Resting in His bosom

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; ….” (Is40:31)

It is widely said that there’s no food for the lazy man. Even the holy book said the same
thing in a different way that …he who will not work, let him not eat… It is not
natural for man not to work. And just to demonstrate that, if you for any reason (let’s
say health) you have to be bed ridden for about one year, not getting up at all, after
one year, you may need to be trained to walk again, because the legs were made to
walk (work) and not to sleep. This same principle applies to every part of human
body; it is in their continuous motion (use) that they are strengthened and it signifies
life.

This necessity for motion is what applies for man to work. From Genesis, man was given
the responsibility for dressing the trees and naming the animals. So when I see a hard
working man, I see a man fulfilling his mandate as a human being. He satisfies the
cliché, ‘a career woman/man’ That is, those who have chosen to make something out
of their chosen profession. I believe all persons are supposed to be career persons in
the sense that we are meant to make the best of every situation. That is the mandate of
man according to Genesis which is to replenish the earth.

Most of us have bastardised the statement –career person- to mean an irresponsible

man/woman who places his/her work above her family. I am sorry to say, if you are
responsible at work and irresponsible at home, you are not a career person, rather you
are irresponsible period! God did not create us to be quarter or half measured
responsible, but He made us whole. If he thought we would not be able to handle
these things He will not demand it of us, if He did, then, He must be unfair like
Pharaoh who made slaves of the Israelites.

Whatever God demand of us, he had equipped us to fulfil, you may not see it, you
may not know it but it is right there in you. It was this same inconsistency that
made the first family to fail. The Bible never said that Adam fell short of the
responsibility God gave to him in tendering the trees in the Garden of Eden, but he
neglected the home front, thus allowing the devil to penetrate.

Because of Adam’s neglect, God punished man by increasing his labour while requiring
him to care for the home front still. So God took man (put rightly man took himself)
from tendering to toiling. From fruitfulness to labour, from peace to chaos and from
ease to struggling yet He never said, ‘from this day, Adam you are now a career
person, just make sure you are successful in business and you will be okay’. I say this
without any sense of apology, any man or woman who says his work is his
satisfaction without his/her family is confused.

So, we have seen so far that it is right for man to work with his hands; we have also seen
that the work should not make us irresponsible in our family duties. Many parent
now are so busy ‘making a living’ to providing for the well being of their family
 that the work has now become more important than the family for whom they
work. This is part of the distractions of the devil to weaken the home front. As long
as he succeeds then we shall continue to have disjointed home which translates to a
house with strangers cohabiting.

The pressures of life impacts so much on us sometimes, that despair sets in, not because
things are not working sometimes, but the weight and the pressure of remaining afloat
weighs one down. At other times it may be the weight and the pressure of keeping up
with the Jones. At such times you start to wonder what others are doing that you are
not doing to remain in the struggles. These weights also might be because of things
that are not working as expected, especially when you have done everything humanly
possible.

I want to take you back to the beginning, Genesis, because it is here that you will know
about the original intention of God towards mankind. Whereas God brought man to
work, He did not bring him to struggle, though man was meant to be fruitful but
not with labour. We were not created to be permanently under pressure on earth
… in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…. It was the sin of mankind
that added load to the original intentions of God for mankind.

The world celebrates hard work, especially those whose careers have taken first place at
the detriment of their family life, but it was not meant to be so. Even the business
world now is saying working smart not necessarily working hard is the key to
success, they are beginning to get the picture that sweat all day long is not in the
original plan. The word of God rather celebrates diligence. Simply stated, to be
diligent is to make steady efforts, showing care and efforts in what one does. That is,
to continue at the same pace carefully. By inference, we may say God expects us to be
steady in every area of our life.

At such time as this, when the pressures of success or failure is getting you down, child
of God is when you have to step into what David said in his popular Psalm … He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures…. There are times we may just need to slow
down to ask ourselves some fundamental questions, or just quietly lie down at the
bosom of our heavenly father.

