Psalm 127 :1-2

¹Unless the Lord builds the house, They labour in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. ² It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.

There is a vacuum in man that yearns to be filled and somehow, man will daily go all out to fill that vacuum but most times we struggle. Economists will say human wants are insatiable; it can’t be satisfied. So, as you get to one level of achievement, you still yearn for much more.  It’s usually in very rare cases that a man would say, I have enough, or like the rich man in the bible, “I have all I need, I need nothing more, my soul, relax and enjoy.” There is always something to pursue. You attain this particular training and you suddenly see a loop hole of another training that will increase your competitive advantage, right? And you launch out again. Social media and the internet haven’t made matters easy, its right at your doorsteps, at your nostrils; all the information, trainings and all. It’s not a bad thing in itself, if we do things rightly. God, Himself wants us to be fulfilled and accomplish great things. However, for many greedy people, they would go all out, do anything not minding if its right or wrong just to get their wants satisfied. But yet, many still find that there is that space, that vacuum that remains unfilled.

The bible says in Psalms 127 says that “it is vain to get up early and sleep late and at the end you still eat the bread of sorrow” and “unless the lord watches or builds a city, the watch man watches or builds in vain.” This is reality for many people; believers and unbelievers alike. It may be worse for unbelievers but it’s not restricted to unbelievers. Even believers who claim to know God and his promises, still find that hole, that dissatisfaction, vacuum, that feeling of going round in a maze. We, as believers see God’s hands upon our lives but yet something is not just adding up. We know God exist, we worship him truly but still, there is this struggle.

Sometime in 2018 or 2019, it still happens now but I believe, there was such a time that depression was in the air; very young people, even children were suffering from depression. I remember people began to launch heart to heart talk platforms to help people. Suicide news was everywhere. Those people got to a point in their lives where the enemy had finally infiltrated their minds and made everything look meaningless. So, they lost their will to live, with the notion I believe is, “Let me go and rest.” They had so much eaten the bread of sorrow and consumed the lies of the devil and they take their own lives. And unfortunately, most of this people are not pagans, they are believers. Based on reports from people who knew them, these people used to smile, come out and say, “It is well, God is in control” and they speak in faith but they still end up taking their own lives. For many that don’t take their lives, they suddenly give up on God, threaten God to do what He says He will do or they will backslide.

So, believers can also get to the point of depression, and not ordinary believers, people that are even doing mighty works for God so let’s not miss that. David had to encourage or strengthen himself in the Lord. The bible says in that verse that he was greatly distressed. In fact, in the earlier verses, he had cried alongside the people with him. David was a mighty man of valour, a friend of God, one who had done great exploits, He even had men that he had trained and made to become better and yet he got to a point we might want to call, a point of near depression but he had to quickly tap himself and stand up.  You might have accomplished so much, seen the acts and ways of God, even encouraged many, yet still come back to that point. So, no one is excusable.

In the New Testament, taking an example from Jesus, when he was about to be crucified, He looked around and said, “I know this is the end goal to why I have been on earth all these years but suddenly I don’t feel up to it, I don’t even know if I can carry on” but at the end, what did he resolve? “Not my will but yours be done,” clearly opening us up once again to the truth that no one is excusable, believers or unbelievers. And even though unbelievers may have it worse off, believers might also not know what to do when in reality, they should.

Unless the Lord builds a house, it’s not conditional. That means, if the Lord does not build it, it’s an effort to futility, to sorrow. So, unless David strengthens himself in the lord, he would not have risen from that point. He would have sunk deeper into depression

 

Analyzing the Vacuum

 It’s not a bad thing to be weak or feel weak at certain points in our lives. We will get to points when we feel nothing is working even though God has always been faithful. That vacuum, that inadequacy we sometimes feel can be a good thing if we understand this truth, which we will be establishing that-man was not made to be self-sufficient but God- sufficient. The day we become self-sufficient, we start dying. That rich man in the bible that we mentioned earlier who said to himself, “I have all I need, my soul, relax and enjoy.” He died. It was even a physical death because we were made as man to be God-sufficient.

When Eve was deceived by the devil and desired to be self- sufficient, they ended up dying spiritually. So, man’s dependency was meant to be from God. The garden of Eden was one of God’s ways of providing and caring for man until man desired a new way of sufficiency.  When Lucifer wanted to exalt himself above God and be self-sufficient, he not only lost his place in heaven, he was doomed.

The issue with the vacuum and emptiness is when we begin to source our sufficiency from other things, or when we do not know where our sufficiency should be of, even though God is there, we begin to look for other ways of sufficiency, or we become unsure. We may just drift away for a moment but we must quickly tap ourselves as believers and like Jesus say, not my will be yours be done. And like Mary say, I don’t know how these things will be but let it be unto me according to your will.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities hat the power of Christ may rest upon me.

So, weakness is not actually a bad thing if we source our sufficiency correctly. The vacuum is not a bad thing if we know what should fill it and not seek satisfaction in things that don’t last.

