O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing

I remember in 1999, my doctors told me that in just a few years down the road I would have to be in the wheelchair for the rest of my life, requiring support for day-to-day basic activities.

Here am I today, shouting and screaming praises to God.

I remember in 2013, the surgeon told me that my medical history presented a constellation of risks for doing the surgery that was the only medical option left for me to have a chance at living a quality life again. He determined that I could bleed to death on the operating table.

Here am I today, shouting and screaming praises to God.

I remember a few years ago, I laid on the black leather sofa in my sitting room and I thought of Saturday, October 1^st, 2016. My physical realities then indicated that it would be nothing short of a miracle to still be here in the land of the living on this special day of my life.

Here am I today, heaping praises on God.

I remember when the label of affliction screamed louder than a gigantic billboard along a highway. It was God Who delivered me for its shame.

Here am I today, dancing and giving thanks to God.

I remember when living was difficult and the future looked bleak, it was God who delivered me from death. He brought me through the valley of the shadow of death.

He restored me. He sustained me. He secured me.

I will remember. I will remember the wonderful works of His hands.

I will stop and give Him praise.

Why?

Because He is a faithful God.

For the past few weeks, I wondered, I pondered; what can I render to God for His amazing grace that 

He caused to abound to me from the day I was conceived until this day.

What can I offer to Him for His unending love?

How can I thank Him ever thank Him enough for all He has done for me?

What shall I say to the Lord for steadfast faithfulness to me?

All I have to say is, “Thank You, God.”

So here am I to sing thanks and praises to God.

But if the more than 600,000 strands of hair on my scalp are made of tongues, they simply cannot be enough to recount all the many acts of wonder God has performed in my life for the past 50 years since I made my entrance into the world.

Charles Wesley (1707 – 1788) must have been in the same position as I am right now when he composed the hymn below:

O for a thousand tongues to sing

my great Redeemer's praise,

the glories of my God and King,

the triumphs of His grace!

This hymn succinctly expresses the depth of my gratitude and my earnest desire to let God know just how much I am grateful for who He has been to me. The triumphs of His amazing grace in my life is a book worth writing. I could write volumes on the triumphs of the grace and mercy of God manifested in my life.

During the next few days leading to my 50^th birthday on October 1^st, what I desire to do is to employ a thousand tongues to join me to spread through all the earth abroad, the honors of His name. Join me to heap praise on God.

I will stop, take time and lavish extravagant praise on God, for great is God’s faithfulness and amazing grace to me.

I invite you who know my story to join me; let’s raise together a thousand tongues to sing the praises of my great Redeemer.

This blog post was inspired by the following hymn and songs:

1. O for a thousand tongues by Charles Wesley

2. Na You by Frank Edward

3. We will remember by Tommy Walker

Anchor For The Storms

“The LORD redeems the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” – Ps 34:22

It is so uplifting and such a blessing to know that we have a God Who will never leave any of His own children desolate in the midst of the storm or in the times of hardship or adversity. Desolate, in the sense that one feels abandoned and devoid of help, hope and comfort. He always steps in to rescue us.

My experience during the month of October proved this to me beyond imagination, and it also confirmed to me that God always prepares an anchor ready to hold us fast to Himself so that we are not swept away by the fury of the storms of life. He reveals these anchors as we dwell close to Him and in His presence.

Every year during my birth-month—October, I commit myself to doing something different to deepen fellowship with God and develop a more intimate relationship with Him. As September came to an end, I began to seek God’s face concerning my fellowship with Him in October. I wanted to know what new dimension He wanted to bring into my fellowship with Him. It was on the last day of the September that a verse in the Bible caught fire in my spirit. It was in 1Timothy 2:1. The God’s Word translation encouraged us to make petitions, prayers, intercessions, and prayers of thanks for all people. The Message translation magnified the text urging us to pray in every way we know how, for everyone we know.

A light-bulb flicked on in my spirit—I knew what God wanted me to do throughout the month of October. And I set about doing so—to pray for everyone I know, past and present, in every way I know how to pray.

It was during the first week that I had the foreboding of a storm as I prayed for everyone I know. But in the process of praying for some specific persons, I felt in my heart that it was in the dimension of fighting spiritual warfare—battling the enemy for the souls of these loved one. I knew God had always provided an anchor for me to fasten my faith and hope during storms in the past. And He would surely do so again.

We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Stedfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.

God’s word is timeless. It is eternal. It stands firm no matter how fierce the storm may be. David declared that God’s Word and truth are dependable (Ps 119:89-93). “If Your revelation, law and instructions had not delighted and sustained me, I would have given up when hard times came or in my afflictions. This verse jumped at me as I studied my Bible on Monday 12^th.

Sometimes, when storms come, they come with fury, intense fierceness and with high waves that threaten to capsize the boat, such as was recorded in Mark 4. I was elated and filled with joy when I read of how Jesus rebuked the storm and commanded it to be still, and how the storm immediately 

obeyed and became calm.

This word became a lifeline and a sure anchor for me a few hours later when the storm hit. It came in the form of excruciating pain in my lower back. I had my sista-friend, Bidemi visiting me with her husband. We had planned an outing for the day. I refused to allow the pain to cancel our plans. Every step was in pain. Each time the pain seared through my back, the word, “Peace, be still!” echoed in my spirit. So it continued throughout the day. That night, all I could do was cry out, “I rebuke you, storm of pain in the name of Jesus. At the name of Jesus, be still.” At past 2:00 am, the storm obeyed the word of God, and it became calm. And I dozed off to sleep. I could not but give praise to God when I woke up in the morning. I praised Him for giving me that word and bring it to my remembrance before the storm struck. It provided an anchor for me as I was tossed about by the strong stormy winds.

