By David Oyedepo

 God does not only speak to us, He also speaks to correct us. God corrects us when we misinterpret His direction or misunderstand His plan and are open for His correction.

God furnishes and decorates us not only through His principles, but through His reproofs, corrections and instructions. Unfortunately, many people are only committed to the principles, ignoring corrections. As a result, they end up victims of frustrations.

The scriptures have a four-fold ministry: it gives doctrine, reproofs, corrections and instructions (II Timothy 3:16-17). When we talk about divine guidance, we are talking about the plan, the reproofs that come along the way, the corrections that are released to you and the instructions that you must follow.

 God’s doctrine unfolds His plan, His reproof charges us for taking a dangerous step, His correction sets us on the right path to go and His instructions guide us in every step we are taking.

Why we need correction: There are things that you like to do on your own, but the end of that road is death. (Proverbs 14:18). That is why you and I need to be open to God’s corrections.

Many destinies have been crashed as a result of people going on a wrong route. They have lost the vitality of life because they went off course! Some have remained adamant! God does not waste His time speaking to someone who will not be corrected. That is why He only corrects those who are willing.

God does not waste His Words; He speaks to those who will value them. Since there is no error-proof man in the world, all we need to do is to open up for His corrections, and He will always be there to make it happen. Man will always need correction because he is liable to misinterpretations and errors. Somebody once asked me, “Have you ever been wrong?”

I replied, “I think I have been more wrong than I have been right, but God helps me not to stay with my wrong. He corrects me most of the time at the 11th hour, so everybody will know this boy is stupid.” I am a beneficiary of divine corrections. I don’t know where I would have been without God’s corrections. I always accept His corrections.

When I was being taken to inspect the piece of land upon which our ministry base is now built, I fought the people all the way there, because it was located right in the jungle. I said to them; “No it can’t be here, let’s turn back!” But the person who rode with me said, “Let’s go on sir, we will soon be there.”

However, we drove on. When we got there, for formality sake I said; “Okay, let’s give thanks to God for all the efforts thus far.” We joined our hands together to give Him thanks and God said to me, “This is the place!” I was the one making all the noise on the way there, but I said to the people, “God just spoke to me now that this is the place.” Everybody smiled!   
 
Do you know why He corrected me? He knew that I won’t pretend not to have heard Him. He also knew I would obey Him. God delights in speaking to those who will obey Him. Until you are ready to be corrected, you are not a candidate for His glory. If you are too big to be corrected by God, then you are finished!

Canaan Land, where our world headquarters is situated, is a product of divine correction. I was wrong. My little knowledge of geography was disturbing me, and church growth principles were influencing my thinking also. I felt God did not know enough geography, because you can’t possibly locate a church in the bush! If you were in Nigeria and you knew the traffic problems in Lagos at that time, you won’t tell us to take a church into the jungle. But God knew that I was speaking within the limits of my knowledge, but that I was at the same time open to His correction. That was why He stepped in to say; “This is the place I have ordained for this ministry.”