WHEN THE UNKNOWN THREATENS

Day and night are so different from each other that they have become the ultimate expression of contrast - we say things like "they're as different as day and night"
Yet, in spite of the sharp contrast, God ordained that they should co-exist - side by side. Night follows day and day follows night.
Wherever you are on the planet, no matter what it is, you can't hurt 24 hours of the day. - By the same token, you won't have 24 hours of night- And the night may have been long, dark and cold, but there is coming a morning- And the morning brings joy with it.
Night provides the perfect cover for the enemy to surprise us - When God has sown good seeds in our lives, the enemy comes under the cover of night and sows tares
So the surprise comes when the wheat is growing; and all of a sudden the tares appear.
When this happens our natural inclination is to move in quickly and try to fix the problem we must learn to:

1. Ask the right questions - "where did this come from?"

2. Don't react - leave it alone; "be still"

3. Ask God for directions.

I want to examine a crucial characteristic of the night- The night not only provides the perfect cover for the enemy to surprise you,- It provides the right atmosphere for the unknown to threaten you

1 Kings 19:1-8
One of the beautiful things about scripture is that it makes no attempt to conceal the humanity of those bible characters that we regard as super heroes.
So, from time to time, God will open a window and give us an inside view into the lives of the people He uses. - And we read, not just of the great things they accomplished, but also of the challenges they went through.
Just as their heroic feats are put on display, we get a view into their issues and oddities; the conflicts and contradictions that they had to contend with.
We get to find out that superman is after all also Clark Kent.
On the one hand we admire their strength, courage and exploits; and on the other, we deal with their weakness, insecurities, failures and frailties.- Then we get to understand that behind all of those great things that God has done, there is an ordinary human being.

Newsflash: God uses ordinary people!

This passage allows us to eavesdrop on the private conversations of a great man of God. He has just taken on 450 prophets of Baal, and single-handedly disregards them and their god. His courage has spanked revival in the land. - He has just called down fire from heaven
No doubt, Elijah had just stepped into his finest hour.
Then this wicked, manipulative, conniving, ungodly witch puts a death warrant on him.
She sends out a threat - possibly a secret threat. - She doesn't explain what she is going to do, or how she's going to do it, but she makes it clear that he has 24 hours to live.
What does a man of faith and power do when something scares him to death?- He runs! like you and me, he runs- And he does not run for one mile or two, he runs for one hour or two; he runs for a whole day and them runs some more.- He runs for dear life!
Now notice the dichotomy: People are probably still talking about how brave Elijah is and describing the awesome encounter in mount caramel - and he is running. You might ask, "What would make such a great man of God run?"- Everybody has something that will make him or her run.- It doesn't matter how tough you are, if you are faced with an issue that's big enough, you will run!
Isn't it funny how you can go from a great heroic moment of victory to a miserable moment of defeat without any warning?
Isn't it interesting how you can go from the top of the mountain to the depths of the valley without an interval, interlude or intermission?- Things can happen so fast that you don't even get to enjoy the top before hit the bottom.
"How could I have attained such glorious heights and then hit such ignominious depths within the same 24 hour period?"

- "How could I have experienced the brightness of the noonday sun and the darkness of the midnight hour - all in the same day? How?"
"How can I be so brave and heroic and courageous about this; and at the same time be so afraid and intimidated and worried that?"

- How can I be so heavy over here and so week over there?"
Now, you must understand that Elijah is not fighting a physical enemy here- You see, a physical enemy - you can get ready for- Anything you can get your hand around, you can choke to death- But the enemy we're fighting is not the type you can choke with your handsFor we wrestle not against flesh and blood.
Elijah knew what to do with an enemy you can see - after all, he had just taken on 200 of them and defeated them- But how do you fight an enemy you can't see? What weapons do you use against a phantom, a ghost? How do you tackle a nebulous entity; how do you corner an ethereal and ephemeral concept?
So Elijah started to run- Oh no! He wasn't running from Jezebel; for Jezebel he could see- He was running from her threat - the threat of the unknown.
Have you ever found yourself running from the threat of the unknown?- I'm talking about issues that nobody imagines would even cross your mind.
In case you still don't understand what I'm talking about, let me help you

- Three members of your family die in rapid succession; and the devil tells you you're next - that's the threat of the unknown.

