He makes all things beautiful

  Are you feeling unsure about the next step or what God is calling you into? Are you faced with an assignment you feel so unqualified for? Not having the courage to step out - a new job, ministry appointment, an upcoming relocation, new parents? You were at the point when you felt life was going all well. You are enjoying contributing your part behind the scenes and all of a sudden you are thrown into the front of it all. You begin to question yourself and God. The only thought in your head is, I can't do this, not me Lord. God, I am sorry  you got the wrong man this time. You are not alone. Joshua - the Sun stopping warrior -  must have felt same when the mantle of leadership of Israel fell on him.  Recall that Joshua was one of the 2 spies who believed Israel could posses the land even when others reported otherwise.  He had demonstrated faith and boldness before but taking over from Moses was another level of scary. Joshua has seen Moses do the job, it was t...

The other day as I was returning from work, I made a stop at a shop. I had a couple of options on which way to take home but because I was in a hurry, I wanted to know the fastest way home. I decided to consult Google Maps on my phone. Do note that I have had positive experiences with Google Maps in the past, so I was open to go with its suggestion. To my greatest surprise though, it showed my fastest way home was through “Allen Avenue”. The first thought that came to my mind was 'My Google Maps is broken'. You wouldn’t blame me! Google Maps had never suggested Allen Avenue to me before at that time of the day and anyway, everyone knows that Allen Avenue traffic could be crazy during rush hour. I re-entered the destination, made sure the traffic update was on and it still suggested going through “Allen Avenue”.😱😱 As I sat in the car, debating what to do and which route to take since obviously my Google Maps was faulty, I heard clearly in my spirit, “ *This is how pe...

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.   2  He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. John 15: 1 - 2 This past weekend I finally did my closet clean-out that I had put off for a while. I needed to go through my wardrobe to get rid of some old items and make some space in the closet. This is something I do periodically; well I plan to do periodically is more accurate expression, but things don’t always go as planned 😊 . The process while not fun, after all it is still a chore, is usually an interesting. Interesting because of all sorts of ‘finds’ like empty perfume bottles that are reminders of past happy moments; that scarf which was presumed missing; the dress still hoping to be worn one day even though it has been 3 years; long forgotten items that are just happy to come out of the closet even for a min. As I was looking through and making the ‘all-im...

CHOOSE YOUR RESPONSE WISELY… lessons from Hannah Today we will be looking at the life of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, one of Israel’s greatest prophets. (You can read the full account in first chapter of 1Samuel). The Bible doesn’t tell us how long Hannah and her family had been going to Shiloh but we can deduce that it most have been for several years. Every year Hannah went to Shiloh. Every year she got a bigger portion of meat. Every year Peninnah troubled her so much. Every year she could not eat her meat because she was sad. Every year she went back home and prepared for the next year’s replay of the exact same story (1Sam1: 3 – 8) . The scene was imaginably predictable, and everyone would brace up for the drama after the sacrifice. Peninnah knew what to say to provoke Hannah and she knew what response she will get, Hannah will not eat her meat. Elkanah must have gotten used to the watching this play out too. In an attempt to console Hannah, he told her I am bette...

My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me… Daniel 6:22 A sister shared a testimony at church today that blew my mind. It was a reminder that we have a Father who is in control of ALL things and who loves us so much that He suspends laws and protocol to deliver us. The testimony goes like this. On her way back from work she stopped over at the market. When she was done shopping, she got into her car. The car started but the gear would not engage. As much as she tried, it didn’t. She was understandably upset about this as nothing was wrong with the car previously and it was already past 7pm. Finally, she decided to open the bonnet even though she was clueless about cars and was secretly hoping someone would be kind enough to help her figure what to do. As she got out of the car, she saw a little girl of about 4 years standing by the car looking confused. She asked her what the matter was and she said, my little brother is ...

Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because [they have] no knowledge: and their honourable men [are] famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst (Isiaih5:13). An incident occurred recently that taught me a lesson on the potential cost of ignorance, bringing the above bible passage to life. We all know this popular saying, " Ignorance is Bliss". Well I don’t know about that, but I will add ‘do you know the cost of that bliss’? The other day my son told me about the ‘deal’ he made with his aunt. He traded part of his TV time and got noodles for dinner. Shock does not even begin to describe what I felt. I was shocked, not just because it sounded ridiculous but HE DID NOT HAVE TO. The truth was he was going to get noodles for dinner anyway. Twenty min earlier, I had concluded dinner plans and he was getting noodles. He traded his precious TV time for noodles which he would have received anyway, because of ignorance.  Dear friends, are you trading your ...

A gift of life, like a drop of dew. A gift from God, we say thank you - Seyi Ajo. Today I will be sharing a poem my daughter wrote several months back (she didn’t like me sharing anything she wrote, so I am sure she won’t be too pleased, but again who is telling 😊 ). This had always been my favorite and I truly believed she was inspired just to “teach” me gratitude. I hope you feel the same way. It came to mind recently after I read a post online that touched me deeply. The post goes “help me thank God, we found a bed for him (her brother) in LASUTH”. She was truly grateful for a hospital bed! That touched something in me as I am reminded of things I take for granted, things I don’t want in my life that others call a miracle. The poem goes A Gift of Life A gift to walk, a gift to run A gift to jump under the sun A gift to talk, a gift to sing A gift to dance with a wing A gift to cook, a gift to eat A gift to have a meal with meat A gift to see, a gift to re...

Happy New Year friends. It is already half of the first month of 2018😊 . May I ask, how are you holding up compared to your new year resolutions/goals/targets? On a second thought, I won’t ask, so that I don’t have to answer too😊 Back to the topic at hand😊 . I will like to share some insights I recently gained from the parable of the talents. I believe we are all familiar with this passage, but just in case you need a refresher, you can read the account Mathew 25:14 - 30 God has an ACCURATE estimation of our ability (vs15) and gives us talents accordingly . To put it differently, if you have got a talent, then you can fully leverage that talent and deliver good returns. The Bible tells us that before God formed in us in our mother’s womb, He knew us (Jer29:11) . Stop measuring yourself by the standard of men and saying I fall short. Saul was physically bigger than David. Imagine if David said to himself, if Saul can’t face Goliath, then I don’t stand a chance. Measure...

When you go through and are not consumed. That in its self is victory - Uche Ajo. I believe that of all things man can possess, outside the knowledge of Christ, HOPE is the most important. I am not talking about just wishful thinking but an expectation of good or something positive now or in future. It is a fact that trials and temptation is a way of life. We cannot escape it. Jesus said when (and not if) we pass through diverse temptations He will be with us. Thankfully, He also promised that we will not be tempted beyond our capacity to bear. Why is hope the most important? It is because the expectation of good helps us ride through the storm easier. Interestingly, it does not change the situation but affects how we navigate through and the choices we make. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel gives us strength to finish the journey. The Igbos have a saying which translates to “If you are hungry and there is assurance of getting food soon, that hunger cannot kill you”. ...

Dear friends, we cannot close this series without a reminder to all of us, that indeed we are awaiting the Masters returns. Jesus is coming back for His own. The bible tells us that Kingdom of God is like a master who goes on a long Journey and kept his slaves in charge. Jesus admonishes us to keep watch as we do not know when the hour he will come. (Mark13:33- 36) . May the Jesus find you & I awake when he returns. AMEN! Our Journey on earth will be futile if the master comes and does not find us worthy. God forbid! We shall not run this race in vain! It is my prayer that we all make heaven when our journey on this earth has comes to an end. Dear God, I thank you for saving our souls. I pray for everyone reading this, that your grace will be sufficient in us to make heaven. When you come with your winnowing fork, may we be counted amongst the wheat (Math3:21) , in Jesus name! Amen! I pray for anyone reading this article who is yet to yield his or her life to you, I pray ...