Two weeks later, just before the next storm came, I had a strong leading in my spirit to study about the victory that Jesus died to purchase for us on the cross at Calvary. As I learnt more about the victory that God gave us through our Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:57, I came to understand that God desires for both you and me to walk in complete and full victory in EVERY situation and every sphere of our lives. We truly have no excuse for not walking in full victory because God has removed every obstacle out of our way because it is His will for us to learn to know the full benefits provided for us in Christ. God always cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus.

I knew I had to add this dimension to praying for everyone that I know so that they may also learn to appropriate the full victory and the full benefits of the cross in every sphere of their lives. God teaches us the secrets of keeping His victory flowing in our heart as we walk close with Him. That was what I wanted for every member of my family and all my friends, and that was what I prayed for them.

When the storm came in the form of an unexplained generalized allergy that caused severe itching all over my body, I held fast to the word of truth that Jesus died to give me victory over the affliction. The pain and the irritation kept my body restless, but my heart rested on the word that anchored me firm with hope.

I refused to give up praying for everyone I know in every way I know. I stood on the premise that Jesus came to set the lawful captives free and to deliver the prey of the mighty. I refused to be distracted by the harassment of the enemy knowing fully well that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. And in all these things, WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS.

God restored me to full health and strength again. Indeed, He restored me to even greater honour, and He comforted me. The trials and afflictions of my soul helped me to develop endurance and strength of character. October has been a victorious month. It has set the tone for the next eleven months of my life. I will walk in victory in every sphere of my life until I arrive at October 2016.

May your souls find rest in Jesus as you remained anchored by His word of in every storm of your lives. May God’s word sustain you with joy and quicken so that you are enabled to stand strong and overcome the storms.

Beyond The Pain To Life Beyond Imagination

We will remember, we will remember
We will remember the works of Your hands
We will stop and give you praise
For great is Thy faithfulness

– Tommy Walker

It was a Sunday morning. We were getting ready for church. I picked up the huge box of cookies my cousin gave me and said to my husband, “I’m taking this to share with the children in church. I dare not eat this alone.”

He laughed and looked up to heaven.

You're our creator, our life sustainer
Deliverer, our comfort, our joy
Throughout the ages You've been our shelter
Our peace in the midst of the storm

“Blessed be God. Do you remember once upon a time, you had to drink Resource Protein and Energy supplements and eat high-energy cookies?”

How can I forget? For many years, I lost weight so rapidly that my doctors placed me on these not-nice-tasting supplements. I was compelled to drink a bottle twice a day. I remembered how often my husband searched the shops for tasty high-protein high-energy snacks. I remembered how difficult it was for me to eat or hold down what I had eaten. I remembered the awful pain in my tummy after eating, which often left me groaning and rolling in pain.

When we walk through life's darkest valleys
We will look back at all You have done
And we will shout, our God is good
And He is the faithful One

I spent time over the past days reflecting on that season in life’s darkest and lonely valley. I remembered how God has been our peace in the midst of the storm. I remembered how God has been turning it all around. In the past fifteen months, I can eat without the fear of pain. I can eat and hold down my food. I have moved from under 50kg to 63kg. I no longer have to use pins to hold my skirts and trousers at the waist. 

Yes, indeed I do remember the work of God’s hands.

It is apt at this turning point in my life to look back into this decade of my life and consider the goodness and mercies God showered on me. Indeed, I see God’s hands turning ashes to beauty. The haggard and strained visage is gone. I am blossoming again in every sphere of my life. God’s mighty hands brought me out of my long winter season and caused my life and strength to spring to life again. It is a brand new season. God is doing a new thing, and it shall yet break forth. In the month of September alone, I stood and shared my story at many places I could not have imagined just a year ago.

As the old year fades away tonight and  new beginning dawns for me on October 1^st, I wish I have a thousand tongues to sing the praises of my Lord and King. How I wish I could employ the host of heaven to join me in adoring my Father and God. He is a good Father to me. He is the epitome and definition of a good Father.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
my dear Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy name.

Composed by Charles Wesley (1739)

Go Beyond The Pain:

Joseph could have become bitter and remained angry after going through the pain of rejection in the pit, the distress of false accusation in Potiphar's house and the despair of abandonment in the prison. But he looked beyond the pain and considered that all the adversity he endured was God sending him ahead to prepare a posterity for his family (Gen. 45: 7-8).

My life story has several chapters of misery, pain, discomfort, and distress, but it is not a tragedy. God’s grace richly abounding to me empowered me to channel my season of pain and adversity to bring about good in the lives of others. If my story can become a means of inspiring hope and pointing others going through adversity to the Supreme Source of hope, then it is not a story of tragedy but a story of victory. My pain is not in vain. My pain is not purposeless.

I am persuaded that our story of pain and affliction can become a source of encouragement to others if we tap into the grace of God that is abundantly available to us. I believe that our season of affliction and adversity can become a unique opportunity to reach out and touch the lives of people in our community for good. I believe there’s someone waiting at the end of our dark tunnel who can derive comfort from our experience if we refuse to give up on hope, and if we refuse to give in to despair but push through to the end.

I have many friends who have suffered the pain and grief of losing a precious loved one. But they have turned the pain to an opportunity to reach out and bring hope to others going through similar experience or ensure that others do not suffer from the same experience. Someone else can derive comfort and be blessed because of what you have gone through this challenging experience, and you have endured through the keeping grace of God.

Dear Friends, there is absolutely nothing you have gone through or still going through that can go to waste. God is using it all to shape you, mould you, and prepare you for the purpose He ordained for your life. I encourage you to look beyond the pain, and you will see how God is working it together for good. You will see God turning it around not only for your good but for the good of many others waiting at the end of your dark tunnel.

