THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE IS PART OF LIFE
By Bishop Mike Okonkwo
Monday 28th November 2022
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Psalm 42:11 (KJV)
The journey of life will not always be smooth. Sometimes it comes with bumps and potholes. Those are the wilderness of our lives. Everyone will pass through his own wilderness experience. I want you to know that it is not the end of your life. It is only an opportunity for you to experience the power of God. David was anointed by God and as soon as he killed Goliath, you would have thought that the next thing would be for him to become king. But that was not to be. That turned out to be the beginning of his wilderness experience.
But it was David who taught us that our soul should not be cast down and we should be excited and stand up in the spirit also. From our text he said to himself “why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. For I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God”. At times it seemed as if the promise will never happen, a time when heaven seemed to be silent and had forgotten him.
There will always be times when it seems the enemy is getting stronger and you are getting weaker, and you desire to quit. At those times you feel like taking matters into your hands rather than allowing God to work out His perfect plan and purpose in your life.
Your wilderness experience comes in diverse ways and that’s when to look unto God. In the case of David in 1 Sam 30:6, he had lost his wives, children and everything he had to the enemy and his people spoke of stoning him because they were all aggrieved, but David encouraged himself in the Lord. This is what marks your turnaround in the season of adversity. Decide to encourage yourself. It’s not over yet!
Further Reading: 1 Samuel 30:1-8; Isaiah 43:1-7
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Ezekiel 33-34; Evening- 1 Peter 5