A place of preparation

By Charl Human

1sam.17;34-35,41-50

2Cor.10:4

The stage was set. The atmosphere was thick. On the one end, the air was filled with confidence, and the other, saturated with fear. For forty days, Goliath, the Philistine, taunted the armies of Israel. He paralyzed their will to fight by his sheer size. After all, how many of us have seen a man who is nearly 10 feet tall? That is quite an unbeatable height! Moreover, Goliath was a champion warrior and David, inexperienced. Or was he?

David was the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem and he was tasked to tend his father’s sheep. Over the years, David faced his share of challenges while carrying out his duty. If there was any man that knew the wilderness, it was David. In that lonely place of obscurity, his character was shaped. He learnt what it meant to solely depend on God and to be consistently faithful in his duties.  

When David heard Goliath’s challenge against the armies of the living God, he arose indignant. He knew something had to be done. It would turn out that his wilderness experience, which was fraught with battles of killing lions and bears, had prepared him for this moment. After David’s triumph over Goliath, the Philistines ran away scared and the army of Israel pursued and decimated them.

Perhaps you feel stuck in a place that seemingly appears mundane and purposeless. Remember that you are not alone. Stay faithful. Do not lose heart. Nothing that God sets us up for is ever wasted. During such times, we need to learn to keep our heads down, our hearts right and just do the work. 

Do you see your present situation as preparation for your future? Why? 

What steps can you take that would help shift your perspective of the season you are in now? Commit them to prayer.

A lesson in humility

By Charl Human

Deut.8:1-9

Isaiah 2:17

James 1:3

God miraculously brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Yet for some reason the parting of the Red Sea was not enough to convince them of God’s protection and provision. Just three days into the journey to the Promised Land, the children of Israel started complaining to Moses because the water at Marah was bitter and undrinkable. From then on, the people of Israel continued to complain and disobey Moses. Because of that, the forty-day journey to the Promised Land took them forty years!

God had called Israel in complete obedience and humility. It was only through the testing in the wilderness that they came to a place of total surrender. There was nothing else or no one else they could depend on. Sometimes God tests us, not because He needs to know the condition of our hearts, but because we do. 

Your heart is the very seat of your being. The content and condition of your heart affects all the decisions you make and the life that you ultimately live. God wants you to depend on Him for all things - from your daily provision to your future endeavors.

Obedience and humility will lead you to the will of God. So learn to take small steps each day to let go of control and surrender your life in total dependence on Him today. 

Reflect on a situation that God used to teach you humility? What did you learn from it? 

During trials, do you find yourself quick to complain or more trusting of God?

A place of encounter

Goood morn everyone!!! Very powerfull piece this morning!!!! Be blessed and allow Gods word to touch you!!!🙌🏽☦️

*A Place Of Encounter* by Charl Human

Exodus 2:11-22

Heb.11:24-26

Exodus Chapter 2 tells us that Moses went to live in Midian because he was fleeing from Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian. His misplaced sense of justice caused him to kill someone. As a result, he fled into the wilderness.

Moses spent the next forty years of his life living as a shepherd in the desert of Midian. That was the life he had settled for until the LORD caught his attention through a burning bush and gave him a second chance. That encounter would become a defining moment in his life.

Perhaps you may find yourself in a similar situation where past mistakes and wrongdoings have left you isolated in the wilderness. If you are in such a place, let the process take its course. Look beyond what has happened and be open to how God is trying to get your attention. 

God has not given up on you. Allow this time in the wilderness to become a place of encounter and repositioning towards your God-given purpose. 

Do you believe in second chances? Why? 

What is God doing now in your life to get your attention? Make a list and pray over them.

The wilderness does not have to be a place of isolation. It can be a place of encounter.

The cost of a dream

By Charl Human

Gen.37:5-11

Gen.39:6-20

Gen,41:14-16

Gen ,41:39-40

From a young age, Joseph believed God had destined him for greatness. He was a dreamer. But there was a problem - he was boastful about his dreams. Joseph was blessed with the gift to interpret dreams, but he lacked wisdom in knowing how to use it appropriately.

In his dreams, God showed Joseph he would rise to a position of leadership over his parents and brothers. From Joseph’s point of view, the dreams were evidence of divine blessing rather than his own ambition. But to his brothers, the dreams were a further indication of the unfair privilege Joseph enjoyed as the favorite son of their father, Jacob. Jealousy drove Joseph’s brothers to sell him to merchants who then took him to Egypt.

Joseph’s life spiraled downwards from then on. After being falsely accused of attempted rape by Potiphar’s wife, he was thrown into jail. Accused, abandoned and alone, it seemed like Joseph had been put out into the wilderness. What a far cry from the lofty dreams he initially had!