There is a grace that is sufficient for every situation that we may find ourselves. Grace is God stooping down to reach out to us at our point of need. He is the God of all grace. After we have suffered for a little while, He will Himself restore us, making us strong, steadfast and firm (1Pet. 5:10). Grace empowers us for victory. We begin to appreciate the import of grace when we are in a dire need of the supernatural ability to live beyond the circumstances and challenges besetting us. It is only the grace of God that can empower us to go beyond the pain of the moment and expectantly look forward to living life beyond imagination.

"Grace abounds like an ever-flowing stream in the valley of adversity."

I have tasted of this GRACE. I can testify of its sufficiency. That is why I can say with confidence and gratitude to God; I am living life to the full again. I am living my dream. I am traveling and talking. My story of over twenty years of being tried in the crucible of affliction has become a testimony touching lives for good. It has become a ministry inspiring hope beyond what I could ever have imagined. It has become an opportunity to enrich lives and galvanize action for amputees and physically challenged persons who do not have access to services that can make life bearable. It is beyond my wildest imagination.

Join me to celebrate life and God's goodness during October (my birth month), by encouraging people around us to GO BEYOND THE PAIN.

Share your story of a season of pain, adversity and challenges, and how God has turned it around for good. Tell us how a difficult season in your life has become an opportunity to reach out and touch the lives of other people for good. Share here on the blog, by email, on the Facebook or twitter.

Please add @Irene Olumese and #GoBeyondThePain to your story when you share on the Facebook or Twitter. That way others can be blessed and encouraged by this one month of #GoBeyondThePain event. 

This blog post includes excerpts from the sermon I preached at HOTRIC, London – Beyond The Pain on Sunday, Sept. 20^th and the talk I gave at the Q Commons Talk – Beyond Imagination on Friday, Sept. 25^th, 2015. 

Choices At The Point Of Change

The temperature in Geneva reached a high of over 40 degrees this week. The highest temperature recorded since 2003. The unbearable furnace-like heat reminded me of my days in Tamale, Ghana and Cairo, Egypt. It was during my sojourn in these places that I experienced such high temperatures. We talked much about those times during the past week.

I paused and pondered.

So much change has taken place in my life since I left Tamale in 2003 and Cairo in 2007.

Change I did not expect
Change I did not engineer
Change I did endure

Change came. It altered the course of my life. It took me to a different altitude.

Since we took off from Geneva, I watched the altitude rising on the monitor, waiting to see when the plane would get to its cruising altitude. It did. 35 minutes into the flight over Luxembourg at 12,195 meters (40,000 feet).

If we hit a storm, the pilot will have to make a choice of possible actions, which may alter the flight path. And we may not arrive at our planned destination, at least not at the scheduled time.

I love flying. That was one of the things I enjoyed working with UNICEF for 15 years—I did a lot of traveling. I love visiting new places. I loved the thrill. I loved adventure.

Change came. It took that from me for a season. But God is turning it around for my good and in my favor.

At the beginning of 2015, I set my watchword for the year—be consistent, complete and stay focussed. Six months gone already, we are in the second half of the year. It is time to take stock and do a midterm review. There's no better place for me to do that than at this altitude—12,000meters above sea level floating on soft white clouds. That's where I am writing this post on my way to Lagos via Amsterdam.

As I pondered on the first half of 2015, I was overwhelmed by how much God has used the change that altered the course of my life to impact lives. It is simply beyond words. This has been a very busy year but who would have thought two years ago that it will turn out this way. I had several opportunities to share my story. The story of God's grace that sustained me through the storm.

Grace kept through the stormy change. Grace is giving purpose to the change. I could not give up on hope during the storm because I have experienced God as a faithful and loving Father. In the face of unexpected change, I learnt that the choices I make will determine whether or not I will fulfil God's purpose for me in the situation and beyond.

I chose never to give up on hope, come what may.

Change is a constant. It is inevitable. It is unavoidable. It is will come to each of us at one point in time or the other and in one form or the other. Some change is for good. Some, not so good.

What do we do when change comes on us unannounced?

The choices you make when you are faced with change will determine your destination—where you end up.

The month of June was profound in many ways. I spent three weeks with my Sista and fellow dream-chaser, Bidemi Mark-Mordi. We encouraged and built each other up as iron sharpens iron. More importantly, from London to Zurich to Geneva, we saw God moving beyond our wildest imagination during the Sistapower Gathering and Women Conferences we attended. He used the stories He has written of our lives to inspire and encourage women from diverse backgrounds to be who God created and called them to be, irrespective of the change that has visited their lives.

We saw God using a willing vessel in London. We saw the dividend of time invested in prayers in Zurich. We saw how God burdened our hearts with the revelation to bring about redemption and heal the broken in Geneva. And plenty tears did flow.

I had many lightbulb moments during the Geneva meeting. God confirmed again that He is too wonderful for comprehension. If you ever think you know God's word so much that you can take it for granted, you need a rethink. The stories of the change that came upon the two Tamars in the Bible came alive for me in a brand new way as Bidemi Mark-Mordi expounded "The Tales Of Two Tamars."

Change came upon these women in the Bible.
It was unexpected.
They did not ask for it.
They did nothing to bring it on themselves.
In fact, they did not deserve it.
Yet change came. And it was cruel.

The two women were broken by those who should have done right by them. They were broken in pieces inside. They suffered the pain they did not solicit.

Does that sound familiar to you?

One was condemned to the broken life of childless widowhood in her father's house. The other was condemned to the broken life of a shamed, defiled and undefended woman.

But that was as far as the similarities went.
Their responses to the change were different.
The choices they made in the face of unspeakable change were different.
The outcome was also different.

What was the difference?

One Tamar stayed in the place of brokenness—the place where she was broken by man, life, and circumstances. She remained desolate in her brother's house for the rest of her life (2Samuel 13).

