SUNDAY SERVICE
12TH MARCH 2023
Minister: Pastor Seyi Osanyinbi
Text: Numbers 21:4-6
The Israelites faced a lot of challenges from the textural verse because of their complaint and murmuring. We must know that God detests murmuring. He expected His children to rather express their worries to Him. Oftentimes, we think that the God of the New Testament is different from that of the Old Testament, but it is not true. He is the same, He still detests murmuring as it was in the beginning.
When we are faced with challenges, our responses in such a situation are very important. We must learn to respond rightly when faced with the ugly situations of life. Most times, we are faced with challenges not necessarily because God does not love us but because He wants us to get to know ourselves. When we also go ahead to make vows, we must be very careful because adverse situations will prove whether we mean what we have said or not. It did not matter what the Israelites went through but their actions towards Moses showed the state of their heart and their different actions in the wilderness.
Numbers 32:9
Unmet expectations and various disappointments are major causes of discouragement and these things should not deter us from living well. It does not matter how people may have treated us in times past, we must learn to trust God for healing from every seed of bitterness or past disappointments. It is also worthy of note that our discouragements or disappointments are not sufficient reasons to go astray.
1 Samuel 30:6
Great examples are in the bible for us, especially the life of David and Jesus Christ who were greatly betrayed by those whom they helped, yet they kept the faith. In our growth process, we must come to that place where we do not depend on external encouragement but on that which comes from the Holy Spirit. Our default response must be from God and not from external forces. Being hurt by humans is part of life and it has been structured in order to draw us back to God just the way David did when he was being disappointed by those he governed. David had to go back to the Lord to ask him how to respond. We must also learn this because the truth is that the balm in Gilead is there for us, to heal us and absorb all the pain.
1 Corinthians 10:12
Being disappointed or tempted is generic to all mankind and it is important to know that the grace to walk through all forms of disappointment is already given. There are none of our present challenges that are beyond us. All we need to do is to inquire of God to know what our escape route is.
Mathew 10:37
We must also know that our ways of escape are not generic. The methodology that works for your friend while facing that same challenge might not work for you. We all must set out time to seek the face of God in knowing what exactly our way of escape is. In times of weariness and disappointments, we can ask God for the wisdom of a staying power. As believers, we must have a resolute mind to pull through in our times of challenges. If we are sincere with God and would seek His help in showing us a way of escape in the face of different challenges, He would surely strengthen us and show us the way out.