The scripture says in Psalm23 that when the wants of life gets at you, you must
understand that God is your source (shepherd). He said your needs are met according
to His riches in glory not even your job or status. So He says when it seems that the
pressures of life are killing you, the solution is in Him, but His remedy is quite
interesting. The Psalmist said the first thing the Father does when you (are wise
enough and not depend on yourself or friends but,) go to Him, is to make you lie….
He makes you lie down because naturally you don’t think that’s the wise thing to do.
You are on the fast lane, remember? Any attempt to slow down means somebody is
going to overtake you, but God doesn’t see it that way, He knows it is your speed that
is killing you in the first place. Moreover, you are not competing with anybody, you
only have yourself to beat.
Notice, He didn’t just make you lie down anywhere but in green pastures. God calms you
down by showing you the abundance He has. He calms you down by making you see
that what you desire most in life He has more than enough of them. And He makes
you lie down to rest your weary feet and even brain, He makes you lie down so you
can listen for once and not do all the talking. He makes you to lie down in the green
pasture; showing you that until you lie down and rest, you may never see that there is
abundance in His vineyard. You may never see and know that what is bothering you
is already provided for. He calms you down in the midst of the abundance of His
house so you can be attentive to instructions. You are just about telling Him again
about your need but He tells you to relax. “See all I have provided for you, look, i am
more than enough”. He shows you His abundance so you might listen to Him.

You know, in the midst of the turmoil of life while we are thinking about how to have a
time of prayer and fasting, God is waiting for you to have a quiet time. I put it to you;
it is the quietness in the midst of our prayer and fasting that benefits us the most
and not our activities. Fasting will make you quiet down a bit, then, you can hear
God.

What He does to you in the quiet time is to show you eternity i.e. He makes you see
beyond your environment, God shows you the big picture, He makes you see solution
in the midst of the storm, He reveals His mightiness till your so called gigantic
problem becomes too small to confound you. He makes me….

Whenever my little daughter comes to me crying to me, I always try to calm her down,
but there are times when in begging her that the tears flow more and the yelp grows
louder, what I do next is to give her a glass of water. Once she drinks the water the
tears stops and she calms down immediately. There is a strong therapeutic power in
water. Little wonder the word of God and the Spirit of God sometimes are represented
with water in the scriptures. The word of God and His Spirit are the greatest source of
peace for mankind.

He leadeth me… After that the Lord has calmed you down then He can lead you. It is
difficult for a man who had not calmed down to listen for instructions, he is too
fidgety. That was why the Lord had to lead Elijah to the cleft of the rock and the
Bible said he heard God only in the still small voice. God is not in the noise. The only
assurance you can receive is through His words and Spirit; there is no better therapy
than these. But till you calm down, you may never hear Him, not because He does not
wish to communicate with you, but you are too preoccupied with yourself to hear
God.

He leads you besides the still water- not the restless water as the beach- and brings
restoration to your soul. Your confidence is restored, not because situation has
changed, but because you have come in contact with the life giver, peace giver,
healer, provider and way maker. You have seen that the situation is not beyond Him,
and by inference it is not beyond you to overcome, you have seen that the victory is
 already yours even though you are yet to lay hold on it. You have heard from your
maker, He who calms the storms of life.

All of a sudden you are ready to fire on, to face whatever challenge is before you because
He had brought your soul back to the place of working without toiling; you are able to
go on without being weary, your fellowship with Him have given you a new lease of
life.

You have waited upon the Lord, hence your strength is renewed, you have been
invigorated again, ready to confront every obstacle, ready to face the pressures of life
without breaking, seeing opportunities in the midst of what all call challenges,
rejoicing in tribulations knowing that it is an avenue for your promotions

Ladies and Gentlemen: like never before in this season of uncertainties in the world, the
Lord is asking His children to retreat (so to speak), get back into the cocoon of
fellowship with your heavenly father; for if you will do that you will see His plans for
you is sure.

You must know that there is no situation that catches God by surprise, He knows and sees
the end from the beginning and He is waiting on you too to come into His rest that He
might show you the green pastures even in the midst of this economic melt-down and
uncertainties that surround you now. His stimulus package had been prepared for you
over two thousand years ago and He is not waiting on any senate committee to sign it
into law neither is He waiting on the implementation committee to bring it to pass, He
watches over His words to perform. HAPPY EASTER HOLIDAY, MAY YOU
EXPERIENCE HIS RESURECTION POWER IN ALL THAT PERTAINS TO
YOUR LIFE IN JESUS NAME.