However, some dreams take longer than expected to be fulfilled. It was only in prison that his breakthrough came when he was called to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. This time, instead of telling others his dreams, he interpreted the dreams of others.

The gift that got Joseph into trouble was the very same gift that would eventually promote him to a place of influence where he was used by God for a greater purpose. 

List the gifts that God has blessed you with. Have those gifts pushed you to excel or have they set you back? 

Do you view setbacks as punishment or an opportunity to refine and reshape your character?

No matter where we are in life, God is constantly molding us for His divine assignment.

The loss of control

By Charl Human

Gen. 25:19-24

Gen.26:19-29

Gen.32:22-30

Gen.33:1-4

When Isaac’s wife Rebekah was pregnant with Jacob and Esau, the LORD told her that two nations were in her womb. Even before they were born, they were already struggling for supremacy. Esau, the hunter, lived for immediate pleasures while Jacob, the quieter one, was more self-seeking.

At birth, Jacob grasped Esau’s heel and ever since then, it seemed like he never stopped trying to get ahead of his older brother. From tricking Esau into selling him his birthright to snatching his father’s patriarchal blessings, in all these Jacob was defiant. While the LORD did say, “the older will eventually serve the younger”, the LORD never said to do it Jacob’s own way.  

On the eve of meeting Esau after many years of tension, Jacob met with God and wrestled with Him. In that match, even though Jacob was hurt and defeated, he was not willing to let Him go until he received His blessing. Why was he so persistent? Perhaps he was desperate, knowing he would have to face his ultimate fear the next day when he was to meet Esau.

Jacob never found out the name of the man who dislocated his hip, but because he survived the struggle, it comforted him to know that he would have been able to withstand an attack from Esau. 

When Jacob finally met his brother, he was surprised. Esau, his most fearsome adversary, received him with open arms. It was at that moment that Jacob realized it was his own fear that made him a coward to himself.

Jacob feared losing control. He feared not getting ahead. No one was holding him back but himself. When Jacob finally surrendered to God, everything changed. Thereafter, Israel was born!

Sometimes, the fear of losing control can be the reason why we end up in the wilderness.  

It is not wrong to want to get ahead in life, but are you doing it in a way that is pleasing to God?  

What areas of your life can you let go of control and surrender to God?

A choice to obey

By Charl Human

Gen.26:1-6

Some years later, Abram, now known as Abraham, had a son named Isaac.

There was now another bad famine in the land. This time, Isaac went to Abimelek, the king of the Philistines in Gerar. After that he must have thought of going down to Egypt just as his father did. 

But the LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you.” 

The instructions were clear. The answer to Isaac’s situation was not in Egypt, but in God Himself. Had the LORD not stopped him, Isaac would have strayed into the wilderness. Because Isaac listened and obeyed, the hand and the blessings of God were upon him.

Sometimes God gives us clear instructions and stops us from doing things that are not according to His will. But do we really listen attentively and obey Him?

Today, learn to shift your focus towards Him and incline your ears to what He is telling you to do.   

Reflect on the moments where you disobeyed God. What happened as a result of that disobedience?  

How would you want to live differently from now on?

Obedience is a choice. You will never go wrong obeying God.

A test of trust

By Charl Human

Gen.12:31

Gen.13:1-20

Abram was supposed to set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan together with his father Terah. For some reason they settled half-way at Harran. Maybe he was ill. Maybe it was the climate. Or maybe he was fearful. We do not know.

But at the beginning of Genesis 12, the LORD called Abram to leave his father’s household to a place that God would later reveal to him. He obeyed and promptly left. This is where it gets interesting. Abram reached Canaan where the great tree of Moreh at Shechem was, but he did not settle there even though the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). Abram continued his journey till he reached the hills east of Bethel, in between Bethel and Ai.

Abram continued his journey yet again toward the Negev. When famine struck, to save his family and livestock, Abram went to Egypt. It seemed logical and also the responsible thing to do given the severity of the famine, but going to Egypt was not what God had intended for him. 

Abram took matters into his own hands when he thought that God could not provide for him in the famine. God called Abram to Canaan, not Egypt. In Egypt, Abram failed the test of integrity when he told Pharaoh that his wife Sarai was his sister, thinking that the only way to survive was to lie.

Egypt became Abram’s wilderness when he decided to live there for a while. It cost him his integrity. Had it not been for the LORD’s intervention by inflicting serious disease on Pharaoh and his household, Abram could have been stuck in this wilderness for a long time.

In life we may experience our own “Egypt” if we take matters into our own hands. Instead, we should choose to be obedient to God’s guidance and instructions because He will make a way!     

Describe a situation in your life you consider your “Egypt”. What did you learn?  

Why do you think it is difficult to trust God rather than our own instincts?

Never allow your present adverse situation to undermine your future destination.