Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last month of this year, the month of December. My prayer is that the month will be one of overflowing joy for you and your home, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
We ought to give thanks to God for giving us the privilege to witness the last month of this year. The year, indeed, has been a very tough one for our country as a whole. And perhaps it has been a very tough one for you and your family too. Nevertheless, God has not allowed the difficulties of the year to swallow us up. And we ought to give thanks to Him for this.
Now there is a Psalm of David that I consider fitting for us to read and meditate on at such a time as this. It is Psalm 124, and it goes like this:
“If the LORD had not been on our side — let Israel say — if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Ps 124NIV)
Did you see that? What we ought to be saying at this time is that the reason we and the people we love have not become victims of the anger, jealousy and wickedness of the enemies around us this year is that God has been on our side. If God had not been on our side, we would surely have become victims of their wicked expectations concerning us. That is what my testimony ought to be at this time. This is what your own testimony also ought to be at this time.
Also, the reason you have not been swept away by the flood and angry waters of challenges that have come against this country and against you too this year is that God has been on your side. If He had not been on your side, you will most likely have become a history. But because He is always with you, you are alive and well enough today to be able to talk about what you have been through. Should you not, then, be praising His name for this? You should.
Then it is possible that there were situations in your life this year in which you felt that Satan had eventually gotten you, situations in which you felt as if there were no way of escape for you from the shame, poverty or death staring you in the face. Yet, somehow, the traps that caught you were broken and you were able to escape without being hurt. Who do you think made that happen? It was God. He was the one that made you escape like a bird from the snare of the fowler. He was the one that did not allow you to become food for the devil and his agents.
Therefore, regardless of what you may have gone through this year, you ought to express your sincere and deep gratitude to God for keeping you alive to witness the last month of the year. No, things may not be as good as you want them to be in your life at the moment. In fact, a number of things may have gone from good to bad or bad to worse for you. But first, you need to understand that the reason you have accomplished or enjoyed any good thing at all this year is God. Without Him, you could not have done, received, eaten or enjoyed anything good at all in the year. (Cf. Ecc 2:24-25; Is 26:12; 1Tim 6:17)
Then, another thing you need to understand is that as long as there is life in you, you can still witness the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, if only you will not stop trusting Him and being thankful to Him. David, in another Psalm of his, says, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Ps 27:13NIV) What about you? Are you also confident that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and not after you have died?
Well, I am confident that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, even in this country Nigeria, regardless of what the times may be saying at the moment. I am confident like this because I know that God, our Father, will always be with me to make all things work together for my good. And my prayer is that you too will be strengthened to confidently walk with God to experience every good thing He wants you to experience in this life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid December 2023.
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