The other Tamar opted to get up from the place she was broken by three different men. She seized the opportunity and did something about her brokenness. She turned it around. She became the mother of Perez, the great great grandfather of Boaz. Boaz was the grandfather of David (Genesis 38, Ruth 4:16-22).

Life can be unfair. Bringing cruel, painful and often irreparable change. But at what point do you get up and step on the pain? At what point do you jump on the springboard of change and let it catapult you to your next level.

When life visits us and change come upon us, we need to know what does not change; God does not change. His undying love for you does not change. His plan and purpose for your life does not change. Let me assure you that God is working through the change to bring His purpose for your life into full manifestation.

1. What would you do you do when no one can put you together?
Quite honestly no one can put you together when you have been broken. But if you draw strength from above and look up to God, He can put the smithereens back together again.

2. What would you allow to break you that you will refuse to stand again?

When Bidemi asked these two questions, I understood again that God has given us the will to choose. He also made His grace abundantly available if we choose to get up from the places where we have been broken.

My dear friends, what would you do?

Would you choose to stand firm in faith and hope, come what may?
Would you choose not to give up on hope?
The choices you make in the face of change can make or mar your destiny.

You need that the remedy for the bitter pools in your life has been prepared in advance before you get to Marah (Exodus 15: 22-26).

The change your life experiences bring can become assets for your ministry or launching pad to fulfilling purpose. Yes, your pain, your physical/emotional trauma, etc., are assets that can allow you to reach other people who may be going through the similar experience.

I would never have appreciated the depth of pain that goes with losing a child if I have never felt it.
I would never have understood the agony and anxiety of waiting for a child if I didn't suffer a waiting, howbeit short.
I would definitely not have known the challenges, distress and frustrations of living with chronic, long-term diseases but for the twenty years I spent in the valley of affliction.
I would not have given an amputee more than a cursory look until I experienced first-hand the challenges of being an amputee. Now I understand how handicap unfriendly many of our facilities. Many times, I go into the shops, I can't find a place to sit, rest and take the weight off my limbs.

My painful changes and life experiences are taking me to a higher altitude in my walk with God, and in fulfilling God's kingdom agenda.

Yours can too!

What are your painful change experiences? How can it help you become a solution to those around you? Ponder on these questions and do feel free to share. Let's encourage one another.

We Call, He Answers, And He Reveals

“Call unto Me, I will answer, and show you great and hidden things that you do not know.” (ESV).

“...I’ll tell you marvellous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.” (MSG). – Jeremiah 33:3.

It has been several weeks since I planned to write this blog post but I did not get a release in my heart to do so. It was held back. And I did not have any inclination to write on another topic over the last couple of weeks. The Lord illuminated some truths in my heart on Wednesday morning, which gave me the impetus and much needed release to write this post.

I will share with you in this post my understanding of the scripture quoted above from Jeremiah 33:3 and how I have applied it to some seemly knotty and intractable issues in my life and in the lives of several persons in my sphere of influence who I have been standing in the gap for. I will also share some of the truths God illuminated in my heart as I asked for the revelation of the hidden things. These include how deep-seated anger and offenses cause scars, calluses and hardness in our hearts, and how these can impair the vitality of our relationship with God and with significant people in our lives.

The Call: “Cry to Me”

“Call Upon me” is not a plea. It is not a request. It is an instruction.

These were the words of Pastor Mayokun Oreofe, a dear Sista I met at the ROTH 2014 Conference in Lagos last July. These words caught fire in my spirit and have been resonating in my heart since then.

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble (distress);” (Ps. 50:15)

“Is there anyone in trouble? Let them pray.” (James 5:13)

“In my distress, I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.” (Ps. 18:6)

In August 2012, I wrote Unravelled. It was about intractable situations we sometimes face in life. Situations that are as complex as the Gordian knot—inextricable, challenging, complicated, convoluted and multi-faceted. Some are a tangled mess, defying understanding or solution. According to Charles Spurgeon (1908), it is God alone Who can untie the Gordian knots we try to unravel in our lives.

That is why we are instructed in the Bible that when we are faced with seemly intractable challenging situation, our only and best option is cry to God in fervent prayer.

My life’s story gave me several opportunities to acquire some experience in crying out to God. There have been instances when I had to open my mouth and cry out with a loud voice to the Lord of my salvation; “O God, help me,” I screamed at the top of my voice in my closet. “Father, intervene in this situation,” as I intercede over a burden concerning someone in my sphere of influence.

“Is there anything too difficult for You to do?”

“Can a heart be so hard that You cannot touch and soften?”

“Is there a situation too far gone that You cannot resolve and restore?”

It is at such times that I thank God for the thick walls of my house. No one but God could hear me crying out. And there have been instances when I have cried out to God in my heart yet not a sound came out of my lips. I had tracheotomy tube in my throat connected to the machine that was helping me to breath. I had no voice. I could not make any sound, yet in agony I cried out in my heart. I clenched my fist as tight as I could in that state of sheer weakness and exhaustion. I closed my eyes, and my heart wept before God. My soundless cry went before Him, into His ears.

Calling upon God is not a passive asking or a by-the-way making of request. It is akin to crying out to Him with a loud voice even if soundless. It is active. It requires effort. It requires consistency and diligence.

The Answer: “I will answer…”

“...I shall rescue (deliver) you, and you will honour Me. (Ps. 50:15)

“From His temple, He heard my voice; my cry came to before Him, into His ears.” (Ps 18:6)

“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” (Ps. 145:18)

The Bible assures us that God is gracious to hear us when we cry out to Him for help. Because our cry brings us into His presence—granting us a private audience with Him (Ps18:6, MSG). As soon as He hears, He will answer us (Is. 58:9). We are also assured that His ears are ever open to our cry. He will listen to us. He will rescue. He will deliver. He will save. This is the guaranteed assurance that we have. When we come close to God, He comes close to us (James 4:8). He is near to those who call upon Him in truth.

