Topic: DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO  – Bishop Mike Okonkwo Devotional 6 July 2020 [The Redeemed Evangelical Mission]

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DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO

“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.”  Isaiah 54:1 (KJV)

If you look at this very passage of the bible, it looks like a paradox. How do you sing when you are barren? You cannot tell me to sing when there is no food on the table when I am being evicted and there is no roof over my head when I desire to marry and there is no one around. How do I sing when my body hurts and the doctor’s report is unfavourable? That is not acceptable. That’s not the natural thing to do. Yet, our scripture for today is challenging you to sing in that situation.

God can’t tell you to do something that He knows that you cannot do. Ever before God tells you to do something, know that He has already made provision for you to do it. Often, because many believers walk by sight and not by faith, they fail to respond properly. The believer is not supposed to go by sight. We are supposed to walk by faith. Sight is the thing you see, touch, feel, taste or hear. Rather, the believer goes by faith which is by what God said.

Naturally, barrenness is a painful and frustrating condition and now we are not just talking about barrenness in terms of having a child alone. You can be barren in business, in academics, ministry etcetera. Anything that is not productive is a form of barrenness. It is all-embracing, and it covers different areas of life. 

God speaking through the ancient prophet Isaiah challenges us in whatever area of barrenness we are experiencing, to rejoice.  We must obey this heavenly instruction. Why? Your victory is always in doing what God tells you to do. When you choose to sing, you shift your focus from the problem to the promise and what you focus on grows, pretty soon, you will see your desire come to pass.

Further Reading: Isaiah 54:1-17; 12:1-5
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Job 32-33; Evening- Acts 14