“… just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you…”(Numbers 14:28)
 
A journey that should have taken eleven days went on and on for forty years. It did not take forty hours or forty days. Neither did it take forty weeks or forty months, but forty years. It should have taken the children of Israel eleven days to travel through the wilderness to get to their Promised Land, but the journey went on for forty years. Are you in a situation where you are wandering around in the wilderness?
WILDERNESS JOURNEY
The wilderness is a place that you pass through to get to your Promised Land. It is not a place where you settle down and live like the children of Israel did. A wilderness journey is not a journey that you plan for, but a journey that positions you for the plan of God to be carried out in your life. A wilderness journey is a journey of trials and temptations and it is the only avenue that leads from the promise of God to God’s Promised Land. An attempt to avoid a wilderness journey will make a believer become a wanderer and not a wonder in the area of divine calling. A wilderness journey is a wild journey where complaining complicates the journey of life. On a wilderness journey, a failure to progress by faith will lead to untimely death. The complaining from the people God delivered out of Egypt caused them to wander and die on their wilderness journey.
ACTS OF COMPLAINING
Complaining is rebellious and self destructive. Are you complaining about your situation? As a result of the children of Israel’s persistent complaining against God in their journey, God responded by saying “Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” (Numbers 14:22-23) God made a promise to take the children of Israel to the Promised Land. He showed them great and mighty signs in Egypt and on their way out of Egypt. The signs and wonders of God were their testimonies.
TESTIFY NOT COMPLAIN
Meditating on God’s testimonies are more than enough to transport believers to the Promised Land. Are you constantly meditating on His testimonies? The Psalmist knew what he was saying by virtue of his confessions in Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies” Psalm 119:14, I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches” Psalm 119: 24, “Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors” Psalm 119:46, I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.”  The Psalmist testifies about what God has done or what God is doing rather than complain. The testimonies of God are worthy of meditation. What are the testimonies of your heart? The testimony of your heart is the evidence of your faith in God. Faith is what provokes the hand of God. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”(Hebrew 11:6) Let today be your day of meditating on the testimonies of God and the act of complaining will not have to complicate your journey through the wilderness.
COMPLIMENT DO NOT COMPLAIN
God is the only unchanging changer. God has never changed and he will not change. Regardless of what your challenges are, know for sure that complaining does not settle well before God. Complaining is sin and God will not overlook sin. God did not overlook it when the children of Israel complained against Him then, and He will not overlook it now. Complaining instead of complimenting the work of His hand could cause greater pain than what you are complaining about. God responded to consistent complaining from the children of Israel, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.”(Numbers 14:27-28) They complained and confessed death. What can cause you to complain and confess death? There is a need to be conscious of the words that come out of your mouth, regardless of what your challenges are today. It is written, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”(Proverb 18:2) The children of Israel did not aware of what they were confessing in their complaints. It is not worth it to complain at all because God’s hand can never be too short concerning every area of challenge. After Moses had pleaded with God for the children of Israel not to be destroyed, the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?”(Numbers 14:11) Have you seen enough signs to know and believe that complaining against God is rejecting God; and that complaining against God is asking for a self destruction? How long will it take you to believe that He is capable to see you through, despite all that stands against you?
FAITH CAPSULE
Complaining is rebellious and self destructive.
Complaining instead of complimenting the work of His hand could cause greater pain than what you are complaining about.
Tunde

        “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand…” (Genesis 19:16)
 