When we call on God with the intensity that is described by crying out, God’s response is also intense. The Bible noted that in response to David’s cry of distress, God responded with anger and indignation. To the extent that the earth quaked and rocked like aspen leaves, and the foundations of the mountains trembled. God bowed the heavens and came down. He thundered from heaven and flashed like lightning against the cause of David’s distress to rout them. Then, He reached out from on high and drew David out of his troubles and delivered him from his strong enemies. This is the intensity of God’s response when we cry out to Him. He answers with thunder from heaven.

This gives me great confidence that God most assuredly responds to our cry for help and in His own time and in His own way, He brings us an answer.

The Revelation: “…and show you hidden things which you do not know.”

The instruction is to Call Unto God. The guaranteed assurance is that He Will Answer. The promise is that He will reveal hidden and secret things. My understanding of this is that when we heed God’s instruction and we cry out to Him in prayer and supplication, He will answer. Not only will He answer, He will reveal those things which are fenced in and hidden from our sight that will lead us to the answer He has guaranteed us.

“… From now on, I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you” (Isaiah 48.6).

We also know from Deuteronomy 29:29 that the secret things belong to the Lord but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may follow His word. God promised to take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are ours.

I knew with all my heart that I needed to know these hidden, fenced and secret things that will lead me to see the manifestation of the promised answer to my cry to God on behalf of my family, friends, church and nation. So I stood on the authority of this promise, and beseech God to reveal to me what we need to know. It is only in the place of prayer that secret and hidden things are revealed—in the place where we call upon the name of the Lord.

These are remarkable secrets we do not know about things to come. The Bible says that they are mysterious, incomprehensible and difficult to understand by the human mind in itself. They are things we do not know about. They are marvellous and wondrous things that we could not have figured out on our own. That is why they need to be revealed. Because they make huge impact on our lives.

God sees the complex situations we find ourselves in today just as He saw the misery of His people in Egypt as recorded in the Book of Exodus. He hears our cry today just as He heard the people of Israel crying because of their slave drivers. And as He declared then, so even now He is concerned about our situation. God see, God hears and God acts on our behalf. It gives me such great joy that we have a High Priest that is moved by our feeling of infirmity, by our distress and by our afflictions. One of the ways God acts on our behalf is to reveal those things we need to know.

In response to my cry, God in His faithfulness did reveal some of these hidden things and illuminated His truth brilliantly in my heart. I will share with you in the concluding post coming next what I have learnt about how scars, calluses and hardness in our hearts impairs the vitality of our relationship with God and thus hinder the answers to our prayers.

Ministering Gratitude in Difficult Times

Sometimes, life happens. And it happens in a way that we least anticipated. It happens and threatens with such ferocity that can rip a house off its foundation. It feels like a tornado just touched down at our doorsteps.

Yes, I am talking about those seasons in our lives, when everything appears to be as dry and empty as in a desert, and we feel isolated. Those seasons when things appear to be all jumbled and tangled together as in a wilderness. It is a mess, one problem after the other, one dead end after the other, and we feel lost. We cannot see a way out.

Even in the driest desert, if we look close enough, we will see a form of life thriving—junipers and cactus, for example. On a dry patchy land we see budding plant. There is also God’s promise that He will cause rivers to flow in the desert. In the wilderness where tree branches are twisted and tangled together, there is the promise of God that He will make a way.

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1Thess 5:18 (NLT).

We are called to give thanks and minister gratitude to God in ALL situations. Definitely not FOR all situations. This tells me that in those difficult and challenging situations, I can give thanks simply because God is God and because that is the will of God for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And I belong to Jesus. I can also give thanks in that situation because I have the assurance of God’s presence. He promised, He will NEVER leave us, forsake us or abandon us. He is ever-present with us even when it seems imperceptible or difficult to believe.

The sweet deal is that whatever kind of storm is whirling and roaring around us, that storm did not catch God unawares. NOTHING, I mean absolutely NOTHING, catches God unawares. He knew about it before it came and it is already in His hands. If He allows it, then there is a reason and a purpose for that storm—that difficult and challenging situation facing you like a looming mountain.

It is at such times that I love to sing this lovely chorus:

My God is bigger than all my problems

Bigger than all my cares

God is bigger than any mountain

I can or cannot see

This is very true. God is bigger than any mountain. He is bigger than any challenge we may be faced with. He is bigger than any issue we may have to deal with. He is bigger than the fiercest storm whirling around us.

The Psalmist said, “I will bless the Lord AT ALL TIMES, and His praises SHALL continually be in my mouth” (Ps 34:1). He declared that he will speak constantly of God’s praise. Believe me, this was at a time when he was pretending to be insane so that he could escape from Abimelech. Through he was threatened with death, yet he purposed in his mind to put the praises of God upon his lips.

‘I WILL’ is a determined decision, so is ‘I SHALL.’ Therefore, it means that irrespective of what that TIME of life or season of life David was faced with, he made a determined and conscious decision that he WILL bless the Lord and he WILL ensure that God’s praises are in his mouth. Not complaints, not grumbling and not curses but praises.

I have to purpose in my heart that I will rejoice in the Lord when I am hurting, when things are not going the right way, and when I have no answers to the numerous questions pounding my brain until I feel the vein pulsating hard on my temple.  My heart will sing praise to God even when only groaning escape from my lips. When pain sears through the core of my being like a hot iron, even then, I will praise Him. Because, I know He is with me. Because I know He is a God of all-knowing and He knows where I am. Because my High Priest, Jesus Christ, is not unmoved by my feeling of infirmity. He hears the silent and unvoiced cry from the deep recesses of my soul. God has to find praise in my heart when my body is contorted in pain and my soul is troubled within me.

