Be of Good Cheer & Walk in Victory, Child of God

I sometimes see life as a cyclist on a bicycle.  As long as the cyclist is on the bike and desires movement, they will utilise the peddles.  The foot peddles represent the various seasons of life that we have to experience to progress in life.  Think about it.  The foot peddles move up (high seasons) and down (low seasons), and sometimes are on balance in horizontal position (moderate/ so-so seasons).

Usually, the cyclist is not worried about the foot on the peddle in down position because he knows that this is only temporary.  As long as the bicycle is in forward movement, the peddle will come up again.  On the other hand, the cyclist is also cognizant of the fact that the peddle in the up position will at some point shift its position.  No position is permanent for the foot pedals.

The up-down movement of the peddle facilitates progress and it is by no means designed to reverse the bicycle.  Do you know that to reverse the bicycle, normally you have to put at least one foot off the pedal and reverse the bike using your hands?  Similarly, life is full of seasons that come in varied lengths and intensity.  These are both enjoyable and challenging seasons; joyous and sad seasons; restful and warring seasons.  Just like the bicycle analogy, these seasons all work out for good and for fulfillment of God's grander plan for our lives.  As long as your feet are moving in forward direction on the bike peddles, expect progress and not retrogression!  Keep pressing on; do not give up!

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Paul assures us that all things work out for the good of those who love the Lord.  God has called you and I according to His purpose, and He is Faithful to align all occurrences to work out for the fulfillment of that purpose.   As long as we are hidden in Christ, no challenge, no set back, no disappointment, no loss will deter you from your destiny.  However, you need to know this!  This needs to be your persuasion as you journey through the seasons of life.  Whatever life brings, may you always know that your entire life is safe and secure in God's hands.

Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God has assured us of victory in all things!  We are not to conquer in some seasons of life.  No, we are to conquer in all seasons of our lives!  In fact, we are to do more than conquer; our victory as believers is to exceed expected standards of victory.  It is a divinely given victory that defies all odds.  It is a victory that defies the economy's prospects; the doctor's report; the opinions of society; your family background; your physical limitations; only to mention but a few.

You and I need to be convinced about this.  You and I need to profess this daily in our lives.  You and I need to live in the revelation of this truth, that we are more than conquerers.  It is not enough to just believe it; live it!

Romans 1:17b The righteous shall live by faith.

One of my friends some years back was confronted with stage four cancer that threatened to take away her life.  The doctors' reports painted gloom.  During this season, Romans 8:37 was revealed to my friend and I and it was our rhema word for the season.  We stood on God's word that we are more than conquers and we would proclaim it in almost every conversation we had: sisi ni zaidi ya washindi (we are more than conquerers).  We said it, we sang it and the Lord showed Himself strong in that situation, in accordance to His word.  Today, about six years later, she is alive and serving the Lord!

Contrary to God's desire, it is unfortunate that in a time of crisis, we sometimes run away from God rather than running to God.  Feelings of anxiety, despair, bitterness, impatience and hopelessness make our hearts to grow cold and to turn away from our Father.  Those who live in the revelation of Romans 8:37-39 will hold fast to God, for they know Him as a Refuge.  They that have learnt the discipline of looking on to God will receive strength that enables them to charge against an army, to scale walls (Proverbs 18:29) and to quench all flaming darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16).

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Like children, we must learn to rest in the loving arms of God.   Rather than spending time pitying ourselves and praying for lapse of a season, let us choose to rejoice in the workings of God in and through us while we journey through that season.   Let us pray for an eternal perspective to life, such that our hope will not be pegged on what is earthly (temporary) but what is eternal (permanent).  God desires that we walk through the valley of the shadow of death in victory.  In so doing, our lives become a living testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness.

Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

In this season of Christmas, irrespective of your circumstance, choose to celebrate and walk in the victory that is your inheritance as a child of God.  Do not let media reports, society's opinions, economic forecasts, doctor's reports and family background to cause your heart to be downcast.  Rejoice in the Lord!  Again I say, Rejoice, for this is the plan of God for you (Philippians 4:4)!

Last month on one quiet evening, in a hotel room in Lusaka, I was broken-hearted and repentant.  I was repenting on my own behalf and on behalf of my nation Kenya for the sin of grumbling and hopelessness.  These two are manifestations of the flesh that are often borne when man looks to any other thing, apart from God, for help.

On this particular day,  my heart had been deeply convicted during a conversation I had engaged in earlier in the day with delegates attending a work meeting. Among those attending the meeting were delegates from African countries and during tea break, we conversed about the situation in our home countries.  Some were coming from countries with significant challenges, but to my surprise, their level of hope and positivity was commendable.  The conversations provoked a necessity for objective self-evaluation on my "gratitude and hope thermometers".

I realized that I and my country men (Kenyans) had grumbled unnecessarily.  Perhaps, we are chronic grumblers- those that whine about the half empty glass and consciously ignore the water filling half the glass.  The object of our trust has been wanting.  We have put our trust in shaky ground: politicians, economic forecasts and media reports.  Many Kenyans exhibit hopelessness in their conversations, and the church which is meant to be a place of refuge for the hopeless, has not been spared.  Sadly, the conversations of many believers exhibit negativity and hopelessness, in a measure that relatively compares to that of non-believers.

What happened to children of God, called to be beacons of hope?  Abraham's life challenges believers to build their lives on the solid rock of Jesus Christ and not on temporary/ material things.  Abraham obeyed God to leave his homeland and follow God's guidance to a promised land.  Though he received and obeyed the promise of God, he lived in tents like a stranger in a foreign country.  Not only he, but his child Isaac and his grandchild Jacob also lived in tents, though heirs of God promise.

This seemingly delay of God's promise should have made Abraham and his descendants hopeless.  However it did not.  Abraham's focus was on God (the giver) and not on the promise (the promised land).  This gave him an eternal perspective of life.  Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

For this faith, founded on the Maker of heaven and earth, Abraham was commended.  In fact, God was proud to be surnamed as God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for He had prepared a heavenly city for them (Hebrews 11:16).  Friends, our father Abraham showed us the way of faith:  Faith in God who is a Good and Faithful Father.  It is a faith that rises above delay, physical weakness, emotional hurt, human reason and wisdom.

As I sought the Lord in that room in Lusaka, God impressed upon me two questions which I believe He is asking us (believers) today:

• Why are you downcast, child of God?

God commands you to put your trust in Him; to keep your praise to Him (which is a spiritual weapon) and to remember Him (His Love, His Faithfulness, His Victory, His Grace, His Mercy, His Promises fulfilled in the past etc).

Psalms 42:5-6 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.  My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

• In what/ whom is your trust?

Psalms 34:5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame

I pray that in this season of Christmas, hope in the promises of God will be renewed in you.  I pray that your faith will be strengthened and in obedience to God, you will live by faith.  I pray that you will be of good cheer irrespective of your circumstance.  I pray that God's Victory will be manifest in your life, to the praise and glory and honor of God!