It is written, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) In the journey of life, there is a time to redirect our route in the face of unforeseen challenges. Redirecting our route will call for a change of direction. Also, there is a time to enter into a new and uncommon route. Entering into a new and uncommon route will call for a totally new route.
THE CHANGE OF ROUTE
Is it time to redirect your route for a change in your journey of life? Are you paying attention to the signals around you? You may be seeing unexpected changes in your journey, and sudden redirections on the road are happening too frequently. Your back road route is becoming blocked on a daily basis. Running into bumps is causing delays consistently, and your timely ride is becoming congested. Should you not slow down and pay attention to the causes of all these sudden challenges in your journey? A great reason for you to re-examine why challenges are slowing you down is because you are a person of faith, one who loves the Lord and serves Him from the heart. Balaam was a man of God, but he failed to pay attention to warning signals when his ride began to face challenges. He was going to answer Balak’s request when his donkey left the main route and began to roam from the field to the narrow paths–to vineyards and against the wall. All the redirection was to stop Balaam from going where God did not call him. Having roamed around back and forth, the Angel of the LORD showed himself. Numbers 22:27, “And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’” You do not have to go that far before you change your route.
ENTERING A NEW ROUTE
When the time was near for Jesus to be crucified, He knew it was time to take a new route in His journey on earth. He was to enter a route no one had ever entered for the glory of God. As a result, Jesus needed to ride on a colt that no one had ever ridden on. Mark 11:2, “And He said to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it.’” Is it time for you to move into new ground where you have never been, a place where you are very reluctant to go? For sure you need a new ride, a ride that no one has ever sat on. Jesus gave a command to the two who went to get the ride in Mark 11:3, “And if anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it.’” The crowd will ask why you are making such a move. The crowd will also wonder and doubt whether you have made the right decision. Today, speak to the crowd that the Lord is in control, He knows all about you and you are going in the name of Jesus. Mark 11:6, “And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go.” All that the enemy has put in place for the purpose of not letting you go, at the name of Jesus, will be let go. His name is your power to command in your new route. Philippians 2:10, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Do you believe in His name? If you do, all you need is power, not the advice of the crowd. There is direction in the powerful name of Jesus. Your own journey will be to the glory of God.
ARE YOU LINGERING?
When it was time for Lot to move from his choice of land that was marked for destruction, he lingered around. The Bible recorded, “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:16-17) Lot lingered and did not want to take a new route, but the angels were persistent and prevailed by taking hold of his hand and those of his family and leading them unto salvation. In the coming days, weeks and months, pray to God to take hold of your hand and take you out of every area of life, every area of decision making or location, which is not of God where you have been lingering.
FAITH CAPSULE
Balaam was a man of God, but he failed to pay attention to warning signals when his ride began to face challenges.
Is it time for you to move into new ground where you have never been, a place where you are very reluctant to go?
Tunde

“…he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart.” (2 Chronicles 25:2)
 
The Bible recorded about Amaziah, the King of Judah, “…he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart.” (2 Chronicles 25:2)The story of Amaziah is evident to the fact that doing right without a loyal heart is not enough to be considered as a righteous walk. In the story of Amaziah, it is clear for us to learn and know what it is for man to do right before God without a loyal heart. The first right Amaziah did was his obedience to the Law of God. After Amaziah became king, “…he executed his servants who had murdered his father the king. However he did not execute their children, but did as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall die for his own sin.” (2 Chronicles 25:3-4)
ACT OF AMAZIAH’S OBEDIENCE
There is nothing that marks a man as being righteous like one who yields and obeys the word of God. Amaziah did not allow his need to avenge his father’s death to cloud his obedience to the law of His God. He could have went further and execute the children of his father’s executors. Are you allowing a revengeful spirit to cloud your decision making and not the commands of God? You can do right by restraining yourself in painful situations when you allow God’s command to have its place in your life.
SECOND ACT OF AMAZIAH’ S OBEDIENCE
Amaziah was in the process of going to war against the Edomites with the help of the troops of Israel which he had paid with hundred talents. A man of God came in the name of God and stated, “…O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—not with any of the children of Ephraim. But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow.”Amaziah did not reject the word of God through the man of God but only responded saying, “…but what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?”(2 Chronicles 25:9) The man of God responded and Amaziah reacted in obedience, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.” So Amaziah discharged the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, to go back home. Therefore their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.” (2 Chronicles 25:9-10)Amaziah’s doing right before God was rooted in his faithful obedience to the word of God through the man of God.
LACK OF LOYAL HEART
Despite his obedience he failed to demonstrate a loyal heart and that ruled him out of God’s favor. Amaziah loyalty to God was exposed when he went to the war that God fought on his behalf and came back to set up the enemy’s God for his people to worship. The Bible records Amaziah’s foolishness, “after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Therefore the anger of the LORD was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” (2 Chronicles 25:14-15) Amaziah’s behavior and action can be compared to one that is blessed by God and later turned to the blessing as his god.
WORSHIPING THE BLESSEING INSTEAD OF THE BLESSER?
Does Amaziah’s case sound like you? Are you one that moved God to bless you because of your doing right? Having been blessed by God have you consciously or unconsciously turned your heart to what the Lord God has blessed you with instead of keeping your heart loyal to God? Today, many have forgotten that where they are or what they have is not the evidence of hard work. However, working hard to maintain the blessing has now taken over from their work and service to God. It is a sorrow state when one shift focus or allows the blessings of God to become their focus. The God that helped Amaziah to defeat the Edomites is greater than the gods of the Edomites and He is enough for Amaziah to focus on. Also, the God that bless you will not withdraw His hand over is blessing if you will maintain your righteous act and loyalty to His name. Remember, “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and he add no sorrow with it.”(Proverbs 10:22) God is a jealous God. Know fully well that attention is the antidote for jealousy. In all your doing, do not trade God’s deserve attention over your life for what He has blessed you with. Do all that is right, act with a loyal heart your blessing shall not cease.
 
