All my life, for God alone
Martha Olawale
“Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
Any life in God’s hands bears fruit, and no matter how rotten the past is, He knows how to bring newness from it. Who else can make a road in the wilderness or cause rivers to flow in the desert? After all, He founded the earth from formlessness and void (Genesis 1:2).
Don’t live like a sitting duck, waiting for things to happen and for life to sway you left and right; stand up to live for God and enjoy the rest and fulfillment that come with it, no matter what you encounter. I have climbed so many mountains in my life, and yes, they are not fun to scale. However, I have come to see each painful road as a training ground. For every lucky punch the enemy throws, the Holy Spirit teaches me how to hit back a thousand ways.
There is no vantage point for the enemy in my life because any pain I feel is his misery, just as my joy is. I am determined to make my life count for God, as an extension of Heaven, as I journey through the cold winter seasons and the sunny summer ones. With God’s presence with me, it doesn’t mean I won’t walk through challenges, but every wilderness has a road, all valleys are lighted with God’s glory, and every desert comes with a flowing spring.
My life is off the bargain block; it belongs to God. For each tear I shed, God gives me towels to wipe away a thousand tears from other people’s faces. For the well of joy I drink from daily, God has made me a channel to satisfy the thirst of millions. The enemy can never know the twist in the story when God is the foundation on which your life is anchored. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.”
Let God determine what you do with your life, not life determine what you do for God. Living from that perspective establishes your purpose, enabling you to fight from a place of rest. When God leads, no matter what you encounter along your path, whether joy or pain, highs or lows, whether your wealth is in the thousands or billions, it will all serve the same purpose: honoring God.
Joseph’s brothers, Potiphar’s wife, and all the wickedness he encountered could not stop God from bringing good out of his life’s plot, just as yours is not a lost cause. Joseph told his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” God can use your pain as He can use your joy because the multiplier effect of a Kingdom sold-out life turns everything into good. When God is the factor by which you live, everything you bring to the table with Him always turns positive because your 0 plus His 100 will always be 100. Approaching life from that perspective keeps the enemy far from you because your pain is problematic for him, just as your joy is.