T hanks to all who followed me on this journey thus far. I appreciate the time spent reading through all seven articles and hope you have been blessed. It is my prayers that we will all fulfill destiny in Jesus name. As I conclude on what to do while waiting for the master I will like us to learn a few lessons from the life of Mary & Martha, the sisters of Lazarus (John11). a)     Keep Positive & Keep Faith .  When Martha saw Jesus, the first thing she said to him was “if you were here my brother would not have died”. Initially I read this as an accusation, as though Jesus being delayed caused her brother’s death. However, reading through the rest of the conversation it became clear it was not accusation, but an acknowledgement of His power over death. She was so sure of His powers that she declared “But even now I know that God would give you whatever you ask” (John11:21-22). She believed that even though Jesus may have been delayed, now that He is ...

I was in a seminar some years back and the speaker was talking to us about perspective. She shared a personal example on how a little perspective changed her outlook. She always considered commercial bus drivers ‘crazy’ due to how they drive and always made a point to ‘teach them a lesson’ if they crossed her path. One day, she was lamenting to her boss how crazy these drivers are, while sharing her experience that morning. Her boss listened quietly till she was done. His response to her was “if your children’s meal tonight and their education depended on how many trips you made on the highway in a day, would you honestly be very patient on the road”. She reflected on the question for a while and knew she could not honestly say yes. From that day, her perspective changed. While she does not agree with the crazy driving, she is now more sympathetic. David had a good chance to kill King Saul, but he did not. Saul had made attempts on David’s life on several occasions for no ju...

I love fairy tales and happy endings J . Growing up I loved Walt Disney interpretations of fairy tales’ classics so much that I dream of working there when I grow up. Now I am wiser and know that my skills are for movie watching and not movie making J . As children of God happy endings is our privilege too (Rom 8:28) but sometimes the path there is rough. Do not despair friends, God has promised to go before us to make the croaked way straight (Isa 45:2) . The journey to happy ending may take one through a 'prison'.  A prison in this context is a place worse than a bad place. Joseph did the right thing by not sinning against God, but unfortunately it ended him in prison. Before you go thinking that maybe Joseph could have avoided the prison, think again. The day of reckoning always comes and he would have ended in prison anyway or worse still missed the purpose for his life. One key difference is that he got there on God’s term and not his own terms T he prison bro...

I started to watch a movie on ROK TV some days ago. A young lady desperate for a job got a job. She was late on all her bills so much so that her landlord was threatening to kick her out. So, you can imagine she was excited to get any job. However, her manager picked interest in her and made some sexual advances. Whilst she was not interested and pleaded with him not to, in the end she succumbed for the fear of becoming jobless again. And that started a process of her manager making advances whenever he wanted. She felt that giving into his advances will secure her future, it did for a while but in the end, as always it backfired. While we need to be diligent in Potiphar’s and this diligence may earn us a promotion, let’s not plan to dwell in Potiphar’s house forever or at all cost. The truth is the enemy will offer tempting alternatives, typically requiring a ‘little’ compromise. God will provide the strength to resist if we keep our eyes on him (2 Cor 12:9, 1 Cor 10:13) . ...

Yesterday we looked at possible reasons for delay. Today we start to explore what to do while waiting for the Master. 1. B e diligent in Potiphar’s house . What is Potiphar’s house? To fully understand what Potiphar’s house represents, let’s examine the life of young Joseph. Joseph was born into generational wealth. His father could easily be on the Forbes 50 richest men in the world if he lived in this time. His grandpa & great grandpa were the envy of nations (Gen26:14) . The bible described Jacob as exceedingly prosperous (Gen 30:43) . What more he was his father favourite, so it safe to assume he had it all and only known comfort all his life (Gen37:3) .  Suddenly, for reasons which were not his making, he ends up in the house of the palace chief security officer in a foreign land as a SLAVE. If anyone ever had a reason to complain and moan, it was Joseph. To add to his pain, he was screwed up by family. How low could it get you wonder? Maybe only death could have ...

