Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not plunder his resting place; For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again. (Proverbs 24:15-16).
I was reading these verses and couldn’t help but write about what it meant to me.
You know, I was at a low place mentally and emotionally recently, but I kept using things, activities and to cover up for the shallowness I was feeling on the inside. I felt distraction was all I needed and I will be okay. But the more I got distracted with things, people, shows, activities, the more shallow I felt. I knew something was wrong but I wasn’t ready to face what it was. I was afraid of the truth getting in too deep so I stayed shallow.
Then I had One Bad Day.
Not going to get into details of the bad day just yet, but I will someday when I feel the need to.
After all the happenings on the said day, this verse came to mind – “Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). It had to take one bad day for me to wake up from the hole I was catwalking into. I realized it doesn’t take much for the devil to wreak a whole havoc but it takes a length of time before it gets to that point. Why this verse was is so profound is this: when you go to the house of mourning, your heart is sober enough to reflect, but when you go to the house of merriment, your heart gets high, puffed up and unreflective.
Thankfully, my heart wasn’t let down so much because the HOLY SPIRIT… (tears)… the Holy Spirit didn’t allow the devil finish what he started. He stepped in just in time to mitigate the different catastrophes the dead guy was to trying to cause. I stood and said to myself; Ize, you’ve messed up big time. You have allowed an opening in your life and the devil has crawled in, now he wants to take over. But you know what, thank God for the Word! I was convicted by it and empowered by it.
What I did next was to apologise to God my Father firstly, for having been tepid in my spiritual walk with Him. I told Him I was very sorry I took His grace for granted and became too comfortable in a world where I was suppose to be military ready every second of every day. Then I told Him to please avail me the opportunity to handle the devil. I told Him I got this only because He has equipped me to. I turned and faced the enemy that had come to steal, to kill and destroy me and my family. I said “Devil, you know you are a sore loser. You seek every opportunity you get to make a mess and you never cease to amaze me, because you should know by now, that He that the Son has set free is free indeed. We have no pact, no deal, no agreement whatsoever, I may have stupidly accommodated for you a little time but it’s time you get the hell out! Oh, and there are no negotiations.”
I am not one to focus on the devil, I don’t have time to entertain him and his cohorts. I don’t give him any attention whatsoever but I knew this time, I had done the invitation, so I owned my part and was ready to make amends. It was the following after that incidence that I chose to read this chapter of Proverbs and it felt like milk and honey was poured on my heart. I felt the comfort of the Holy Spirit. For I may have fallen several times but I will surely rise again. While the enemy is always awaiting the downfall of the righteous, God is reminding him of their lifting. He is literally saying – do not think I wouldn’t fight for these ones, they are Mine!
God isn’t there to condemn you. What is it that has caused a distance between you and Him, He is saying, my child you will rise above this! You will shine again. You will not go down the dark path of sorrow, you will rejoice again. God is for you and not against you. The world and its gifts are nothing but chaff, in God is where we find wholeness. The world offers temporary comfort in the form of distractions from the problem you are facing, but God opens you up so He can bring healing and completeness.
Do not wait for one bad to make all your days good. Just accept His love and forgiveness.
Chat to you soon.
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