FAITH CAPSULE
Doing right before God is rooted in faithful obedience to the word of God.
It is a sorrow state when one shift focus or allows the blessings of God to become their focus.
Tunde

 “Every word of God is pure; He is shield to those who trust in Him.”(Proverbs30:5)

Waiting on God is seeking God and it is the evidence of placing our trust in God. To be able to wait on God there must be a great deal of placing trust in the word of God. The word of God is pure and it is the source of faith. Proverbs 30:5, “Every word of God is pure; He is shield to those who trust in Him.”  Studying the case of Elijah and Jeremiah brings to light the importance of waiting and trusting God.
ELIJAH COULD NOT WAIT?
After Elijah executed the prophets of Baal at Brook Kishon, Jezebel the wife of Ahab the king of Israel threatened to do the same to Elijah. When news got to Elijah, he did not take the time to seek God for answers, but instead he fled for his life. The Bible recorded, “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19:4) Elijah wished death for himself because he took off running before seeking direction from God. As a believer, when we are faced with challenges it is important for us to learn how to wait on God instead of making hasty decisions to remedy challenges. Waiting on Him will enable us to run where we need to run and walk where we need to walk. As Elijah progressed in his running from under a broom tree into the cave, God responded to him, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD…” (1 Kings 19:11) The command for Elijah to stand is waiting for God to show up. Are you experiencing a similar situation, where you have taken a jump before learning how to walk? While Elijah was standing on the mountain waiting for God, the bible records, “…and behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” (1Kings 19:11) Trusting God is not timing God. Trusting God is taking time to wait for the Lord. God cannot be rushed out of His salvation plan. God did not show up in the great and strong wind neither did He showed up in the earthquake or fire. God’s appearance or His time of His visitation cannot be controlled by man. His timing is not our timing. We have clocks that we can manipulate in our hand but He alone has time in His hand. How or when you are expecting Him does not matter to Him but it does matter for you to take a stand in waiting. For Elijah, God showed up in a still and small voice. His visitation for you might not be the still and small voice. Do not calculate Him but respond to His communication. God’s communications for you is to trust and wait on the Lord. God has never failed.
LEARN FROM JEREMIAH’S WAITING
Waiting on God should never be considered as wasting away but way of life. The Bible points out, “For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.” (Isaiah 64:4) Can you imagine the goodness of His faithfulness? Indeed He will not fail to honor His word. In this world that He created, there is none that is above waiting on God. Regardless of any man’s title outside or inside of Church, when situation or challenge calls for waiting on God there should be no hesitation but to wait. Jeremiah, a giant in the hand of God, called and sent by God, did not accept life in the lowest pit when he found himself there. Lamentation 3:55, “I called on Your name, O LORD, from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear from my sighing, from my cry for help.” You drew near on the day I called on You, and said, “Do not fear!””  The testimony of Jeremiah teaches believers and non-believers of the word of God that no man is above challenges or situation that calls for crying unto God for His divine intervention. Jeremiah, a prophet ordained and called by God, demonstrated the need to always wait on God. Waiting on God should never cease or slow down in the life of those that know Him. The devil is out to kill, steal and destroy and there is none that is outside of his radar. However, he does not have what it takes to raid on any ground that is under the cover of the blood of Jesus Christ. It is only, “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is Your faithfulness.”(Lamentation 3:22) At the time of Jeremiah’s life in the lowest pit, there was no record of regret, complain, or questioning of God about why the Lord called him and have him in the pit. Jeremiah remained focus confessing his faith. Your situations today are not worse or better than that of Jeremiah. Learn to wait on God in the same manner Jeremiah did. Know in your heart that the same Lord that saw Jeremiah through will not abandon you. Above all your challenges and the source of your challenges there is God that answers when you wait on Him. He is a good God with good thought for each and every one of His children. Will you take time to wait on Him? It is written, “The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seek Him.”(Lamentation 3:25)