Ponder on these questions:

What are we seeing in the midst of the storm? What are we focusing our attention on in the desert of  difficulties ? Whose voice are we hearing in the valley of the shadow of death?

On Wednesday, June 5^th, 2013, barely a week after the amputation of my legs, I was wheeled out of the intensive care unit. I was taken to the regular ward on the 8^th floor—an internal medicine ward—the place where I had many frequent stays for over ten years managing the chronic respiratory disease I suffered from. The nurses knew me very well and I had become quite close to some of them. Tears welled up in their eyes as they received me. “Why this on top of everything she had been through? What has amputation got to do with the lungs?” These and more were the questions I overheard them asking among themselves.

Shortly afterwards, doctors came to evaluate my mental state. They told me it was ok to be angry or to cry if I felt like doing so. They wanted me to be willing to talk about how I was feeling about the situation—a case of being dealt with a bad hand, anyone would say. After all, I had many reasons to be angry, after twenty years of living with a chronic and debilitating respiratory disease, with my life literally hanging on a thread spun with spider webs during the later seven years, why should I have to go through another calamity when I just got a miraculous victory over the respiratory problem? I certainly had every right to throw mega fits of anger. But I did not.

They thought I was in denial. They thought I was depressed because I did not want to talk to them about my emotions and they recommended anti-depressants. It was not that I wasn't in deep pain in my heart over the loss of my legs. It was not that I wasn't even angry at some time. But it did not serve any useful purpose to discuss my emotions with those would not understand the position I had chosen to take or help me. I made up my mind a long time ago that I will not be a subject of pity. I refused to be a victim.

I had to tell my longest serving nurse, who was very upset that I could not confide in her that I had decided a long time ago never to give up on hope.

“J'ai décidé longtemps que je ne jamais renouncé l’espoir.”

I am not without hope. Because of all I had been through over the past years, I knew that to be alive at that point in time and breathing without any support or effort in itself is a miracle and a precious gift. Grace kept directing and leading me to focus on that miracle. That became the focus of my attention. It became my raison d'etre to give thanks and praise to God in the midst of the continuing storm. Grace enabled me to latch on the word of assurance God gave me a few days before the amputation—He has given me the Feet of Grace.

The grace of God is always abundantly available and sufficient for every storm, for every difficult situation and every challenging circumstance that we go through in life. But we have to choose to lay hold of it as if our next breath depends on it.

I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do

-          Through It All by Andrea Crouch.

Dear Friends, when we know God is Who He says He is and we keep our focus on that, we are able sing praise and minister gratitude to Him in the difficult times. You can be assured that He is there in it with you.

I pray that these songs will inspire an outburst of praise where you may be right now.

For Every Mountain by Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Through It All by Andrea Crouch and Cece Winans

Memory Making Moments

There are moments in life that are amazing. Some, simply beyond amazing. Moments that cannot be captured by the shutters of a camera. Moments of intense joy captured by our soul and etched in our memories, creating reflections of God’s amazing blessings, mercies and grace.

 

Azgek | Dreamstime.com

We had many of such epic moments during the six-week period of our family vacation, first in our home country, Nigeria and later in UK. That’s why I have been absent from the blogosphere since July 1^st.

Despite all my good intentions and with much to share, it was very difficult for me to find the kind of time I needed to write and post our experience on the blog. Therefore, the next couple of blog posts will be devoted to these precious memory making moments we had during our trip.

It had been four years since I last visited Nigeria and seen many of my family members and faithful friends. They have all been praying along with us and supporting us with fervent prayers during the dark season of our lives especially in last seven years. It was, therefore, appropriate that these who travailed so much in prayer on our behalf should also have the joy of sharing in our praise and thanksgiving to God for the awesome work of deliverance and restoration He brought to pass in my life.

The first thing we wanted to do upon our arrival at home in Nigeria was to have a thanksgiving service in our home church, Christ Chapel, UCH, Ibadan. The story of my twenty years of being tried in the crucible of affliction began there at the University College Hospital, where we both lived and worked in the early 1990s. It was there the doctors made the initial diagnosis of the lung disease and potentially debilitating neurological disease. It was also our brethren in the Christ Chapel who supported us and upheld us in prayers at that initial phase of dealing with the problem. It was, therefore, apt for us to return to where we started from—this was truly a homecoming event for us.

And they praised God.

The testimony elicited spontaneous and unadulterated praise to God. We were overwhelmed, amazed and astonished at genuine joy and gladness expressed by our families and friends. Their joy and thanksgiving on our behalf was intoxicating. Their appreciation of God’s faithfulness was authentic. The praise they offered to God is simply beyond description, indeed beyond amazing.

They lifted their hands in adoration; they bowed their heads in worship, and they danced as David danced unto the Lord. This experience was replicated everywhere God gave us the opportunity to share the testimony of His divine intervention in our lives. Many listened with amazement. Many wept, but it was tears of joy. Many were inspired to hold on and not give up on hope. Many simply stared in awe, too overwhelmed to utter a word. Many were encouraged to stay strong through their trials. I heard a number of people commenting that if God can sustain us through the twenty years of our trials and afflictions, He can surely keep them through their valley experience. The message of God’s amazing grace resounded through it all.

 Luke 5:26 says:

The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, “We’ve never seen anything like that!” (MSG).

Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!” (NLT).

Matthew 9:8 says;

When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man. (NIV)

Luke 7:16 says;

They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." (NIV).

And they gave glory and praise to God. That was indeed, the case for us. Our families and friends saw me walking free of all the paraphernalia and encumbrances of the many years of affliction, they heard of the manifold grace of God, which kept me, and they perceived God’s acts of wonder in my life. AND THEY PRAISED GOD—offering unadulterated sacrifice of thanks and praise. They were filled with awe; they marvelled saying “We have heard and seen remarkable and amazing things today.

