DRAG SORROW OUT OF THE EQUATION

After quite some years of battling eye challenges, we returned home from a family event one evening to some sad news. Just like the blackness in the sky, all seemed to shut down when Mum told Dad she could not see any of us. It was not a fun day. But the next thing my mum did is quite instructive.

She proceeded on a fast to seek the face of the Lord. It was quite a bit of a long fast but she persisted. She eventually returned with scripture that changed the story:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

James 1:2-4 KJV

Beloved, the first thing that you must never allow a crisis to do to you is simple – never let a crisis choose your reaction. Let scripture determine your response. If you allow the crisis to take the wheels, it will end in disaster. If you allow scripture and the Spirit of the Lord to guide you in crisis, the tables will turn and out of the crisis, a testimony will emerge.

Second, your response to the crisis is more powerful than the crisis in itself. Apostle James said that the total summation of whatever comes your way must be joy. You must bring that sorrow to the altar of sacrifice and let it rise as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to the Lord.

Sacrifices in the Old Testament had bitter ingredients in them. Whatever is bitter must be laid on the altar. If you carry that bitter situation in your heart, it will lead to bitterness and your response will be poor. But if you lay it on the altar, you have removed the sting of hell, or like our generation will say “You have dodged a bullet”.

Third, let joy become the fuel for your new season. My mum had to resign from her job as a lecturer but with joy and in her state, she began to help nurse two babies of young mothers while they were away at work. Today, that act has given her a thriving school that she still oversees. If you remove the sting in that crisis, the table can turn or a testimony can emerge.

Every crisis can be a turning point depending on how you respond. If you panic and respond in fear, that can lead to greater sorrow. But if you lean on the grace of the Lord and follow through with the wisdom from the Word, it will turn around for your good.

I pray for you: In a crisis, you will thrive. In this nation, you will rejoice and see the goodness of the Lord. Your season of abundance is here. This is not the end!

temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa