God is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 1:8). Because He is the End, the end of everything will be good, for God is good. (Matthew 19:17).
My business has been going through the doldrums. I have tried many fixes without any success. But God said to me: “Femi, I will restore double to you.” (Zechariah 9:12). He said this three years ago and it has yet to happen. But nothing in heaven and earth can prevent this prophecy from coming to pass.
Paul says: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
I was attacked by armed robbers, but God assured me nothing would happen to me. The robbers shot me in the leg. But God insisted that nothing was wrong with my leg. Paul says: “(Epaphroditus) was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him.” (Philippians 2:27). Similarly, a bullet broke a bone in my leg, but God healed my leg.
Wait for God
If you wait prayerfully for God in any adversity, He will definitely show up. Let me put it even more insistently: It is IMPOSSIBLE for God not to show up if you ever wait for Him.
If you wait for God, He will come. He will not just come; He will come with a solution. He will come up with an answer. He will come with an exaltation. He will come with a revelation. He will come with redemption. He will come with a healing. He will come with a blessing.
It can take one week, one month, one year, five years, or twenty years. It does not matter. Just wait. The hope that is in God does not disappoint. It does not make us ashamed. (Romans 5:5).
Jeremiah says: “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentation 3:25-26).
Final Say
The songwriter asks: “Who has the final say?” The answer is simple: “Jehovah has the final say.”
When we have an argument with someone, we often want to have the last word. But it is really a waste of time because it is God who always has the last word. We never do so. Neither do our situations and circumstances. That is why God is the First and the Last. (Revelation 22:13).
Job understood this. He knew the principles of “But God.” Therefore, in his afflictions, he expressed the confidence that, no matter how long it took, God would have the last word and redeem him:
“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” (Job 19:25-27).
Yes, Job went through great adversity. He underwent great affliction. He lost his wealth and his children. “But God” redeemed him.
“The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters.” (Job 42:12-13).
Promise of God
The promise of God stands sure: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2-3).
You will pass through the waters, “but God.” You will not drown. You will go through the rivers, “but God.” They will not overflow you. You will walk through the fire, “but God.” You will not be burnt.
Joseph went through a terrible ordeal, but God rescued him.
“The patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favour and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house” (Acts 7:9-10).
Every ordeal of Joseph’s moved him a step closer to God’s final destination for him as the prime minister of Egypt.
When his evil brothers who sold him into slavery discovered that he was now the prime minister of Egypt, they were afraid that he would seek retribution against them. But Joseph recognised the hand of God every step of the way.
He said to them: “But God.”
“As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” (Genesis 50:20-21).
Battle and war
There is a difference between the battle and the war. A child of God may lose a battle, but because of God, we can never lose the war. With a child of God, the devil can only win a battle, he can never win the war.
Children of God should know this definitively for a fact. With us, the devil is a loser and will always be a loser. No weapon fashioned against us can prosper. In Christ, we are always triumphant: “Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Jesus says: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19).
“But God”
“Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. But God remembered Noah.” (Genesis 7:23-24/8:1).
God will remember you. He has not forgotten you. He can never forget you. He says: “I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.” (Isaiah 49:15-16).
“Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.” (Genesis 31:22-24). God will contend with those who contend with you.
“Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you.” (Genesis 48:21). With every loss, you gain God.
“David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but Goddid not deliver him into his hand.” (1 Samuel 23:14). The enemy is looking for you. But he cannot find you because you are hidden in Christ in God.
“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25). Some have lands, houses and great wealth. But God is your portion.
“When they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead.” (Acts 13:29-30). The same resurrection power is operating in you to redeem you from every adversity and affliction. CONCLUDED.
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