Hello Greatness,

I can’t begin to explain how I feel to finally be able to write/post again. I logged in today and saw that it’s been like six months since my last post. Well, I’m glad to be back again and I hope to be able to continue. The plan is to have a minimum of two posts per month (God help me).

I would like this post to be as short as possible but I cannot promise anything because I can’t help what happens when I start to type, but let’s try shall we? Hmmm, so I’ve been following this Bible plan, but I keep falling behind or getting distracted by using some other plans. I enjoy when God interrupts my plan though. There was a time I stopped to start reading the book of Acts and coincidentally, we went deep into the same book at church (there is no coincidence with the things of God, so I know God had big things planned and I enjoyed every bit of it). Geeezz, that’s not the plan for today, but I digress. About the plan I’m following, I eventually went back after my little adventure and I started studying the book of Judges.

The book of Judges is quite self explanatory. They were being governed by Judges. It’s the book right after Joshua and since Joshua and all who led with him had died, and they needed someone to govern them. They had yet to be introduced to the reign of Kings. These people were, how did the Bible put it again?…. “In those days, every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Imagine living without laws or having no one to govern you. The chaos that will ensue as a result of that… I can’t imagine. God saw what was happening, and He provided them with exactly what they needed. He raised up Judges that will uphold the law and keep them accountable. Judges like Othniel, Ehud, Deborah (first female judge and she was also a prophetess), Gideon, Tola (yes, it’s the same spelling as the Yoruba name), Jephtah, Samson, etc. Read the book to learn about them (I’m particularly fascinated by Jephtah).

As interesting as these judges were, I would focus on Strongman uncle Samson today. His birth itself was an amazing feat. The things he could accomplish as a young man and what he could do even in his death, all interesting. As interesting as his story was, he didn’t exactly have a very good ending. However, after reading today, I saw something I always brushed off as not so important. We always end his story with his defeat, which is quite true. But that was not how his story ended. He had one last bit of triumph and his redemption moment. After Delilah had extracted the truth from him, he was captured and led to his slaughter, but he called on the name of God for the last time and God came through for him (Read Judges 16:28).

Jonathan McReynolds has a song called “Cycles” that just reminds me how relentless the devil is to see God’s children fall. He says, “see the devil, he learns from your mistakes, even if you don’t. That’s how he keeps you in cycles.” This statement is so true for Samson. I used to say he could’ve learned that Delilah was out to get him and he should have been wiser, but I think it’s because a pattern had been established and that was how they got him. First off, he liked women. He went after a Philistine woman (Judges 14), he went to be with a harlot (Judges 16), and he fell in love with Delilah (Judges 16). Secondly, in Judges 14 when he married the Philistine, he gave in to her after he had given her people a riddle to solve. She pressured him and he gave her the answer. He’s done it before so the probability of that happening again was quite high. He might not have learned from that experience, but the devil did. Now, if I just stop there, it might seem like we are doomed to fail because of course the devil is learning from our mistakes, but that’s not the end of our story.

I hope you are watchful of the habits that take you away from the presence of God.

I hope you learn to walk away from things that could possible defeat you.

I hope you embrace the love of God and not walk towards the things that could harm you.

I hope you understand that the presence of guilt is not the judgement of God- but that He is waiting for you to realize His grace is sufficient.

I hope you see that God is for you and that He wants to correct all your mistakes and show you that His love for you can be renewed.

I hope you forgive yourself and let go of that guilt.

I hope that, like Samson, you can eventually see that even if you have lost it all, you can always trust Him to come through for you.

I hope you know that you don’t have to remain in the devil’s cycle because God has freed you from the bondage of slavery.

I hope you understand that God loves you, He is for you, He is with you, and He lives in you.

I hope you discern that the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict and not condemn you.

I hope you acknowledge that you do not have to die in sin because Jesus already died so you may live.

I hope you can search the scriptures and believe every word of promise written by God, specifically for you.

I hope you come full circle and grasp the hand God is extending to you.

I hope you know that this is not how your story ends.

Your life is engraved in the Palm of God’s Hands. You matter to Him.

With all my love,

Mz_Ola