Message
Many years ago, I went to preach in Onitsha, a town in South-Eastern Nigeria. On my way back to Lagos, I needed to refuel my car, so I stopped at Asaba to buy some fuel. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any. I kept driving until I got to Benin, but I still couldn’t get any fuel to buy. I continued my journey until I got to Ore. By then, the car’s fuel tank was on reserve. I didn’t know what to do. It was a Sunday evening, and I had to give some lectures the next morning. Then, God spoke to me, “Son, take your eyes off the gauge and keep driving.” I drove the car on reserve fuel from Ore until I parked in my house in Surulere (over 200km). God can bring something out of nothing, but for you to enjoy His blessings, you must be obedient to Him. When He says go, you should go, and when He says stop, you must stop. says that you should not lean on your own understanding.
In , there was an account of a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying by a pool and asked him, “Do you wish to get well?” The sick man answered, “Sir, I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is troubled.” Jesus then said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” Immediately, the man became well and began to walk. His simple obedience to Jesus’ instruction to rise and take up his bed broke the bondage he was in for thirty-eight years. No matter how long a problem has existed, once God sends His word and you obey Him, you will have total freedom.
More than four decades ago, I was to travel outside Nigeria for the first time and had never been inside an aeroplane before. I was a lecturer at the University of Lagos and was to give a presentation in Sierra Leone. I was a bit anxious because I had never travelled outside the country, but then, somebody gave me instructions on how to clear myself at the airport. I listened, obeyed the instructions, and my journey was successful.
Beloved, when God gives you an instruction, don’t think you are wiser than Him. He knows the end from the beginning and the best pathway for your life. If you want to succeed in life, simply obey God’s instructions. Obedience always precedes the miraculous.