WHEN THE REQUEST OF GOD IS HARD…

Just because we knew that the union between a full-time pastor (who was earning nothing) and a young lady who just finished her service year required foresight, we began to save as much as we could very early in courtship towards our wedding.

After about four months, all we had in savings was about forty thousand naira. For us, it was a lot of money. One evening as I worshipped the Lord, He placed a demand on that savings as a sacrifice. My jaw dropped but I called my fiancée (as she then was) and told her. She said to me, “If we can give God our lives, what stops Him from having our money”. We obeyed the Lord.

When the request of God is hard, ask the Lord that you are surrounded with those who would propel you to obedience and not those who would keep you away from obeying the Lord. There is power in the words of a spouse who can hear and heed the instructions of the Lord.

Some were on fire on Campus but their marriage has become a cooler of their godly passions. They cannot pray like they used to. They cannot serve the Lord like they desire to. They have settled for where they are. They feel like giants tied down. Remember, lighted coal and light up a fire. Stir it up again in prayers and obedience. If you refuse to be a lump of dead coal, you will light up your home.

What do you do when the request of God is hard? You must understand the operations of God. Like Abraham, when the Lord asked for Isaac, he called it worship. Worship is the answer for demands we cannot explain. Worship means total surrender to the Lord. Worship is complete and prompt obedience. Worship is trusting God when you do not understand. Worship is leaning on the strength of the Lord when your flesh seems weak. Worship is operating by the covenant- His strength becomes your strength.

Beloved, be like the Macedonian Church. They were so poor that Paul did not expect them to be able to give anything but they surprised Apostle Paul. These are the words of Paul:

In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
2 Corinthians 8:2‭-‬3‭, ‬5 NIV

What a mixture- Severe Trial and Overflowing Joy; Extreme Poverty and Rich Generosity. You can only have this balance in a believer. What was their secret? They gave themselves first to God and then by the will of God, they gave themselves to the Apostles.

If you hold back your life or any portion of it, it will be hard to give anything to the Lord. Let me close with the words of my fiancée: “If you can give God your life, why can’t you give Him your _” (Fill the gap with that hard request)