The original garden of Eden plan was not for man to struggle but now that struggle seems inevitable, we are either pursuing this or that and if we are not careful, might dive into a maze of darkness. So, the crux of the matter we will be looking at is how can we excuse ourselves from this maze, this darkness that has covered the world, this uncertainty that we feel, this emptiness, this desire to give up on everything and anything when nothing around us seem to be working. And our prayer points are getting endless. I am privileged to open us up to the love of God afresh to us.

This is an understanding we must have if we are going to scale successfully through this world. As we know, the world is fading fast, dying, decaying; morally, spiritually, emotionally. We see more decadence than ever before, more decay, economies are crumbling. We hear many new things that are happening these days, things that didn’t use to be; things that are unthinkable, unspeakable but have now become the new normal or gradually settling in and for Christians, that are still sane will have to ask, what is going on? Who thinks like this? It was bad enough that men began to marry men, women and women. Now worse, people are not even sure of their gender anymore even when the bible says, male and female He made He them, there was no middle ground to that statement. Now, some are even saying they should be animals not humans. What is going on?

Worst case scenario, it’s like someone who is physically ill and dying, and people can see the person rotting and smelling, they sit there watching and gisting and laughing. As a normal man in your sane mind, would you sit there and watch and say it is normal, if you are not the one caring for the person? That is what is happening to the world; that’s how the world is decaying and people are seated there watching.

 

 

 

God’s Unfailing Love

We must know this and never forget that in this dying world, our escape route is the love of God. Staying there, being conscious of it. Right now, the best place to be is in the love of God. And I repeat it again, the best place to be is in the love of God.  That love of God, we can say in another way is God’s provision of sufficiency to us. This is what God is saying to us. And I am sure in our minds, we might be asking, how do I stay in that love? How do I correctly position myself to stay in the love of God? To be conscious of the love of God.

Let’s look at the scriptures to understand it.

1 John 4: 7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, FOR GOD IS LOVE.”

So, God is love.  Love is God. Love is Him and everywhere he turns, love overflows.

Romans 5: 6-8 says, for when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one due; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die but God demonstrated his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Psalm 8:4 says, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him?

As humans, we may find it difficult or never vouch for someone that is not trustworthy. We may in some cases put our resources on the line for someone that we really trust. It’s not even easy because we can say, people change oh! Is it worth it? We will settle down and think about it well before we do it, talk more of in a life and death matter. Will we be willing to put our life on the line for someone we don’t trust? But here, this is God betting His all on us, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we had nothing to make him vouch for us, He did. Christ had to give up his life in hope that we, that he paid such a huge sacrifice for would recognize it and embrace it. That’s the love of the Father.

So, God has already demonstrated his love towards us, we did nothing to deserve it. And that love is still available, sufficient and endless. And the angels are saying in Psalm 8:4 what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him? So, the host of heaven recognize the truth of God’s overflowing love to mankind and say, why? Why do you love man so much? Are they not the ones we are seeing? Ungrateful, boastful, unloving, untrustworthy, unfaithful…is it not man? Undeserving of the love but yet you gave it to them freely, and to reciprocate your love is even worse, they don’t! And yet you love them despite of them. The host of heaven know this and yet we, that the love is being poured on are not even sure. Many of us used to be sure but today we are still rethinking it perhaps because of the circumstances and struggles around us at the moment that will definitely fade away.

For example, it’s like living in the same house with your parents and behaving or acting like a slave and people outside are saying, “are those not your parents? Is it not your house? you need to relax and enjoy” but if you don’t know or you are not sure. It’s a pathetic situation. You miss out on your privileges.

Many people will say, I have given up on Nigeria, so I want to relocate. I have given up on my family so they run. Some have given up on life and decide to take their own lives, will we give up on God too when He has not given up on you?

 

Understanding of the love of God when we face unpalatable situations and we may have to cry out, why me?

I John 3:1 “Behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know him”

Matthew 7:11 “if you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him.”

David was in the bush facing bears and lions, he was in constant danger. And perhaps, even though the bible says, God gives good gifts to his children, he might have misinterpreted the intention of God and said, “this thing is not even a good gift at all.” It’s bad enough that I have to be in the bush alone. I have to constantly fight to stay alive. Not just me staying alive oh! I have to protect this sheep, too? I know my family members don’t care or love me but if God loves me like He said, this should not happen to me.” But God is watching and saying, “In a short while, you will be fighting fiercer battles. In my love, I am training you.” It was there David sharpened not just his fighting skills but his musical skills as well.

The bible recorded that David did not lose any battle throughout his life time, he spent all his life practically fighting and defending the people of Israel, God’s sheep.  In fact, he raised men that used to be vagabonds, he raised fighters, mighty men of valour. Was God with him in that bush? Yes! Was God with him when he faced Goliath? Yes! Did God love him? Completely!  Did the love seem obvious at the beginning, No!

In his love, God trained him. In his love, as God was training him, God kept protecting him in the bush and in the midst of fierce battles. In his love, he preserved David. But if David missed that, missed what God was doing, if he was fixated on the many lions or dangers he was seeing, he would not have been able to encourage himself in the Lord later on. But David was persuaded, he knew and understood God’s love. So, at the time that he almost drifted into depression, he had to come back to himself and say I have seen the love of God and it is unfailing. That’s why he could write certain chapters in Psalms and admit to the love of God. It came from a deep understanding and we must come to that understanding too, so we will not just encourage ourselves but others too.

