By Funmi Komolafe

This edition of Joyful homes is a continuation of our last week’s edition, though taken from a different perspective. As human beings we are limited . Certain things that we desire are just not within our control, therefore,  we need the help of God.

For a woman who has been through failed IVF several times,  she must have come to  the conclusion that only God can help her.

Or what do you say of a woman who has suffered series of miscarriages.   She is a regular patient in the hospital for evacuation whereas her mates carry their babies to term. The pain  of such  a woman is better imagined.

Or is it the case of a student who had done everything to secure admission but never got one even when he meets the required cut off mark or score.  Such a person  just needs the help of God.

Whether we admit it or not, we all need the help  of God at some point in life.

If we had been created in such a way that we have no limitations, many of us will not serve or worship God.

However, help comes for those who ask for it.   Have you asked God to help you overcome  that challenge?

Brethren, we need to ask for God’s help. It is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome challenges that  have spiritual foundation without the help of God.

That situation that makes you to cry unto man, once you cry unto God such challenge will come to an end. You need to refocus. Turn from man to God for help and you will soon be celebrated.

How do I know that God is ever ready to help us?  My authority is found in  Isaiah 40 vs 10 of King James Version: “Fear  thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:  I will strengthen thee; yea , I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness”.

God made it clear that he will help us but we need to ask for his help. Seek his help and his alone.   Anyone who believes that God is able to help him  should not be seen seeking help from other  ungodly sources.

What business has a woman waiting on the Lord to be bathing by the river at night or a man who wants to be financially promoted  going to the beach to  burn candles or even consulting a herbalist or magician?

Why should you consult  and cooperate with ritualists because  you want to be rich?

What joy can be derived from riches obtained  from such sources?  When you do that, you have submitted your destiny to the forces of darkness and they will control your destiny.

When we engage in such practices, we distance ourselves from the help that God has promised us.

For us to access the help of God, we need to  be righteous.  We  have a duty not just to trust God but also to live by his word, only then can we access his help.

Faced with numerous battles, the Psalmist; David  acknowledge the superiority of God  in Psalms 60 verses 11 and 12 “  Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.  Through God we shall do valiantly:for he it is that shall tread down our enemies”.

At this point I remember the popular saying of Pastor J.T. Kalejaiye that you may not have a godfather but you have God the Father.

Is there a gang up against you in your family for being a Christian?  Are you being humiliated  by  co-tenants because of your activities as a Christian?

Is yours a case of your superior officer who has vowed  you will never be promoted simply because you refused to go out with him?

Are you being mocked because you are unemployed?

Whatever is the challenge, God will help you and you will laugh last in the name of Jesus.

Brethren, you need to make up your mind to seek the help of God and do so with all your heart.

Set your mind to believe that there is no problem that is too big for God to solve.  Limit your discussion with human beings and spend more time talking to God Almighty the only one who can solve all problems. God’s ways are beyond human comprehension but you will see the evidence.

Again I refer to King David, a man that God chose to be king but the enemies laid many stumbling blocks on his path.

Many of us have been unable to reach our goals because we have been hindered by fellow human beings.

Let’s consider the words of Psalms 40 verses 12 and 13 “ For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities  have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me ”.   These are the words of a man overwhelmed with challenges.   Man-made and self-made challenges.  Many of us are in that condition today.   How did David handle the situation,  Verse 13 provides the answer.   He cried unto the Lord,  saying, “ Be pleased, O  LORD, to deliver me: O LORD make haste to help me”.

Note that David did not grumble.  He didn’t  blame God for the challenges neither did  he choose an alternative to God.

Exodus 20 vs. 3- 5 is quite clear on why we should trust in God and him alone.

It states, “ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down  thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me”.

Despite the numerous  challenges that David had to contend with,  he stood firm with God.

Are your firmly holding unto God ?  Are you assured that he is able to help you?  If your answers are in the affirmative, then get ready this year is your year.

Have you been praying and yet to receive answers?   Then ask for God’s mercy.

At  a time like this, Psalms 102 vs 3 should be the peg of our prayer point. It states, “  Thou shall arise, and have mercy on Zion  (replace Zion with your name)  for the time to favour her (me), yea the set time, is come”.

Continuously remind the Lord that the time to favour you has come and he will show mercy but you must  avoid sin.

Romans 6 vs. 1 ( KJV) “ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

Verse 2 provides the answer, God forbid.  How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?.

Let’s choose to stand with God and seek his help.

Testimony-  As usual I’ll end with a testimony.  A family had an abandoned property for over 15 years.  Hoodlums, rapists made the project their home but the woman of the house kept praying and asking God to complete this project.  She sowed a seed into the building of a popular Pentecostal Church and God rose for her family.

A wealthy relation called up her  husband and said he was unhappy seeing the abandoned project.  He  told his civil engineers to move in, redesign the building and complete it.

To the Glory of God, he  funded the project up  with little input from the owners.  Today, that abandoned project has become one that is admired by many.

In the name of Jesus, everything that has been dead in your life will receive the intervention  of God.

Get ready, this is your year of testimony.