- You've got a great job in the city but you're wondering if you will turn out an alcoholic like your father - that's the threat of the unknown.

- Your mother died of breast cancer; and you're afraid to touch your own breast for fear of what you might find - that's the threat of the unknown

- You know you are drop dead gorgeous, but you are afraid your husband will leave you. Why? Because your two older sisters could not keep a husband - that is the threat of the unknown.

- Your friend is diagnosed with AIDS and you fall to pieces because you are not sure you have AIDS too. You die many times before you get tested; you die many times between the test and the result - that is the threat of the unknown.

I could carry on …… and it is only a matter of time before I touch your won particular issue.- But whether I call your issue or not, the truth is everybody has something that makes them run.- Secret threats that people do not even know intimidate you.
=> Question: What Are You Running From Today?
Elijah runs - he runs like hi is possessed. He runs till he comes to the juniper tree.
What do you do when life beats you up, wrestles you down and drives you into a corner?

What do you do in the night, when the unknown threatens you, overwhelms you and traps you under a juniper tree?
But before we try to answer that questions, there are two practical issues we must address
Notice two things about Elijah in the passage:
1) He is Tired: Elijah is physically tired- There are no demons, there are no hex, no spell, no witch, no voodoo, no juju - he is just tired- Something as simple as that
He had defeated hostile prophets, outrun chariots, and performed many other exploits. But now, he is tired.
And people react strangely to issues when they are tired.- It is real hard to be objective when you are exhausted.
Notice what he says in verse 4: "It is enough!"- In the NIV, it says "I have had enough"- In other words, Elijah had come to his limits.
And there is nothing wrong with coming to your limits, because after all, everyone has limits.
But he over reacts - he gets suicidal. He prayed that he might die: "Now Lord take my life for I am no better than my fathers!"
Now if truth be told, Elijah does not really want to die - otherwise he would not have run from Jezebel; or at least he would have gone back.
But he gets irrational because he is tired.
You need to recognize your limits; you need to know how to stop when you are tired.- In fact you need to give yourself permission to be tired.

2) He is Hungry: Again, physically hungry.
The feeder had not been fed; the leader had not been led; the teacher could not find anyone to teach him; the counselor had not counselor of its own.
The therapist did not know where to turn to receive therapy; the comforter was not comforted; the physician had no doctor.
But God steps in and releases four kinds of power into Elijah's life that give him victory over the threat of the unknown.

i) The Power of Perspective:- Perspective is the ability to see things as they really are - to see big things as big and small things as small.- When you are faced with the threat of the unknown, ask yourself. "Am I looking at this situation correctly?"- One of the reasons why the unknown has so much power is that it assumes in exaggerated dimensions.The night has a way of creating an illusion of a situation.- You see, it is not so much what you go through that matters - it is how you feel about what you go through.- And in reality, you may not be able to change what you go through, but if you can change your perspective about it, it will dramatically enhance your ability to deal with it.- Elijah had overcome many obstacles in the past, but he saw this one as something he would not deal with or overcome.And the devil has a way of intimidating you with the very thing you feel you cannot cope with.Remember Job? The thing that I greatly feared has come upon me.- IF YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR PROBLE, CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE.If you cannot change what you are looking at, change how you look at it.- Do not magnify something that God has minimized.- Do not make it the big one when God has not made it the big one.
- Now lets see the threat from God's perspective:a) First of all, Jezebel's threat was empty.Elijah had been running for more than a day, and she said she would kill him within a day.But he was so busy running that he failed to notice that the Lord has protected him past the deadline the enemy had set.Left to your enemy, you would be long dead and gone. If Jezebel had had her way, Elijah would not have lived to see the Juniper tree.Look around you today - what is your own Juniper tree?What landmark have you achieved that, if left to your enemy, you would never have seen?Sometimes we are so busy running from what might happen that we do not notice that God has blessed us on the run.
b) Secondly, Jezebel does not even feature in God's discussion with Elijah.She is so unimportant in the scheme of things that a servant of Elijah's servant anointed the person, who kills her.
- Gain perspective - do not make your cross roads a crisis.- And this is the benefit of fellowship - the power of iron sharpening iron. Because when you get around other people, you will find out that what your are dealing with is normal; and someone else has been through it.- It is easier to cope with things when you find out they are normal.1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 4:12; 5:9

