Let Us Rise Up, by Minister Victor Olajubu
To do what? To build, to succeed, to expand, to dominate, to conquer, to excel, to fight, to subdue, to win, to overcome and to lead.
Nehemiah 2:18 – And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.
JACOB – Genesis 27: 32-33
In Genesis 27 we witness a situation where Jacob supplanted his brother to receive the blessings from Isaac their father. When Esau arrived from the field to take the blessings, Isaac said to him he’s blessed Jacob already – and indeed he shall be blessed.
Contrast that with twenty one years after in Genesis 31:40-42 when Jacob said to Laban 40 There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes.
Yes, Jacob was blessed but he had to touch the “woods” so they can turn to gold. The hands that are blessed should look for things to touch so the blessings can translate to success, abundance and plenty. The blessing of GOD upon our head cries out for “testing grounds” for the utilization of the potentials in us. We must navigate, negotiate our survival. We have to be more daring, why? Because we are blessed, the blessing of the LORD is on us and we need to find ways to turn those blessings to results. It’s true that many tie we have to wait on GOD but it’s equally true that many times GOD IS WAITING FOR US to rise up and take action.
SCENARIO 1
Exodus 14:14 – And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward: BLATANT TRUTH, BLUNT, DIRECT, PRECISE. They were doing the wrong thing at the right time. The time was right because GOD took them to that location at that point in time and they were not lost. This is not the time to cry. Crying won’t solve this problem. There comes a time when locking ourselves up in a room, burying the head to cry will not solve the problem. Instead of crying, GOD expected the children of Israel to be marching. They shouldn’t be crying, NO, NEVER, NOT RIGHT IN A MILLION YEARS.
Why is he complaining about the bills, tell him to start a business? Why is he crying about his income and debt, tell him the solution is in front of him. Why is he worried about the future? No, he shouldn’t be doing that, tell him to go forward. Why is he worried about the challenges he’s facing? Tell him to stop worrying and start marching but to march he has to rise.
SCENARIO 2
Genesis 42: 1-2 – When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”
Why do you look at one another? A thousand years of looking at each other will not bring food to the table. Why should we allow life to happen to us? We must take responsibility for our lives. WE MUST TAKE RISKS WITH OUR LIVES. Those that say “if I perish I perish don’t always perish”. If at all there is anything called failure – let us fail whilst trying”.
Yes, agreed, there is a problem, you didn’t cause the problem, and it is not your fault that you find yourself in this delicate situation. The situation will not improve if you keep glancing at the same things you’ve always glanced at. Looking at each other wouldn’t put any food on the table. Why are you disoriented? Why are you confused? Why are you thinking of giving up? Why are you sad? Why are you unhappy, why are you discouraged? There has to be a change, Things cannot continue to go on this way, I cannot continue to carry on like this.
Another day you spend looking at yourself is another day of hunger for the entire family.
Information from trusted sources was vital to the survival of our Patriarchs because Jacob said he heard from reliable sources there are grains in Egypt. Trusted, reliable sources of information could be vital to us achieving the plans and purposes of GOD for our lives and we need to get our ears on the ground – trawl the internet for information, try and identify, locate helpers of destiny that are assigned to us by GOD to change the course of our life.
Yes, there is famine in Canaan, yes, there is hunger, yes, somebody put us in this mess, yes, somebody didn’t do their job, yes our leaders don’t have foresight, yes, the economy is bad, yes, the policies aren’t favourable to us, yes, this, yes that BUT then put the money in one hand and add a round trip travel to Egypt to the mix, then what you have is abundance. There is famine is Canaan, AND SO WHAT? Drought & famine in Canaan means nothing when you have the buying power, the money & the legs to travel down to Egypt. THE MONEY & THE GOOD HEALTH TO BE ABLE TO TRAVEL WERE THE BLESSINGS. To translate these blessings to grains, the lads must travel – they must rise up.
We want success but what we actually want is success without doing anything. And that is THE problem. It’s a trouble because in order to be successful, we need first be willing to achieve whatever it takes. That signifies we must be willing to tolerate any level of suffering before achieving the desired goal. Success without commitment is impossible. Do you know there are a lot of people out there out there who actually die of “hunger” with the money in their hands and the “good health to travel” in the other hand? We have to plot our survival – IT IS OUR DIVINE RIGHT.
SCENARIO 3 – DAVID – 2 Samuel 7: 1-7
Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.” 3 Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
We know that the idea to build a temple did not originate from GOD because GOD disapproved David’s intention. It is also safe to assume the idea did not originate from satan and noting to suggest in the Bible that someone pointed this out to David, not even any of the prophets, or prophet Nathan. – So, where did the idea come from? David, of course – What we saw must have been an outcome of some deep, rigorous thinking on the side of David.
