GO FOR THE WIN
GO FOR THE WIN
There has been a scarcity of fuel in the city. Sadly, it has disrupted a lot of regular activities. At filling stations, drivers in their cars are on endless queues which have spilled on to the motor ways causing a lot of delays. While going to work in the morning yesterday, it took a while to get onto the motorway because there are two filling stations at the exit of my gated community. We were practically locked in. God forbid that there would have been an emergency! It was impossible to drive out (at least for more than an hour). A lament began to brew in my mind and all kinds of negative thoughts were threatening my sanity. I had to catch myself with a loud “NO! I refuse to be frustrated “and I sang praises all the way to work.
You see, nobody goes into battle to be defeated. Nobody starts a race to come in last. Did Goliath ever imagine that David would kill him? Certainly not! But the truth is that whether we like it or not a battle line is drawn; the battle for our souls. The Word of God says (“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) 2 Corinthians 10:4 KJV So there is a warfare and we require supernatural means to be victorious. Most of the things happening around us and vying for our attention are just plots to distract us from Gods good plans for us to always be victorious. The more we focus on these distractions the less time we are able to dedicate to the things that truly matter. I could have been going on about how long it took for us to get out onto the motorway yesterday, but honestly, what would I even have achieved? Perhaps a headache. We are not in denial, we see the rot, we see the decay, we see the decadence, we see the suffering and we see the pain but we must choose not to focus on them. We accept that we cannot by ourselves change this trajectory. So, we help where we can and those we can. We let our own lights shine and we keep trusting God.
Goliath came to defeat the Israelites. David, though he came to deliver supplies to his brothers, heard Goliath’s threats and insults and made up his mind that the Philistine had to be dealt with and taken out of the way. Like David we must commit all Goliaths to God and get them out of the way. (Anything threatening our peace of mind, our sanity or our very existence is a Goliath). Note how Goliath kept coming to the battle front for forty days to keep harassing the Israelites. “For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.” 1 Samuel 17:16 NIV David did not waste any time at all contemplating what to do with Goliath. He was not going to tolerate the defiance of the Philistine. He was very decisive in his pursuit to eliminate Goliath. And God gave him victory. We must not allow ourselves be dragged down and under into depression.
There is just way too much going on around us that have the potential to cause fear, anxiety and depression. But we must not let them. We must not like the Israelites cower away every time we hear another unpleasant breaking news. See how David was easily able to reject Goliath’s threats; he had been spending time with God. He knew God and he knew what God could do. He was not intimidated by the size of Goliath. Please let us NEVER be intimidated by the size of whatever we are confronting. God is still bigger than them. This is what David said: “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear, this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17: 36-37 NIV
Dear friends, let us not give up now. We must not give in to the darkness. Turn on the light of the word of God. Sing hymns, read psalms, sing praises. You will feel much better. Focusing on the challenges only make them appear bigger. They are not. It might look dark and dreary right now but just trust God with me please. Let us keep looking to Him and we will never be put to shame.
LET US STAY WITH HIM BECAUSE HE CAN NEVER FAIL.
LET US STAY WITH HIM AND GO FOR THE WIN.
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©