I was awed at the manifold grace of God in turning our trials and afflictions of the past years to life-touching testimony. I was awed at the genuine warmth and love shown towards us.

Amazing Opportunities:

God surprised me with amazing opportunities to share my story and our testimony, and for many more people to join us in giving glory and praise to Him.

One of such was at an event tagged, “Women Worship Without Walls 2014” organized by Just Praise Ministries Worldwide in Ibadan on July 17^th, 2014. The program, anchored by Oluwatoyin Adegunle, was a gathering of women from all works of life coming together to offer one day of praise to God. Many renown Praise and Worship leaders from different churches and cities were there to lead the people into the presence of God in praise. The atmosphere was electric—charged with the Holy Spirit as over 2000 people praised and worshiped God in unity.

It was before this crowd that I shared the testimony of God’s grace made abundantly available to keep me and my family through the years of struggle with the chronic lung disease that literally drained life out of me. I shared the story of the grace that sustained me living with hope after the amputation of my feet following the complication of the surgery to replace my lungs.

The praise they offered to God was resounding, the intensity of which, simply can’t be captured by any camera, but are etched in my memory. Every remembrance of these memory making moments brings bouts of praise to my heart and causes me to reflect on God’s awesome mercies and grace to me.

My prayer for you today, my dear friends, is that you will experience the amazing and sustaining grace of God in your circumstances. I pray His grace put on display in your life and your situation will cause men to be astonished and to give praise to God on your behalf.

May the shouts of praise resonate in the heavenly places as people see the awesome works of wonder performed in your life by our gracious Father God.

I will share with you more memory making moments I experienced participating in the Return of the Helpers 2014 Conference in Lagos and the precious memory making moments my husband, sons and I shared together as a family as we dwelt in close proximity during our travels.

The Promise Of A New Thing

It was Monday morning and I found myself musing about some things that used to be a part of my life that I now see no more. The more I thought about these events, the more I found myself outlining them as a chapter for the book I am writing.

I remembered those days when I spent several hours each day coughing and bringing up ugly, dirty looking and horrible tasting secretions from my chest. I suffered from a lung disease called bronchiectasis and as a result had chronic chest infections, which necessitated intravenous antibiotic treatments that lasted for 21 days each time, several times in a year. The cough was so bad that it always left me in respiratory distress, with accompanying pain in my chest.

Countless number of times, I cried out to the Lord to deliver me from the cough and everything it represented. One day, I sat on the floor by my bedside, exhausted from the coughing. Before I knew it, the secretions started coming up, it came so fast and was so profuse that the tissue could not contain it. I had to collect what was coming out in my hands. It was at that moment that something broke inside of me. First, anger welled up in me against the bacteria which the doctors said had colonized my lungs. They told me it was difficult to get rid of it because of the state of my lungs despite the frequent antibiotic treatment.

Then, I looked at the secretions in my hands and started shouting as I struggled to get up to go to the bathroom; “You, Egyptians that I see today, I will see you again no more forever” (Exodus 14:13). I knew the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent takes it by force. I determined in my heart that I was not going to allow the devil to cheat me out of the promise of life and good health God has given me. So I decided to make the efforts, time and pain of coughing and clearing secretions from my lungs, count for something. Each time I brought up the awful secretions, I looked at it and I spoke the word of God to it, and declared; “It shall come to pass and I will see you no more forever.” The coughing and secretions thus became a reminder for me to speak the word of God to my situation and to remind me of what God has spoken concerning the situation.

To the glory of God, today, I surely see the secretions no more and I hear the rib-cracking cough no more. I outlived the vicious bacteria. My joy overflowed just to realize and to note that God heard my cry and took it all away. He gave me a brand new life free from the incessant harassment of the cough and all it represented. The old conditions and former order of things have passed away, Hallelujah! In accordance to God’s promise, the reproach of the cough was taken away from me.

http://monyawatson.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” This is the promise of God to His children in Isaiah 43:19. It is also the word of assurance God gave me while I was in the hospital undergoing respiratory rehabilitation in November 2010. This promise is being fulfilled every day in my life. I can testify that I am experiencing a new thing in different spheres of my life, which is beyond what I can share in one blog post.

Based on this experience, I can with full confidence declare that the adverse and challenging situation you may be going through right now will not always be there, because the faithful and unfailing God we serve has promised us that He will do a new thing in your life. God specializes in doing new things in our lives: “I am making everything new” (Rev. 21:5). He causes old things to pass away and make all things new when come to Christ. He gives us a new heart and put a new spirit in us. He turns our captivity and we are like them that dream.

The One Who brings about changes in our lives is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He wants to do new things in our lives every day. His eyes goes through and fro the earth seeking to show Himself mighty in on our behalf. He promised to call us a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

For many years, I was referred to as “the woman with the cough,” even to my hearing. During a hospital stay in 1998, while I was practically coughing my lungs out, one lady shouted from across the ward: “this cough will not kill you.” Well, praise be to God, I am delighted to say that I am still in the land of the living declaring the goodness of God and the cough is no more. God has changed my name from “the one with the cough” to “Kept by the Hands of God” and “Grace in motion.”

The new thing God is doing in my life and in the lives of my loved ones, is just beginning to unfold. Now, it shall spring forth. Indeed, I am persuaded that testimonies will abound in our lives this year as we see the fulfillment of God’s promise and the display of His glory in our lives. I am believing God for new opportunities to do great exploits and fulfill my calling, new level of walk with God, new manifestation of God's glory in my life, new and extraordinary blessings, and newness in all my relationships.

This promise of a new thing is valid for you too. You can appropriate it to your life and to your situation. You can trust in God to bring His promise to pass in you as you depend and rely on Him, and as you speak His Word to your situation.

