By Minister Oscar Phiri
If there is anything I have learnt in life is that the
path or your path will not always be easy. It happens to all of us. Everything
seems to be going on well for you and then suddenly a turn of events brings
discouragement and frustration, and you feel like giving up.
Our lives are filled with setbacks, like what the entire
world is facing right now. The Corona Virus (COVID-19) has had far reaching
consequences: businesses closed, schools closed and everything we planned to
start this year is on hold. However this is not the time to give up or lose
hope, our God is alive. During the trying times, we can chose to think
differently “As a man thinketh so
is he.” - Proverbs 23 Vs 7. Faith is all about thinking differently, about taking God
at His unconventional word. In fact one of the greatest patterns that shows up
in the Scripture and in life is that God himself thinks a little differently
too. He asked Abraham to kill his son, the one who
carried the promised blessing, even though God prohibited
murder “Genesis 9 Vs 5.”
He delivered food to Elijah using ravens, animals He
called unclean. He chose a Prostitute, Rahab, to hide Israel’s spies in her
brothel so that they could conquer Jericho (Joshua 2 Vs 1-7). He blessed Solomon with wisdom and
riches even though his parent’s relationship began with an illicit affair. With
all the above evidence, walking in faith can be challenging simply because what
God asks us to do is often contradictory to what He himself does. Such is the
story of come back or bouncing back.
Comebacks inspire us because they help us believe that
whatever we might be facing, be it financial or health setback or
discouragement, we too can rise once again to the dawn of a new day! God
orchestrated one of the greatest promotions off all time in Joseph when he took
a man from a prison cell to the penthouse suite. And of course the greatest comebacks
of all time, the Saviour who was crucified, rose from the grave, ascended to
heaven and sat at the right hand of God Himself. Comebacks are God’s way of
speaking and they are all to bring Him glory.
How do we know when something special is on the horizon
and God is about to do something great? There are two signs of a comeback: First, God allows all your efforts to be
unsuccessful (Luke 5 Vs 1). Peter had worked all night long and caught nothing. They
did everything they knew and yet they had nothing to show for it all. It feels
bad when you have exerted yourself and nothing is working. You applied for that
job but never received a reply. You started that business and it failed
spectacularly in the first year. You got married but your union crumbled in the
first 2 years. At a time like that you feel defeated and are just not
interested in trying again.
The second sign is that God asks you to do something that doesn’t make sense. Jesus Christ asked Peter to contradict His knowledge, experience and history (Luke 5 Vs 5). Out of respect, Peter continued and note the next verse says, “…when they had done this they enclosed a great quantity of fish and their nets began to break…” Your obedience to Gods instruction will determine your comeback. God’s purpose in your comeback is to show you who HE Is, HE puts you in a situation where your own knowledge and devices are not working and asks you to do something that doesn’t seem consistent with what you think you know. HE contradicts your natural reasoning. He demonstrates to you that he is trustworthy. HE wants to show you what he knows so you can trust Him and not your own ability.
The bible tells us “… in all things, God works for the good of those who
love Him.” – Romans 8 Vs 28. Meaning,
if we continue to trust in God during the difficult times and think differently
from our natures, good things can come out of bad situations. With that said I
am confident that our great comeback is on the near horizon.