I n the introductory session, I shared the path that lead me to this journey. Today, I want us to explore reasons why the Master may appear delayed. One obvious reason why miracles can be delayed is sin but that is not our focus for this lesson. Let us examine three possible reasons as we look at examples of those who had to wait in the bible; 1.         Demonic hindrance . God answered Daniel prayers the day he prayed but the answer   was delayed. The prince of Persia withheld the angel bringing his answer for 21days until God sent angel Michael to the rescue (Dan10:13). 2.     The time is not right: There is a time for every purpose under the sun. The Lord can make a promise but we need to wait till the appointed time. In other instances, there may be lessons to learn, as in the case of Joseph. Joseph learnt some leadership lessons in Potiphar’s house and prison (Gen39). Another example is David who was anointed king over Israel severa...

H ave you ever felt that God was taking a long time to answer a prayer or bring a promise to manifestation? Have you ever started the journey and begin to wonder if you heard God clearly because of contrary experiences? Have you ever felt like screaming at someone whose says to you ‘keeping praying’ because they don’t know how much you prayed? When the word in ‘God’s time’ begins to sound to you as never?  A couple of years back, on a Saturday morning, I was moaning over a situation in my life for which I felt God should have sorted. Despite all the prayers and fasting, it felt as though things were getting worse instead of better. I was so sad I decided not to go to church the next day. What was the point! The next morning however I had a change of heart and decided to go to a parish of my church close to my house. In my mind, I wanted to go to a new place and avoid dealing with anyone I knew but little did I know that God had a different plan. Service was great from when...

Sometimes in August, our street experienced total black out for a week. Black outs are nothing new in Lagos but this one was different. Typically, when there is a black out in our area, more than one street is affected but this time it was only my street, while other streets had electricity. On Saturday hubby decided to stop at the IKEDC (PHCN Distribution office) on his way out. When he got to the office to make a compliant, the customer service representative was shocked, he said, “sir you can't be serious you had a blackout for 6days”, our records show no one has reported it. He logged in the complaint and within hours we were restored back. As my husband narrated the incident at the IKEDC office to me, I kept asking myself why we suffered for that long, when it was an easy fix. How did no one on the street know to make a report and we all collectively suffered in silence? The answer was simple; we did not know that we could report to IKEDC and the problem will be fixe...

The other day our teen church presented a short play during Sunday service. In summary, a man ‘invited’ God for a meal and God promised to come. The man went home excited and told everyone who cared to listen God was coming to his house for a meal tomorrow. On the day, he prepared a spread fit for a king and waited eagerly for God’s arrival. He waited and waited, but 'God' did not come. His family mocked him but he still kept faith that God is coming. As evening approached a beggar came to the door begging for food, but he drove the beggar away because the only food he had was meant for God.   The next day he went to his pastor disappointed. He said ‘God did not come as He promised, can you imagine only a beggar came to my house yesterday’. The pastor shook his head and said God came as the hungry beggar but you drove Him away (Mathew 25:45). The man wept but it was too late. He did not recognize the opportunity before him because it did not have the ‘packaging’ he expect...

‘For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion’ (Romans 9:15). Airports can be a very interesting place to be. This is true especially if you are traveling alone, and you have to stand on the queues or wait around the airport for a connecting flight, you are forced to notice the happenings around you even if you didn’t want to. The scene usually varies from happy-looking families with children playing around, making you miss home to the couple that may need some privacy and everything in between. Or as was in the case during my last trip, a real life illustration of some life principles. Before I continue, let me digress a little as I can’t talk about airports without mentioning my observations on how very well organized and ‘behaved’ we can be as Nigerians once we arrive at airports outside Nigeria. I have wondered and concluded that there must be something in the oxygen that causes the differen...