GO IN THE STRENGTH OF THE SENDER
New Year is here again! It is no news that people keep making resolutions and expectations every New Year. But the question is: in what strength do they make these resolutions and expectations as they come into the year; is it in their own strength and confidence or in the strength of the Lord?
There is no doubt that 2023 was bedeviled with different challenges, but the Lord is sending us into 2024 in His strength. The world system and evil practices of men might have ravaged our land to a point that it seems visible to the blind, nevertheless, God desires to use us as vessels unto honour to turn things around. The present condition of our nation may seem as though nothing good would come out of it, however, God is looking for those who will go in His strength into 2024 to change things for good. This was the scenario of the Children Israel many years ago when they did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years. They were been battered by the Midianites for seven good years. The economy of Israel was in an impoverished state at the time. For as long as the children of Israel could not cry to the Lord because of the Midianites, their situation remained unchanged.
Despite all the hardness and difficulties of our time, God is desirous of a people who have put their strength in Him (Psalm 84:5) to enable them keep going from strength to strength till they come into the fulfillment of His promises concerning their lives in this year 2024. The bible says that: “They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God” (Psalm 84:7, KJV). The confidence we have as children of God to run this year 2024 until we come into God’s promises for our lives is the fact that we are going in the strength of the Lord. Realistically, human strength is incapable to journey us towards victory this coming year. Traversing this New Year despite the hardship and challenges of the times can only be in a strength that is strengthened by the strength of the Lord.
In this piece, I would be explicating the subject of “Go in this thy strength” using the life of Gideon in the bible. This would encourage us of God’s possibilities of going into this year with God’s strength despite our seemingly lost confidence of the state of our nation. The bible says, “And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent thee?”(Judges 6:14) My attempt is to highlight the categories of people that God desires to send into 2024 to be an agent of change despite the state of affairs of our families, communities, churches and nation at large.
Those who must go in the strength of the Lord are they who are uncomfortable with their present state of life, and desire help from God wholeheartedly.
The bible says “and Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the Children of Isreal cried unto the LORD.” (Judges 6:6)
If we must see a change in any area of our lives, the first person we must cry unto for change is God. If we must come to see revival sweep over Nigeria in 2024, we must first cry out to God with all sincerity over the present state of our land. If a man is comfortable with his present condition, he will never put in more strength and effort to clamour for the comfort that God offers. Anyone that is practically comfortable with sin will hardly see the need to cry for a changed life. Going into 2024 should not be with any form of comfort for Midianites activities. Your Midianite could be the secret sin that you do engage in day after day. Yours could be that lifestyle of cheating and exam malpractice. Yours could be that ungodly relationship. Yours could be that lifestyle of drunkenness, wild partying, sexual immorality, lies, falsehood and masturbation. The Lord expects you at this point to cry for help. He will never fail in sending deliverance to those who passionately and sincerely cry unto him.
Those who must go in the strength of the Lord are they who are salvaged from sin
The bible says that: “And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, That the LORD sent a prophet unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of Bondage…” (Judges 6:7-8)
The lesson to draw out from here is the matter of gaining freedom from bondage. Every sinner is a prisoner of sin and under the bondage of the devil. Anyone who engages in sin either publicly or privately is in the prison of sin. The children of Israel were at a point comfortable in Egypt, but “…in process of time, that the King of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by the reason of bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.” (Exodus 2:23). Egypt is a symbol of bondage and suffering. For as long as a man is not salvaged from sin and bondage, he is not fit to be sent as an agent of change to this perverse, untoward, crooked and corrupt generation. It is an aberration from the truth to claim to be salvaged from sin and yet you love the things of this world with passion. It is an aberration to claim to be free from sin and yet you engage in falsehood. If you must go in this thy strength, you must have been salvaged by the sender (Jesus Christ). It is an aberration from the truth to claim to know Jesus and yet you don’t hate iniquity and love righteousness like Jesus did as stated in Hebrew 1:9. If you don’t have a clear testimony of your salvation, it is pointer that you have not been salvaged from the bondage of Egypt. God’s call to you is to ask Him for forgiveness now and He will come to your help. A contrite heart and a broken spirit, God does not overlook. God demands your response NOW so that you can join the train of those believers who would enter 2024 in God’s strength.