ii) The Power of Preparation:- Some of the things that we call problems are simply places of preparation.What was this whole journey into the wilderness all about?From where Elijah stood, he was running from Jezebel.But as far as God was concerned, it was a way of getting Elijah's attention in order to prepare him for the second half of his ministry.- So, be careful what you pray; because the very thing you are asking God to remove may be the things he is using to prepare you for your entry into destiny.- 2 Corinthians 4:17
- So how did God prepare him?a) First He got him to rest.b) Then He got him to eat.Question: Are you as good at eating as you are at cooking?Sometimes you need to eat what you serveThe feeder too needs to be fed.Are you as good at doing as you are at teaching?Elijah needed to eat so badly, that God sent an angel to cook his foodNow notice, angels are good at rolling away stones, and parting seas, and bringing down walls.
But you are so important to God, that sometimes he will send you an angel just to make you some stir fry.You need to be on the look out for the angel who will be sent to cook your next meal - it may be the person you least expect.
One more thing here: you need to learn to feed in the place of your problem.God has a way of preparing a table before you in the presence of your enemies.
Sometimes we run away from our challenges too soon. Do not move on until you have got out of that problem everything you need to get out of it.
The angel had to wake Elijah a second time and say, "You haven't got all from this situation - arise and eat"
Samson took honey from the place of his previous battle and he said: "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet " Judges 14:5,6,8,9,14.
Make up your mind when you go through a difficult situation: "I am going to get something out of this"

iii) The Power of Propulsion:- God uses the problem you are going through as the wind up power to propel you to your next destination.Not a single thing you went through will be wasted.Not a singe tear, sigh, trauma, pain or disappointment will go to waste.- God propels prepared people into their purpose.- When David picked stones to fight Goliath, he did not just pick up stones - he picked the smooth ones.The brook had prepared smooth stones and so they moved easily through the air.

iv) The Power of Preservation:- When God feeds you, it is for more than just the hunger of the moment.God's meal will take you through a full cycle of completion.- Some people are still running on the strength of message they heard 3,4 or 5 years ago.- Learn to preserve what you took away from the problem. The disciples gathered twelve buckets full of the leftovers from their miracle, and took them on their journey.Have you gathered the leftovers from your last encounter with God?

THE ENEMY WILL ISSUE AN THREAT IN THE NIGHT; BUT IF YOU TAP INTO GOD'S POWER AND HOLD ON TILL THE MORNING, YOU WILL FIND THAT THERE WAS NOTHING IN IT ANYWAY

Weeping May Endure For The Night, But Joy Comes In The Morning.

