January 26, 2019          LESSONS FROM EXILE

Day 26

As I said before now, when God schedules you for a school, His terms must be met before graduation. God trains for a purpose; He will not take waste His time taking you through His school for you to wander after graduation; NO! You will have not any other thing in your mind after the ordeal. If His term is for only three years, you cannot spend less but more if you are not yielding.

In the case of the nation of Israel, He had set a time for them to be formed into a nation in His bargain with their father, Abraham.

Genesis 15:13 “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;”

The period of their formation into a nation before the Lord was four hundred years. The Lord released them after four hundred and thirty years; they matured with additional thirty years before God came down to supervise the graduation in such a way that we are talking about it till today. Truly, His way is not as ours.

After Jacob, two persons significantly stood out; Joseph and Moses. Through Joseph, they were initiated or admitted into the God’s formation college and through Moses, they graduated. They entered Egypt as Jacob and graduated as the nation of Israel. They entered Egypt as unskilled and weak family but graduated as mightily empowered nation. They entered Egypt as a dependent household and left Egypt as a nation to depend on. They looked unto Egypt for survival, but Egypt looked unto them for survival. They entered Egypt as hungry souls and left as a well-fed nation. They entered as CHILDREN OF JACOB and graduated as CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. Their singleness had grown to become a nation; a seed now a nation, “Know of a surety that thy seed”.  Adversity is to make and shape you; it is part of destiny package even though it was not revealed to you.

The amazing part was that, as children of Jacob, they could not feed themselves but depended on another nation. God used the land of Egypt to transform them to become skilled in all aspects which they are known with till today. They wouldn’t have been able to survive amid foes if not for the training in the land of Egypt for the maturity of the covenant.

The assignment to deliver was on Moses. He had to be prepared as well. How?

1. He was made to understand that his ability was not enough to do God’s work. He tried to correct what God ordained, the sorrow of the nation, a process of formation, he ended up killing a person. He became a murderer. You cannot do God’s work properly unless you got the encounter with the owner.
2. Realized his weakness and inability to speak with power; he received God’s assurance to be with his mouth.
3. He had a rod in his hand, signifying talent. It became the rod of God (signifying grace) after he willingly submitted it to God. Do not trust in your talent but trust in grace; let God tell you how and where to handle and use it. Power is not given to you to use at will, but to wait for instruction. Otherwise, you will kill with it.

Exodus 4:17 “And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” (verse 20)

• He realized that bondages pose to be stronger the moment heaven gives attention.
• He realized that deliverance is at the peak of suffering, Exodus 5
• He learnt that the plan on the drawing table is not the reality on the field.
• He learnt to be dependent on God for direction as situation goes on.

Exodus 5:22- 6:1 “And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. 6:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.”

• He realized that God is ever mindful of His covenant and will always defend it, Exodus

Exodus 6:5 “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.”

When Jacob was entering Egypt, God was known as God Almighty. But He gave them a new name for their deliverance, JEHOVAH.

For Moses to realize all these, his life was miserable. It took him forty years to learn SUBMISSION and OBEDIENCE.

Beloved, the key to all forms of breakthrough is SUBMISSION and OBEDIENCE. This was the lesson Moses learnt in his wilderness experience.

A lot tarry too long in the wilderness of life because they have not learnt submission and obedience. God is not a failure, He is not unfaithful, and He is not indifference to our sufferings and agonies, but our unbrokenness is the problem. He is faithful.

May you not disappear from the radar of destiny in the name of Jesus Christ

Supo Abayode

MFM, Delaware, USA