with
them, when we were in the fields: 16 They were a wall unto us both by night and
day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know and consider what thou
wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his
household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. 18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two
hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five
measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred
cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. 19 And she said unto her servants, Go on
before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. 20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that
she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came
down against her; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I
kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of
all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. 22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of
David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that
pisseth against the wall. 23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and
lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to
the ground, 24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my
lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak
in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. 25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this
man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and
folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom
thou didst send. 26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to
shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine
enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid
hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow
my lord. 28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine
handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my
lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all
thy days. 29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to
seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life
with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out,
as out of the middle of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD
shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken
concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; 31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor
offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or
that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with
my lord, then remember thine handmaid. 32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the
LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: 33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be
thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging
myself with mine own hand. 34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel
liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and
come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light
any that pisseth against the wall. 35 So David received of her hand that which
she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I
have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
God instituted marriage and in His original
design, marriage will work effectively only when there is perfect
interdependence. In other words, independence in a marriage is a mirage. A
person seeking independence need not marry because the roles of a man and a
woman as designed by God are such that one will have to depend on the other for
something. For instance, in child bearing, even though the man is the one who
gives the seed, He has no womb and so will have to depend on his wife to
incubate and nurture his seed so they can both rejoice when the baby arrives.
Thus, interdependence in marriage is an advantage rather than a disadvantage.
It is a beautiful thing when everyone understands their role and work
accordingly. This is the Master's original design. The reason why there is a
lot of chaos today is because many are no longer comfortable in their
traditional roles as husband and wife and there is this role reversal that is
destroying the essence of marriage today.
As a result of interdependence, there is a
particular help that comes in a home that does not allow one to stay down
financially, materially, spiritually, physically and otherwise. MARRIAGE IS
HELP; MARRIAGE BRINGS HELP. The foundation of God for a home is built on the
need for help. Take help out of marriage and it loses its value. The moment the
partners in a marriage are not getting help from their union, they have lost
the essence of that union. If I could do everything for myself, why do I need
another person in the first instance? There is no need to get married and give
an impression that I'm all alone and have everything. The day you start feeling
you have everything/are sufficient in yourself in your marriage, that marriage
has ended. If you are sufficient in yourself you don't need anybody to do
anything else for you so don't get married.
Today's text says when one falls, the other
will raise him up. So, the fact that the wife brings more money home than the
man is not strange. That's why they got married so that when the finance of one
is down, the finance of the other will raise him/her up. There's no big deal,
the woman should not brag about making more money than the man. That's why you
got married; that's why all your money belongs to your husband. Besides, you
have given your husband your body which is more precious, so why not your money?
Conversely, a man should not also go around bragging that he is the bread
winner of the family. If you are not the bread winner, what would you be? Bread
loser or bread eater? That's why you came, so that you can provide for the
lady, her children and her parents. Friend, pick up the bills and stop making
noise around the house.
Prayer/Action
* Ask God to change any negative perspective you have about
being dependent on others.
* Pray for wisdom to live with your spouse, family, and
relatives, so that you will enjoy the benefits of interdependence.
* Pray for better understanding of your family roles.
TODAY’S PROPHETIC
PRAYER: By the power of
the Holy Spirit, concerning this new month, I declare that those who proclaimed
me irrelevant in destiny will attend my celebration parade, in the awesome name
of Jesus.