Taking ownership of your dream

Everything in God begins with a word. In the beginning was the word.
In the beginning of your life… your education……… your family………… your marriage………. Your business was the word. Verse 3 - "Without Him nothing was made that was made"
Isaiah 46:9-10. Before God commences anything in the natural. He would have first concluded it in the realm of the spirit. The only thing that starts in the natural are those things which God has finished in the spirit. Then, in order to allow it to start in the natural, he takes that completed work, encodes and encapsulates it into words and sends those words into the earthly realm.
When the word comes into the earthly realm, it contains something - it contains an assignment, an agenda from God. And usually, the word is sent to an earthly target. In order for that word to come to pass - in order for the word to become flesh, it must find an earthly target. And the word will linger in the earthly realm for as long as it takes. It will linger, waiting for someone to receive it. It cannot return to God unfulfilled. Isaiah 55:10-11
There are issues which, in the mind of God, have been concluded long ago. As far as God is concerned, it is a done deal - a closed case. Yet, in the natural, those issues have not come to pass, why? Because God is waiting for someone to take ownership of the word. In a few days, we will once again be celebrating Christmas - to commemorate the time that Jesus Christ was born 2000 years ago. But in reality, the Christmas story did not begin 2000 years ago - it had been concluded in the mind of God before even time began. Right from the time that man sinned and fell in the garden of Eden, God began to unfold the salvation plan - Genesis 3:15 Even though this was the first time that man would hear about his salvation, the issue had been settled long before.
In Revelation 13:8, Jesus is described as the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. So the Christmas story did not really begin in a manger in Bethlehem. Long before that night, God had made up His mind to step out of eternity into time. What happened in Bethlehem that night was more than merely the birth of a baby. That one who emerged from Mary's womb that night was much more than what human eyes could discern. This was God taking on human flesh - this was the word becoming flesh. This was John 1:14 coming to life.
Let's take a close look at how this really happened. How did John 1:1 become John 1:14? Luke 1:26-38 - There are seven truths I want you to see in this passage.
The initiative of God: verse 26Everything started from God - the angel was sent by God. John 1:1 - the word was with God. Many times we want God to bless what we are doing, whereas we should be doing what God has blessed.
The involvement of man: verse 27God singled out a person to cooperate with him. Every miracle is the result of the cooperation between God and man Many times God will use the most unlikely people - in this case, a virgin
The faith of God: verse 28God does not see you as you are today, He sees you as He has already concluded you are - Romans 4:17. He saw Abraham as the father of many nations. He saw Gideon as a mighty man of valour.
The limitation of man: verses 29 and 34Mary trembled at the greeting because her faith could not handle what she was hearing She questioned "how can this be……..?" She knew that a virgin could do many things - but have a baby? It was too much for her. How many times do we hear a word from God and question - how can this be? But as the angel spoke to her - her faith began to rise.
The omnipotence of God: verse 35 and 36When God gets ready to do something in your life, He will do it with or without a man. God turned Elizabeth's situation around - the name she used to be called was now no longer relevant.
The potency of God: verse 37The word "nothing " in this verse is a combination of two words - "no thing". Better translated - " no rhema". When a word goes forth from God's mouth, it has to come to pass.
The cooperation of man: verse 38Mary had to receive the word - she took ownership of the dream. She said, "let it be to me according to your word". From that moment, the dream was no longer just God's dream, it became Mary's dream too.
God has a dream for you, but you must take ownership of it. Until you do, the word cannot become flesh. Many dreams, many promises are stuck between heaven and earth because they are waiting for someone to sign for them. Like parcels sitting in the post office delivery room, they contain all kinds of treasure, but they're just sitting there wasting away. They are no good to the sender, and they are no good to the proposed receiver.
The fact that God has said something will happen in your life does not mean it will You have your own part to play. Even though God had promised the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, they still had to fight for every square inch of it.
What dreams have you failed to take possession of in this year? Well here comes another opportunity.
How do you take ownership of your dream? Very simple - by agreeing with God's word. But simple as it sounds, people miss it everyday.
When God spoke to Jeremiah, he said "I can't" - Jeremiah 1:4-7. God said: "stop saying that - I know you more than you know yourself, and I know you can".
When God gave Joseph a dream, he took ownership of it by speaking the dream Genesis 37:5-11. They hated him for his dream and his words.
The first step to incubating your dream is receiving it. To incubate something means to develop it in favourable conditions
The law of spiritual incubation is very simple - NOTHING JUST HAPPENS

LOVE CAME FOR ME

Love is a phenomenon that many people claim to understand but that only a few people have experienced - I happen to be one of them.

All through my life, I have always thought I understood the concept of love in its entirety. This is because I have been involved in organizations where I have had to communicate on the subject of love and relationships via music, drama and speaking. You could imagine how good I became at ‘doing’ love that I was nicknamed ‘Kenny Hitches’, named after Will Smith’s character, Alex Hitches, the successful love doctor in the blockbuster movie – Hitch. Somehow if you have been involved in relationships that have eventually led to happy marriages, you would feel me on this, I considered myself, a doyen of love.

You know, like every other young lad, I have always dreamt of getting married to a pretty, intelligent lady who would ultimately love the Lord but I never knew that ‘the one’ I was going to make my own was going to have all of these desirable qualities to excellent degrees.

Feel this – a lady who is a young aspiring doctor (dentist)-in-the-making, teaches the word of God passionately and accurately, possesses a sweetly generous spirit, coupled with a great body! (Am still spiritual, ok?) That, my folks, is what I consider my ‘spec’!

