The mighty hand of the Lord
IPeter 5: 6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time”. We will continue with our discussion on how to be in the perfect will of God for our lives. Last week we discussed that praying in other tongues is a vital key to walking in the perfect will of God for our lives. Today, we shall examine another vital key to walking in God’s perfect will – Humility.
Today’s scripture states that we should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt us in due time. The mighty hand of God is a divine instrument that places us in the right place at the right time. It also ensures that we meet the right people. The mighty hand of God is God himself taking ownership of your life and ensuring that you are where you ought to be even though you don’t initially know it.
Isaiah 63:12 “that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?” That is the mighty hand of God leading them. So how this mighty hand does operates?
“Isaiah 63:14 “As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name caused him to rest”.
That is what the mighty hand of God does. It’s a compelling force that directs the affairs of a man’s life. I think I should give another testimony today to illustrate this.
The year was 1998: it was the period of the tribal war between the Yorubas and the Hausas in Lagos in the aftermath of the death of MKO Abiola. On this fateful day, armed Hausa thugs’ over-ran a Yoruba suburb and went on a killing spree. They entered this man’s shop and killed his sales boy. They took the shop owner, placed him on the floor and were about to crush his head with an axe when an argument broke forth between them.
“He is Yoruba; no he is Ibo; he is Calabar; no he is Yoruba.” Some of the Hausa men wanted him to be killed insisting that he is a Yoruba man while others were of the view that his features were that of an Ibo man.
Luckily at that moment, a Calabar woman walked past and heard the heated argument. She screamed, “He is Calabar; he is Calabar.” They lifted down their axe and left him. Well she lied: that man is a Yoruba man. By the way, it’s not a story I read on the internet; that man is my dad and he is still alive till this day.
So, the perfect will of God for him is long life but God achieved that through his mighty hand.
He made that Calabar woman to be at the right place at the right time so that his perfect will can be done.
Isn’t this God so wonderful? Isn’t he worth serving with all our resources, strength and life?
However it takes humility to enjoy the mighty hand of God. Real humility is making God the sole aim of your existence. When you are humble, you regard God first in all your fears; you seek his face about everything that concerns you.
I seek the face of God about everything that concerns me. For things that could be as insignificant as where I should rent a house and when to buy a car; I seek his wisdom and his face; I don’t own my life, I did not create my life. I am only a steward of the life given to me and I must give an account one day to the giver and owner of life.
That is real humility: making God first and foremost in every decision and step you take.
I have observed people over the course of my few years and if you will ask me the number one reason why some people fail, I won’t think twice in responding by saying, “they do not seek the face of God about the decisions they make.”
They live life as if they created life. They make their decisions and pray for God to bless it.
For instance, the trend now is for immigration to Canada; now I don’t live in the moon so I know that living in Nigeria could be challenging. But have you asked God? Have you prayed to God about it? Maybe God wants you to travel out but maybe it’s the USA and not Canada.
Maybe he wants you to travel to UK or Germany. Maybe that is where your greatness truly lies; but no, most people won’t do that. God is not priority for them - He is an option.
That is pride; doing your own things your own way without submission to God. Proud people don’t enjoy the mighty hand of God and hardly walk in God’s perfect will.