Those who must go in the strength of the Lord are they who are not fearful in anyway because of God’s presence with them.
The bible says: “and the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, They LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of Valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us…” (Judges 6:12-13).
God being with a man is a critical precursor to knowing if such a man can go in God’s strength or not. A man who doesn’t have a clear knowledge when he PRESSED-IN to the Kingdom may never be able to PRESS-ON toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus for his life. Gideon never knew he was a mighty man of valour even when he truly was. God with you does not exonerate/exempt you from suffering or challenges, but His Grace will give you the elasticity to withstand every challenge that will come your way in 2024. A wise man once said that “As a child of God, you must not be limited by fear, but go out in faith” In reality, God in you is the hope of glory. The hope of glory for you in 2024 is reliance on God’s presence with you.
Those who must go in the strength of the Lord are they who God chooses to use in Mercy as vessels of Change.
The bible says, “And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent thee?”(Judges 6:14)
God issued an instruction to Gideon for him to comply and not to complain. There was a clear-cut matching order for Gideon to go in his might into the camp of the Midianites. God is likewise sending us into 2024 as agents of change to save those who are held captive and bound by the devil in every facet of life. He is calling and sending us unto been answers to the perplexing questions of the time. He is sending us to go in His might and not in our strength. He who is sending us into this coming year says that “Be strong, courageous and firm; fear not nor be terror before them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you” (Deut. 31:6). As God desires to use us, our family background is never an excuse or hindrance. As God desires to use us in 2024, the present state of our economy should never be a hindrance. Let’s put our confidence in God and He will lead us to the end. Let us put our confidence in God and He will sustain us through life in the year 2024.
You cannot go in the strength of the sender if you have not encountered the sender
The sender in this context is God Almighty. I must emphasize at this point that no one can do exploit for God if he has no encounter of Him. You cannot PRESS ON in the year 2024 in Christ if you have not PRESS IN into the kingdom. By pressing in, I mean that God desires a clear-cut encounter with the sender. Divine encounter must precede divine strength and divine strength must precede divine sending. God will not send any man in whom He has not strengthened yet, He will never strengthen any man in whom He never encountered.
Apostle Paul who was formerly called Saul was encountered by God on his way to Damascus. Prophet Isaiah would say when he had his own encounter that “Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:7). Isaiah was a major prophet, who has been in the prophetic ministry for many years; however, he was unfit to be sent in God’s strength for a greater assignment until he was encountered by God. The bible says, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8). God is calling on us to go into 2024 in His strength. What is that unclean thing in your life that will hinder you from responding to God’s voice and invitation?
Only those whose strength is in Christ can go from strength to strength in the year 2024. Strength is required if we must progressively walk our ways into Zion. The bible says that “They go from strength to strength, UNTIL EACH APPEARS before God in Zion” (Psalm 84:7, BSB). Zion is the God’s heavenly administration. It is where all things are possible. It is a place where deliverance and holiness is possible for those who can come. Though, we need to take our journey of strength in Christ, nevertheless, the destination is nothing short of Zion. God desires our individual appearance in Zion. The bible says that “Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” (Psalm 84:5, BSB).
Zion is the sides of the North where promotions come from. Zion is a city of the great king from whence the blood of sprinkling speaks better things than the blood of any wrong covenant contending with our possibilities in Christ. In all, let our strength not end half way into 2024, but let it carry us through the thick and thins of the year. The reason is because, “If we faint in the days of adversity, our strength is too small” (Proverbs 23:9).
God is calling on us to step into 2024 with great hope and expectations on the wings of His strength. By strength shall no man prevail, hence, if we must prevail in 2024, we must go in His strength. We must allow God’s strength overshadow our own human strength so that we can reach our destinations in God this NEW YEAR.
GOD BLESSYOU
Written by
Samson Okpanachi Daniel
(WORD FEAST – The Living Transformer)