FAITH CAPSULE:
We have clocks that we can manipulate in our hand but He alone has time in His hand.
Waiting on God should never be considered as wasting away but way of life.
Tunde

        “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)  

Psalm 9:2, “I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to your name, O most High.” Psalm 16:11, “In Your presence is fullness of joy…” Proverbs 8:30, “…I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.” All of the above quotations testifies to the truth, without joy no man is accessible to God. The Apostle Paul articulates this perfectly when he states, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) The Apostle Paul’s call for joy was expressed with clarity, emphasis and with a shout!
MEETING WITH GOD
Children of God must go before the Lord with joy, when they meet with God. By this virtue, coming before God is celebrating in joy. Let it be clear that the evil one never shy away from where there is joy. His agenda is to convert joy to sadness. However, our calling is to maintain our joy regardless of challenges. Remember Job? Job 1:6-7, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 1:6-7) Satan’s interruption was and is always with bad intention. He is empowered to go to and fro looking for one to devour. He was able to secure his wish against Job. He initiated pain for Job where the sons of God are gathering in His presence. It is written in Job 1:11-12, “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”” Can you imaginehow in the place of celebration, joy is being tampered with? The wicked one, at his coming out of the place of joy and celebration delivered every form of affliction on Job. In between and through it all, Job did not complain nor did he condemn God. Job cried to God and he eventually received more blessings after his time of testing, than when he first started to enjoy the blessings of God.
REMEMBER TO MAINTAIN JOY
The children of Israel came out of the bondage of over four hundred years. They were able to witness the awesome power in the hand of God that brought them out. In the course of their journey, the hand of God did not withdraw upon their life as they witnessed the hand of God, through Moses, dividing the Red Sea while giving them passage on a dry land in between divided sea. They celebrated a great deal in the presence of God while Moses and Miriam the prophetess (sister of Moses) led them in songs of joy and praise. The echoes of celebration must have been hanging in the air and around them when they travelled three days. While they became thirsty, the water they came across was bitter. With thirst, their story changed, “And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet…” (Exodus 15:24-25) The children of Israel soon forgot what the Lord had done for them when he parted the red sea. The point here is if Job did not forget all the goodness of God, but remained in the thought and memory of God’s goodness; we too should not be quick to forget too soon as did the Children of Israel. Job cried unto God as did Moses, but neither of them complained. Job’s wife attempted to sway Job into sinning with his lips, “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9-10) Always remember that in midst of every Godly celebration, Satan wants to gain attention. Fail to attend to Satan and he will flee. Do not forget too soon, cry unto Him and prayer will turn bitterness into sweetness.

FAITH CAPSULE:
Let it be clear that the evil one never shy away from where there is joy.
Always remember that in midst of every Godly celebration, Satan wants to gain attention.
Tunde