Isaiah 48:10: “Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction”
Psalm 139:16-17: “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is the sum of them”
Hebrews 12:2: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith”
Some say that as The Author, God is in control of our lives and knows the beginning and end of our walk through life here on Earth. Others say that God can rewrite our stories if we let go and embrace Him. For example, we can invite God to show us our past through His eyes and help us remember good memories.
God has not ended your story and so keep up the faith and believe that He is preparing you to meet up your purpose. His preparation comes with test, trails, afflictions, signs, wonders and miracles. All this happens during the process of you fulfilling the story that God is still writing on you. The Bible says in Isaiah 48:10 – “Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction”. Our Almighty God has not drop the pen that he is using to write yours and my story and so keep the faith and walk with the Holy Spirit for better understanding of your purpose. At the end, God wins and when he does, you also win. When God is writing your story, sometimes, you need to pass through the fire so that when you emerge victorious, others will believe in your God.
The process that you go through in the line of your story helps you the individual to increase your faith in God and also to overcome fear. Part of your story can help shape the lives of those who are lost and looking for a way to be free. The fact that you have not seen all that you have heard from God, does not mean, he is not on your case. Remember, 2 Peter 3:8 “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand, rather He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Let’s take a look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego story in the Bible (Daniel 3:23-30), a careful study of the word tells us that part of their story that God was writing was for them to be afflicted and out of it a decree can be made and they can be promoted as well. The verse 28 states that “Then Nebuchadnezzar said Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God”. Additionally, the verse 30 also states that ” Then the King promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon”. The story of these three wise men tells us that whatever story that the Lord is writing about you is to ensure that man sees his glory and also for your benefits on earth. During your story time, he will take you through the process of understanding what is pain and frustration so that you can gain patience and experience to understand your purpose better.
Change is very important as we grow up, because it offers us experiences and assures us that God is still on our case. When God is writing your story, sometimes, he moves you from your comfort zone in order to build you up well and for you to appreciate his ways when he is done with you. God knew that if David had stayed at home or joined his brothers in the battlefield, he will never have been able to fulfill the purpose of him killing Goliath. David needed to be trained by God and so part of his leadership training was for him to constantly be alone in the field tending the flock. I believe sometimes God brings us to a place where we are alone in order for him to teach us. It was in the field that God taught David how to kill a Lion and the Bear because God knew that as part of his story, a time will come for him to face Goliath and Saul (I Samuel 17:34-36). God was helping him in the field to overcome fear and to believe he has created him to achieve a purpose. As David was alone, he also built a close relationship with God. I believe whoever is reading this article should know that whatever you are in, God has not left you because your story has not ended yet.
The story of Joseph, the man with the coat of many colors is also someone whom the Lord moved away from his father through his siblings in order to fulfill the story that God was writing about him. Emphatically, If Joseph was still with the father, Jacob who had loved him so much, it would have been impossible for what the Lord showed him to comes to pass. The love Jacob had for his son was too great that he would have kept him by his side and he would not have learnt the ways of leadership. When God moved him away, he increased his wisdom to walk towards his vision. God also taught him how to be patient, how to forgive and how to overcome temptations like Portiphar’s wife. God used Joseph movement to also make Israel a great nation in Egypt (In Genesis 45:5 – Joseph said to his brothers “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here: for God did send me before you to preserve life”). God also used Joseph promotion in Egypt to bring into fulfillment the prophesy he gave to Abraham years before Jacob was born (Genesis 46:3 – “And He said, I am God, the God of your father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation”).
With regards to movement to fulfill your story being written by God, I am throwing light on Jesus Christ, the savior of the world and Moses, the leader of Israel. I want to establish that God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). Whatever prophesy that God has given you, don’t be in a haste and loose hope because your story will come in seasons and times stipulated by God and no man can change it. We should remember that with God, a thousand years is a day before him. Wherever you find yourself, just remember, God is making a story out of you in that particular place. If Mary had stayed in Galilee, the birth of Jesus would not have been fulfilled as God had said and if Moses had not been put in the red sea, he would not have fulfilled his leadership role to the Israelites as ordained by God.