May God’s grace continue to abound in your life and  bring you to your promised land.

When God Put His Glory On Display

Do you remember the old Sunday School chorus based on the healing of the lame man by Peter and John at the temple's gate called Beautiful in Acts 3?

Silver and Gold have I not

But such that I have give I unto you

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Rise up and walk

He was walking and leaping and praising God x2

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Rise up and walk.

The crippled man rose up, he walked, and leaped and praised God. The people around at the temple saw him walking, leaping and praising God. And they recognized that it was the same man who used to sit at the temple's gate begging for aims.

They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Now, this man was crippled from birth.

The wonderful works of God puts His glory on display in our lives. People and nations, including the heathen, shall see it and declare that our God is good. When God moves on our behalf at the appointed time to show pity on us and to favour us, people around us shall see it and reverently worship the name of the Lord. Kings shall praise Him because of His mighty works in our lives (Ps 102:13-15).

Great was David's distress and affliction in Ps 102, that he sat alone like a bereaved sparrow on a rooftop. He was inwardly depressed by his afflictions and trials that he lost the will to live. But David  was confident that God will answer his prayers because he knew that God will not despise the plea of the destitute. He was confident that God would not forget forsake or abandon him.

For the Lord looks down from His Holy heaven to behold us His people on earth, and to listen to our plea. Because of His faithfulness to us, men will declare His praise and people shall gather together to worship Him.

It gives us such an assurance to know experientially that God looks down from heaven and He behold us. His eyes are intent on us and He is greatly concerned about us. David was assured that as a result of the anticipated deliverance, the name of the Lord will be praised when the people of God gather together in Zion.

This same confidence and assurance was expressed in Ps 126 as he declared: "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream." God did an amazing thing in their lives to the extent that it was like a dream. It was too good to be true. Because of this awesome work of God, they laughed with joy and overflowed with praise. It was so loud and copious that even the heathen (that is, those who don’t believe in God), who heard them, had to affirm that their God had done great things for them.

Isn't it wonderful when the display of God's mightiness and faithfulness in our lives would cause even those who do not acknowledge God to declare and confirm that our God is good and worthy to be praised? When God gives us a testimony that does not need explanation, everyone who sees us would acknowledge the faithfulness of God on our behalf and give praise to His Holy name.

That was the case for me last Sunday. It was the Annual Thanksgiving and International Day in church, a day we set apart to bring offering of thanks and praise to God in a truly multicultural and international way. We are from different nations and cultures, and we add this diversity to our celebration of God's goodness in our lives. It is usually an extended service followed by a food fellowship during which we share food from our different countries to wrap-up the celebration.

It was an exceptional day of exhilarating joy for me for a number of reasons. Remember, God has done great things for us, whereof we are glad. First, it was the first time we did not have to worry about having someone to go back home to refill the oxygen tank because we would not have sufficient oxygen for the whole period we had to be in church. Last year, my husband who is in the choir had to leave mid-service to dash back home and refill the oxygen bottle.

Secondly, there were people at this special service who had not seen me for over year. The joy they expressed when they saw me without the supplemental oxygen paraphernalia is indescribable. They were so glad for me that they kept praising God and thanking Him for my healing. I was truly overwhelmed at their reaction. They had never seen me before without the paraphernalia. It was a unique sight for them.

One of them was the Guest Preacher. He surely gave praise to God for what He has done in my life and he declared that this is a testimony that needed no explanation.

But there can be no testimony without a test. And it does not matter how long the tests and trials last for. It is the victory that God gives us over the difficult and challenging situations that brings the praise and put the glory of God on display in our lives. Like the man who was blind from birth and was healed by Jesus in John 9, it was for the glory of God to be made manifest that he had to go through that difficult situation. Our calamities and afflictions are for the glory of God and to make manifest His works.

In Matthew 9:8 and 15:31, the people were amazed, astonished, awestruck and they marveled when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed become whole, the lame walking and the blind seeing. These are testimonies of the power of Jesus to heal at work in the lives of these individuals which could not be hidden. Then the people praised and glorified God. That power to heal and to deliver is still at work today in the lives of those who put their trust and hope in Him and believe in His name.

What we need to do in our day of trouble, distress and affliction, is to call upon the name of the Lord. As He promised in Ps 50 verses 15 and 23, He will answer us and He will deliver us. And what should our response be to this? We praise and glorify His name. But that is not all, many people around us will see it and also give praise to God because of what He has done for us.

David anticipated God's deliverance. He was very confident that God will not leave him that his difficult situation, therefore he was able to declare in advance that God will be glorified and praised because of what He will do on behalf of His people. We can begin to give praise to God while we are still in that difficult situation when we are confident that God is able to deliver us as He has promised.

We can praise our way through our days of trouble and distress just like Paul and Silas praised their way out of the prison. See the number of lives touched because these men confidently praised and worshiped God even while in bondage and shackles. God was so moved that He had to step into their situation and that cause the earth to quake bringing about their deliverance and release.

Dear Friends, the year 2013 is rapidly coming to an end, whatever the situation you may be facing right now, no matter how long it has lasted; you may even feel as if God has abandon you or He seems so far off and you have not seen your desires fulfilled yet. Let me this assurance give you, this situation is for the glory of God to be revealed and be put on display in your life. One thing I can assure you of is that, God loves you passionately with an amazing and unending love, and He is daily putting that love on display in your life.

Look back, look around you and then look up. There is so much for which you can thank and praise God. And soon, at the fullest of time, God will put His glory on display in your life such that men will see it, they will marvel, and they will rejoice and glorify God because of you.

This assurance alone is a reason and an opportunity to rejoice in the Lord and be glad. For those who sow in tears will come again with rejoicing and exhilarating joy as they bring the sheaves in.

May God's glory be on display in your life and home this Christmas Season and beyond.