David must have thought ‘this cannot be right’ it’s immoral if you call it that way? David had the right to do so. David had the desire to build a temple for the LORD. That was what was in his mind to do. Why? HIS THOUGHT PROCESS – I live in a house built of cedar and the ark of Covenant dwells in the tent: I dwell in a house of cedar, the ARK OF COVENANT dwells in a tent. Between me & the Ark of Covenant, which one is greater? This is not right, is it? No it cannot. I don’t get it. No, no chance, there is no logic in it. I don’t get the logic. It is irrational. Once the king was in this mode of thinking, there can only be a SINGLE outcome: ‘BUILD A TEMPLE FOR THE ARK OF COVENANT’. Is it a problem of resources? No, we have all the resources, the manpower, the land, the plant, the material, the machinery, only the will that was lacking – now that we have it, what is stopping us? LET US RISE UP TO BUILD.
DAVID did not have the motivation, then he had the motivation to build, shared the idea with Prophet Nathan and got his backing, endorsement, support and then what happens? – GOD stepped in and said: STOP, NO, NOT NOW & NOT YOU. Yes, it’s true that GOD refused David the chance to build but at least David found out that it was not the will of GOD for David to build a temple. That is an interesting one – have you found out it is not the will of GOD for your life to be an entrepreneur, to engage in business activities, try some other fields in life? We must find out and then rule them out if not we stand the risks of not maximizing our GOD given potentials.
SCENARIO 4 – THE FOUR LEPERS
2 Kings 7: 3-8 – Why sit we here until we die?
3And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 4If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
- OPTION 1, vs 4a = If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: 0% chance of survival
- OPTION 2 vs 4b = if we sit still here, we die also – 0% chance of survival
- OPTION 3 vs 4c = Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die = 50% chance of survival
Option 3 is the only option that comes with a 50% chance of survival and the lepers opted for that option, I don’t blame them. WHY SIT WE HERE UNTIL WE DIE? We aren’t chained down. Though we are lepers, we aren’t lame? We are blessed with eight legs & eight good feet. Some problems aren’t going away until we do something about them. How comfortable are you sitting there on the same spot with your issues?
The third option is more risky option because it comes with the possibility of death by the sword, the other two options come with the possibility of death by hunger. However, the potential for death by the sword comes with a 50 percent chance of survival whereas the other two option both have zero percent chance of survival.
It’s rare to see four people saying exactly the same things to each other and whenever that happens you know there is motivation, determination, & unity to succeed. Our soul, spirit and body must be saying the same thing and asking the same question of each other – why should we “sit” here and die?
Some problems aren’t going away until you do something about them. Sometimes nobody will be able to change some situations you find yourself in except you because it is only you that has the inside knowledge, understands the full complexity of what you’re going through and full intelligence of how bad the situation is. Things will continue the way they are until we take some actions to rescue the situation. It would take our decisions, planning and cooperation to dig ourselves out of the hole, mess we find ourselves – Let us rise up to build.
SCENARIO 5 – PRODIGAL SON
Luke 15:17 -18
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
The prodigal son asked a question that transform is life “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” but then what did he do? He did not just come to himself or ask the question, AND THEN HE AROSE TO GO TO THE FATHER– Let us rise up.
THINGS TO BE WARY OF
Gird up the loins of your mind – 1 Peter 1:13
There are two words Peter uses here in the beginning portion of this verse that we aren’t too familiar with today – the term ‘gird’ and the word ‘loins. In those days, the basic garment for the Jews was the tunic. It was a fairly similar portion of clothing for both men and women. The tunic was normally a longflowing and full cut robe.
Underneath the tunic they would wear either a loincloth (girdle), or a small waist covering. The girdle was often made of leather or cloth and was used to hold the tunic to the waist. When men needed more ability to work, run, or fight, they would tuck the hem of the tunic into the girdle to gain greater freedom and movement. This action was called “girding up the loins” and the phrase became a metaphor for getting ready or being prepared.
When a man was getting ready to work, or preparing for battle, he put a loincloth around his waist; then he tucked up his robe so his legs would not be hindered. Therefore, in this context, the meaning of “to gird up the loins of your mind” means to prepare your minds for work, service, or battle. We are to be disciplined and diligent as we live out our lives in light of His grace and the Hope that is yet to come. We need to do whatever it takes to focus our thoughts on those things that allow us to obey and serve God with complete, unhindered devotion. What I personally like about this verse is that God commands us to use our minds – the capacity to think and reason that He created within us. Our faith isn’t simply a total leap of blindless faith. Biblical Truth engages our minds and challenges our thinking.
In order to gird up the loins of our minds, we must cut out:
Idiocy – stupidity, folly, foolishness, foolhardiness, silliness, brainlessness, thoughtlessness, senselessness, lack of sense, indiscretion, irresponsibility, injudiciousness, imprudence, rashness, recklessness, ineptitude, inaneness, inanity, irrationality, illogicality, absurdity, nonsense, ludicrousness, ridiculousness, fatuousness, fatuity, asininity, pointlessness, meaninglessness, futility, fruitlessness.More
Ignorance – My people perish for lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6
Complacency & Negligence – self-satisfaction, self-approval, self-approbation, self-admiration, self-congratulation, self-regard; satisfaction, contentment. More
Let Us Rise Up, by Minister Victor Olajubu was delivered on May 17th 2015