When God begins your story there is always a shift in the heavens and therefore the enemy strikes but always fails. The Devil had babies killed during Moses and Jesus time but our God let the mothers suffer for the sake of God’s word. Remember, when God is writing your story, he brings people that are destined to help you carry on. The fact that you are not seeing anything for now, does not mean that our God is silent (Isaiah 62:1 – “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until its righteousness goes forth as brightness, and its salvation as lamp that burns”). God is always battling for us to ensure that the story he is writing on us is fulfilled (Psalm 121:4-5 – “indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you- the LORD is your shade at your right hand”).
Whatever terrible situation that you think you are in now, do not be devastated because our Lord is not a God to the dead but to the living (Luke 9:60 – Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but you go and preach the kingdom of God”). Once you are still alive, do not kill yourself because Elohim is still writing your story and your breakthrough is just at the corner (Jeremiah 29:11 – ” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”). I want you to remember that God only has good thoughts for us but he corrects when we are wrong and in so doing he is building us up so that our story is not left hanging but is to a finish (Hebrews 12:6-7 – ” because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?”).
Notwithstanding, when God is still in the process of completing your story, he teaches you how to pray, fellowship and communicate with the Holy Spirit . In the process of fulfilling our story which is being written by God, we sometimes share tears and we turn to ask God the question, “But why God and When will all this end”. I want to inform you that is important to cry, when you have to cry, go ahead and when you have to shout, don’t hold back, because God understands you and He knows all his creation. God will not be angry with you because you complained, so far as you are human, there is a tendency that you will be in pain during the process of fulfilling the story that God has written about you. I want to tell you that your tears today will become your joy and testimony when God puts you in your garment of greatness. I am sure, a great man like Myles Munro (His soul rest in peace) wept during the process of his story fulfillment. Even the son of the living God, during his process of fulfilling his story that has been written by God wept (Matthew 27:46 – “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”). Although we are special to our God Almighty, he still takes us through the process of achieving success at the end. We must know that no great thing is achieved freely, there is always a price to be paid.
A wise man keeps his friends and enemies closer because the Bible says in Matthew 5: 46 – ” For if you love them who love you, what reward have you ……..”. I want to encourage you to know that when God is writing your story, he brings you in the mist of your enemies as part of your training to love unconditionally so that you can make a difference between you and your enemies. Jesus identified Judas Iscariot as a betrayer with a kiss and still kept him among his disciples until the last day he was captured by the Romans. He knew that his story wants to make mankind love their neighbours as themselves. Am sure if it was us at that time, we would have avoided Judas from coming closer to us but a wise person should know that God said keep your enemies closer because God knows that they cannot touch you because of the hedge he has built around you. (Job 1:10 – ” Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land”). When you keep your enemies closer, the Lord builds you up to overcome fears as a leader. The disciples of Jesus were to go through the process of walking on the storm to overcome fear as part of their story and when Jesus left them, they were not afraid of demons neither were they afraid to be stoned or thrown in prison. Part of their story indicates that they are going to do God’s work and so they will need to overcome fear. Remember, Stephen died when he was stoned but yet he prayed for their sins.
Finally, I want to encourage you that God is not done with you yet and so do not let your present circumstance and situation end what God has not ended. Remain calm and still and I promise you that he will show you that he is God – I am your God and I will not feed you with stone when you ask me for bread. I do not hate my creation, I build and prepare them up for the greatness that await them. Whatever I have promised your forefathers, I will surely fulfill it. I am the only one who has the ability to create wealth for you and your entire generation but you need to be in my will to enjoy that. I will punish you to correct you when you sin to help you be inline with your story.
When you story is finalized and you are still standing in the will of God, you will come out like Job who had seven times what he had lost, you will stand with the lions in the den like Daniel and because of you, men in the line of King Darius will proclaim the wonders of your Father (God). At the end of your story, as Jesus sits at the right side of God enjoying the power given to him in heaven, over earth and under the earth, you will also receive you reward. AMEN.
WRITTEN BY MERCIA AIDOO