 

We have established that:

1.  God is love and love is God
2. Through Him, love flows
3. God loves us in spite of us, even before we admitted to His love for us
4. In the midst of unpleasant situations, God’s love is still there

Another thing I want us to also note is that; there is no place for fear in the love of God

1 John 4: 18-19

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.

We can trust our future to a God that loves us. If we trust his love, we will have no cause to be afraid of our now and our future.

 

What Does it Mean to Abide?

To abide means to dwell, to stay, to continue, to stay fixed.

 

How Do We Abide in The Love of God?

• By wholeheartedly trusting his will and judgement for your life

Jesus said in John 15:10, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commandments and abide in his love.

This verse shows us the practice and principle of Jesus. He said, I abide in his love, in my father’s love. So, it’s not something I have not practiced. Jesus consciously admitted and submitted to the love of God when He said, not my will but yours be done, I know this is hard but I trust your love to carry we through.

The bible says, we have a great high priest who is not untouched by our infirmities. He understands that there will be times when you will have to cry, feel weak, feel overwhelmed. But what was Jesus’ practice, He stayed in God’s love consciously, He encouraged himself in Him. I am using in “Him” deliberately because love is God, love is God personified so love is tangible, love is Him. True love, perfect love is a person, and that love is God so stay in the embrace of God. We could call that love- a covering.

The prodigal son got up one day to stray from his father’s love. He desired to be self-sufficient so he left. Remember we established that, we as men were created to be God sufficient but there is always a desire to stray from that sufficiency, that covering, either due to having or accomplishing too little or too much. But the prodigal son had to quickly tap himself and say, I am better off in the love of my father. The same way we should tap ourselves and encourage ourselves in the love of God and say, I am better off in the love of God. Under the covering of his sufficiency.

John 15: 10 that we read, shows us one way to stay in the love of God, by staying in the will of God, trusting in his direction, trusting his judgement for your life. I may not understand the process but I choose to stay, I choose to trust his love for me. That was one of Jesus’ principles. So, when Jesus got to that point of despair, he had to consciously return to say, there is a commandment, a will of God I must fulfill so I must rest in the love of Him who has called him. The bible says, He who has called us is faithful.

Let’s also note again, that it is a conscious and continuous effort but we must always be God’s love conscious. It’s a daily thing. That “I don’t know what tomorrow holds but I know who holds tomorrow. I know who I believe in and I am persuaded. I might not see the wind or rain but I know the valley is full.”

 

• We need to rest in God’s ability to take care of us

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. we come unto Him we shall find rest unto our souls (Matthew 11:28-3)

Rest! The world might turn upside down but I choose to rest. Rest in the truth that God knows me, he knows my name, he sees where I am, I might not understand what is going on around me but God is working.

Like Parents, when you scold or punish your very little children for doing wrong, and they may not understand your intention, they run back to you the next minute.  Even if you offer them something to eat at that time, they will collect it Why?  They trust you that even though my parents just screamed at me or scolded me, they can’t poison me.  They may not understand it but they still stay with you.  They don’t give up on you or think of running away, they trust your love to them. And if you are going out that very minute, they will cry to tag along with you.  It doesn’t make sense but that’s how we should be with God.

I saw something online just recently, a young man caught for armed robbery and rape. He was put in prison before for a “small” crime. But while in prison, he got connected to a worse set of people that showed him how to use armed weapons and beckoned on him to join them once he got out. When finally got out, he didn’t join them but he started using weapons to rob people and rape girls. He finally got caught. At the point of the interview while I was watching, he was telling the police to kill him, that no one cared to help him, even his family didn’t care so he was better off dead. I don’t know what that man’s fate will be or if he will get help but I felt like jumping into the scene and saying, God loves you despite of you or what you have done. He wants to help you, you don’t have to beg for it. He has not given up on you. He cares about you.

For someone like that, God is there to help you and he has not given up on you. And once again, from watching that video, I could hear from someone else, the darkness, hopelessness, helplessness that is consuming the world.

And we believers, are that ambassadors of love to such a person, we need to preach it, we need to show it. But we cannot show it if we ourselves are even looking for love, if we don’t even understand it, if we are still trying to comprehend it. But we must encourage ourselves in the love of God continually so we can overflow in that love and show it to others because God overflows in that love that’s why he continually gives it to us, generation after generation without diminishing or being short in supply.

I want us to keep these scriptures in mind always as we choose to rest in the love of God:

Romans 8:35-39 says:

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This was written by someone, Apostle Paul that was always faced with danger but in the midst of it all, he wrote this.

Romans 5:3-5

³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Stay in the will of God, trust his judgement for your life, trust his process, rest in His love. And when you feel overwhelmed, encourage yourself in Him, because you have a great high priest, Jesus that has gone ahead of you, who understands. And never forget that nothing can separate you from the love of God, if you are a child of God.

Halleluyah!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Benedicta Apeh!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!