I always say that beauty is not all in the eye of the beholder but starts from the mind of the beheld. That underlines the importance of self confidence, she is confident and not arrogant (there is actually a thin line between the two – arrogance and confidence), but she manages to maintain the required balance that would make a man go gaga with love and desires. I fell in love with this girl and it has been joy all the way. Welcome to my world, beautifully brightened my one and only diva – Joke Smith.

WHO’S THAT GIRL?
I saw Joke Smith for the first time in 1995 at Federal Government College, Idoani. She was just transferred into the school as a junior Class student then while I was in the Senior Class. I remember seeing this innocent, neat, sweet, loving, gentle, comely and very-well-packaged girl in her blue uniform. I was magnetized by her rapacious beauty.
What constantly tickled my fancy about Joke was her curly hair. The lovely smile she constantly wore on her face was absolutely tantalizing. My God! She made me strong and weak all at the same time to the point that I couldn’t get her off my mind for hours! (Confusion, you’d say!) Would you blame me?

Joke went around with an atmosphere that portrays that of a well brought-up girl, what you would call, ‘take home to mama’, and I must be quick say that she still does. When I saw her, I concluded an angel must be missing in heaven; she is that angel because seeing her, for me, is seeing heaven.

Even though, a day never passes without thinking about her but I was spiritually and morally mature enough to know that it wasn’t the right time for both of us to be talking about love and intimacy. Moreover, my academic goals and values as well as my duties as a school prefect and as a Christian fellowship leader constrained me from approaching and telling her how much she means to me and how much I’d really love for her to be mine. Some years later, I graduated and left the school without expressing my feelings for Joke to anyone, not even her. I had achieved my academic dream by becoming the first runner up to the best graduating student from the school that year but I left with that void that only Joke’s love could fill.

For about ten years, I lost contact with sweet Joke. I wouldn’t say I forgot about her but I just didn’t remember anymore (that sounded contradictory but pause and think about it for a moment). This must have been due to my new found academic pursuits in the university. Somehow, as God would have it I had a ‘school son’, Bayode Atandeyi, who sometimes talked about her each time he came home on holiday. That, in a way, kept the thoughts of her alive.

It is necessary to say here that it matters the kind of prayer we say to God as far as our lives are concerned. Mine has always being that the good Lord should make me a prisoner of His will. That means He should orchestrate my life according to His plans with or without my consent, and I tell you, He did it in Joke’s case.

SECOND COMING
I had being in two unsuccessful affairs since the last time I saw Joke, she also had had her fair share of failed relationships as I would later find out. After high school, I understood she was admitted into the University of Accra for her undergraduate studies. For those years, we communicated online but most of the times she never really responded to me the way I expected simply because to her, 10 years was a long time to remember me. Not for me, because with what I felt for her then, it was like a day.

I was in my Ikoyi office one morning, when I received a call that turned out to be Joke. I was completely surprised considering her disposition to me whenever we chatted online. To my amazement, she was willing to see me again. As I hurriedly dashed out to see her that day, I said to myself – ‘this is another chance, boy, don’t blow it, boy!’ I drove my black Volkswagen Bora straight to our point of meet somewhere inside Victoria Garden City.

BOUNDLESS LOVE
At exactly 6:35pm, she arrived in a datsun car and before you could say Jack Robinson, my heart beats had doubled (did I say doubled, tripled!) In a matter of seconds, several thoughts ran through my head like fast-moving vehicles jostling on a busy road of Ikorodu in Lagos Metropolis. I said to myself, this is it, boy!
As she gracefully stepped out of the car, oh my God! I couldn’t help the nostalgic feeling that ran through my spine in a rush! It was like I became that young Idoani boy again. Walking in my direction, with pomp and pageantry, is that lady…….the very woman of my dreams.

After spending an hour together, it was as if we had known each other forever. We talked and believe me, I lost count of time. I experienced love like never before. A second with Joke is like heaven.

Nice story, right? The concluding part of this story will be heard on the 17th of May, 2008 when I would be ‘ringing’ her up as my WIFE (Woman Inspired For Exploits).

See http://joke-kenny.weddingannouncer.com for details.

Stay rapturable.