Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Long flights are usually stressful to me. When any flight is to last in excess of five hours non-stop, I have to specially prepare my mind for it. Over time I found something that helps me cope. The night or day preceding any such flight, I make sure that I literally work myself to exhaustion. Typically, as soon as I settle in the plane, I sleep off. So I would literally sleep the hours away. Our text discusses sleep from two angles. Firstly, he introduces us to the laboring man. His sleep is always sweet. Having sapped himself of energy during the day, his body naturally shuts down for rest at night. This gives us additional value of work. A good day’s work is a recipe for a good night rest. On the other hand, an idle man may have to endure the night with burdensome thoughts.

A good day’s work is a recipe for a good night rest…Worrying over wealth is a recipe for unrest… What we know to be true is that God’s blessing makes one rich without adding sorrow.

Ironically, wealth may rob people of sleep just as idleness. Worrying over wealth is a recipe for unrest. When people are unduly concerned about how to succeed or make money, they may lose their sleep. Even after people have succeeded, the concern of not losing their fortune can rob them of sleep. This does not have to be a rule of thumb. Those who have committed themselves and what they have to God and His cause can still enjoy rest despite their great fortune. When the Bible speaks of the abundance of the rich not allowing them to sleep, I believe it is strictly those who have money without God. What we know to be true is that God’s blessing makes one rich without adding sorrow.

When my children were in school, I prayed for them virtually every day. That was in addition to calling them once a week. It was my little way of checking on their well-being. In those days, the report I mostly got was that they had heavy workload. They had to meet deadlines on term papers and other assignments. I made them understand that there are no easy steps to success. Good success is still spelt W-O-R-K! Whenever you see anything advertised that will double your money within a month, you have a Ponzi scheme in place; it doesn’t matter the packaging. It is worse when wrapped in religious garb, and promised success without sweat. Ask those who have gone ahead and search the word of God; hard work is the pathway to increase.

Good success is still spelt W-O-R-K!…hard work is the pathway to increase…A hardworking believer is a good imitator of our God.

God established the culture of work! The book of Genesis introduced us to a working God. We see God’s creative genius on display as He brought order out of chaos and made everything from no physical substance. Jesus also exemplified the dignity of work when He said, “My Father is always working, and I too must work” (John 5:17 GNT). For Jesus, work was a necessity as that became a major way to showcase the Father to the world. This brings us to the first principal reason why work cannot be placed on the elective list. If you are a son of God, you must work after the order of your Father. A hardworking believer is a good imitator of our God.

I love telling God the minutest details about life because in the final analysis, those little details turn to be substantive issues. In any case, God’s word says we should acknowledge Him in all our ways. So, when my wife and I were to travel from New York to Lanham, Maryland, we had the option of going by air, rail, or road. I requested that we pray to know God’s leading concerning the mode of transportation. We finally settled for road option. This proved to be most profitable not only because it was less cumbersome and provided us the opportunity of sight-seeing, but because of a principal lesson learned. The bus was scheduled to depart at 7am, and the driver shut the door just as prompt and pulled off from the parking lot. A couple of minutes after, a young man who had booked a seat on the bus banged the door while the driver was waiting for the light to turn green. In his desperation, he stood in front of the bus to blackmail the driver to open for him but that did not work. He was eventually left behind.

When we pray, our spirit enjoys all the sensitivity needed to connect to what is next on God’s agenda.

That got me thinking. When Jesus talked about His return to earth, He did not specify the exact hour. He gave us signs to watch out for but excluded the fine details of the day and the hour of His arrival. Now, people miss their scheduled flights or bus ride though they were advised ahead of departure time. Doesn’t it therefore sound more precarious on matters that we don’t have a scheduled time? In Jesus’ own words, the only way to avoid being caught off-guard is to watch in prayer continually. There is no better time to heed this admonition than now. When we pray, our spirit enjoys all the sensitivity needed to connect to what is next on God’s agenda.

After Paul and his co-travellers escaped drowning at sea, he found another trouble waiting for him on the island of Melita. As he made fire to warm himself, a venom beast fastened itself on his hand. Here was the conclusion of the islanders: “So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live” Acts 28:4 NKJV. They used circumstantial evidence to pass a guilty vote on an innocent man. One of the several temptations we must avoid is becoming prejudicial in our dealings with people. Our judgments of others are hardly accurate since we don’t always have all the information concerning them. Not all the people going through tough times are suffering the consequences of misdeeds.

Not all the people going through tough times are suffering the consequences of misdeeds…storms are no respecter of persons…God will always work out everything for the good of His saints.

Jesus and His disciples were once assailed by ill wind as they crossed. Neither Jesus nor His disciples had any sin in them. It is just the nature of things in this world, that storms are no respecter of persons. Job was righteous through and through. The foundation of his business empire was actually righteousness. Satan thought otherwise; he thought Job feared the Lord because God had blessed him. Job had everything of value destroyed but he retained his righteousness. In the fullness of time, everything was restored twice over. Indeed, the righteous may have many troubles, but God will get him out of them all. God will always work out everything for the good of His saints.

In our previous meditation, we cautioned against projects and plans without God’s endorsement. Such moves will amount to rebellion. One thing that is clear is that God will never sponsor rebellion. When we move outside of the boundaries of God’s mandate and calling, we will end up with unprofitable labour. Unholy ambitions often push people to operate outside of boundaries, doing what is not traceable to the voice of God. Sooner or later, it will produce a harvest of frustration. The only way that God is going to preserve us is to operate within boundaries. The warning could not be sterner to Israel than when God told them not to meddle with the land divinely allocated to the descendants of Esau. God warned them not to make any attempt at taking it because not the least stretch of that land would be given to them. Had they failed to comply with God’s warning they would have laboured in vain.

When we move outside of the boundaries of God’s mandate and calling, we will end up with unprofitable labour…The only way that God is going to preserve us is to operate within boundaries…Lovers of order will never argue against the necessity of keeping boundaries.

We can mention two things why God wants people to respect boundaries. Firstly, it is to prevent oppression. Without this the mighty will always appear right. The children of Esau were already afraid of the sheer size of the children of Israel but God stepped in and shielded them. The other reason is that order is preserved when boundaries are kept. You will not read too far in scripture before discovering how serious God is regarding order. Lovers of order will never argue against the necessity of keeping boundaries.

Someone made reference to an Asian minister of the gospel who visited the United States of America. The minister saw the great things people were doing, supposedly for God. He later remarked that: “It is amazing to see how much the brethren were doing without God”! That was a serious indictment as it was tantamount to rebellion. In normal usage, rebellion will be working against constituted authority. In some cases, it could even involve taking up arms against government. In scriptural sense, rebellion takes on a different meaning. “Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin” Isaiah 30:1 NKJV.

Rebellion is not simply doing things that are contrary to God; it also means acting without God!…Going about with plans that are not of the Spirit can never attract grace for accomplishment.

Israel is described as rebellious children on the ground that their plans excluded God. This gives us a new insight to the meaning of rebellion. Rebellion is not simply doing things that are contrary to God; it also means acting without God! It does not matter if what is done is a noble cause. Even in a noble cause you have to be sure it is you that God has ordained to carry it out, and that the time is ripe for it. Furthermore, our text for meditation today explains rebellion as hardening of heart against the voice of God. Invariably, a hardening of heart against God is like taking a stand against oneself. Going about with plans that are not of the Spirit can never attract grace for accomplishment.