GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!

PASTOR T. O. BANSO

God knows your problems, your fears, your apprehensions, and so on. God has seen your afflictions, your sorrow, and your pains. God knows everything you’re going through. God is never confused. He knows what He’s doing.

The Israelites were in slavery for 430 years. After the death of the Pharaoh who made Joseph a Prime Minister, the Israelites came under serious affliction. They no longer enjoyed the favour that they had enjoyed while Joseph was alive. “Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He said to his people, ‘Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.’ So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands” (Exodus 1:8­-14 NLT).

Following severe oppression, the Israelites began to cry to the LORD for deliverance. However, it seemed as if God did not hear them; it appeared as if God would not do anything about their situation. The Bible does not tell us exactly how long they were under Egyptian oppression.

God did not answer their prayers and intervene in their affairs immediately they started crying to Him. “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them” (Exodus 2:23-25 NKJV).

The last part of that scripture says God looked upon the children of Israel, and acknowledged them. In other words, God had not yet intervened to deliver them, though he saw their plight. The New Century Version says He saw the troubles of the people of Israel and He was concerned about them.

However, God was already doing something about their case; He was already preparing the man He would use for their deliverance. At the time, anybody who looked at their condition, in relation to their cry to God, would conclude that God had failed to answer their cry. That, however, would be farther from the truth.

The time came when God came down to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptian oppression. “Then the Lord told him, ‘I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey-the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:7-10 NLT).

Did you see that? All along, that the Israelites had been crying to God, He heard them. Why didn’t God intervene immediately? SOME THINGS WON’T HAPPEN UNTIL OTHER THINGS HAPPEN FIRST. God won’t do some things, until He has allowed some things to happen. Are you ready to allow those things that must happen first before those things you desire to happen will follow? God follows a process to bring about what He wants to do for you and the process of God is not always fast. Because human beings don’t always know that God knows what He’s doing, they’re most times always impatient. God said, “I am aware of their suffering” (Exodus 3:7 NLT). God is aware of your suffering or condition.

God said again in that passage, “So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land” (verse 8a NLT). God is coming down to help you in your present situation. God is coming down to rescue you from the power of your Egyptians. God is coming to deliver you from the hand of your oppressors. God is coming down to set you free from your captivity. God is coming down to give you the answer to your prayers.

God is coming! God knows what He is doing – He is coming. Hallelujah! Not knowing that God knows what He is doing is the problem of man in all ages. Jesus told Peter, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will” (John 13:7 NLT). If we know that God knows what He is doing, we shall remain calm and await the salvation of the LORD.

We must come to a place in our lives where we admit that we don’t know many things and entrust our lives into the hands of GOD. “Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, ‘Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one who knows’” (Revelation 7:13-14 NLT). This should be our attitude – admitting that we don’t know many things; only God knows everything.

Most times, through our impatience and unbelief, we abort the process of God. You may not see any change in your life immediately despite your prayer, acting on the Word of God, etc. but know that God is at work in your life. You may not know the details, but understand that God knows what He is doing. God knows all things; He is greater than what you feel. “ … God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20 NLT). Yes, God knows everything. “But as for me, Lord, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts …” (Jeremiah 12:3 NLT). He knows everything about you. He knows your foolishness (Psalm 69:5). He knows your weaknesses. He knows your sitting down and rising up. God knows what you are going to say even before you say it (Psalm 139:4). He knows everything all together.

Every child of God is like clay in the hands of the potter and God is molding you into the exact shape He desires. You may be wondering why you’re going through what you’re going through, and it looks as if God has forgotten you. Just cooperate with the hands of God shaping your life; He knows what He is doing. “The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, ‘Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.’ So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message: ‘O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand’” (Jeremiah 18:1-6 NLT).

Jeremiah cried unto the LORD just as the children of Israel did. He cried unto God for divine intervention in his trouble. “Then I said, ‘Lord, you know what’s happening to me. Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors! Please give me time; don’t let me die young. It’s for your sake that I am suffering’” (Jeremiah 15:15 NLT). Here, we see that Jeremiah knew that what he was going through was not hidden from God; God knew what was happening to him.

The truth is that we don’t know what we’re going through as much as God does. That is why, sometimes, we ask amiss in our prayer (James 4:3). That’s why God does not answer us immediately we cry to Him. He knows what must happen before some things must happen. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV). Don’t interpret what you don’t understand! Your interpretation could be wrong. Don’t misinterpret the silence of God as God forsaking you. It may be that the time is not yet ripe for God to intervene.

God knows what He is doing. You may not have seen a solution to your problem yet, God knows what He is doing. You may be feeling the heat so much and your prayer does not seem to have been answered by God, God knows what He is doing. You may be in the midst of the storm, but you will not suffer a shipwreck in Jesus’ name. God knows what He’s doing.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (NKJV). Only God knows what He thinks about you – His plan for your life. Don’t let your problems start preaching to you; they shall not be permanent. God will always show up for you. Heaven has its agenda and timetable for you. Hear what The Message translation of the Bible says, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for” (Jeremiah 29:11). Don’t listen to the sermons your negative condition is preaching to you because that condition shall soon expire in Jesus’ name. God knows what He is doing.

You cannot by-pass the process of God and become the product intended by God. God cannot mess up your life; He knows what He’s doing. There are people whose hopes were dashed by those who promised to do something about their cases but did nothing. Human beings may deceive you by telling you that they’re doing something about your case, but God is truly doing something about your case. All you need to do is trust and obey Him. Your problem won’t consume you; God will surely deliver you. “My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side!” (Psalm 56:9 NLT).

Know that God is for you. God is on your side, though you may not know what is happening around you. He has the power to cause your dead bones to live again (Ezekiel 37: 11-14).

The enemy may have broken your clay pot into pieces, leaving you with no hope of it ever being put together again. However, the Living God will give you a miracle. He’ll make your life whole again. He’ll give you the miracle of a resurrected life. Let no man say that it is the end for the shattered pot when the potter is still alive! Only the potter can say the end has come for the pot, because the potter can still make something beautiful out of the broken pieces.

You may be in the garbage dump of life; God will lift you out of there and cause you to sit on the throne with the princes of the people. “He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people! God can put together any life” (Psalm 113: 7-8 NLT).

Maybe you have lived a Godless life and the enemy has shattered the pot of your life. I believe that if you’ll repent of your sins, give your life to Jesus and cry to Him as the children of Israel did, the LORD will put the pieces together again; you’ll experience His intervention.  

What you should do

1. Give your life to Jesus if you haven’t. Entrust your life to God. He created you and has the blueprint for your life. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). What will it profit someone if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his soul?  (Mark 8:36-37). Nothing! “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).

2. Feed on the Word of God daily and obey. Study and meditate on His Word. Many are guilty of ignorance of the Word of God, of the promises of God because they don’t study the Word and meditate upon it to do according to what is written (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3). Prayer is not a substitute for the Word of God. You cannot obey the Word of God you are ignorant of. Disobedience will hinder your prayers. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22).

3. Have faith in God. Jesus said, ‘Have faith in God.  I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart’” (Mark 11:22-23 NLT). Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (NKJV).

4. Don’t worry about anything; pray about everything. Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (NLT). Anxiety solves no problem; it will only complicate things for you. Worrying achieves nothing good. Jesus asked, “And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Luke 12:25 NKJV). However, the more you pray; the less anxious you are.

1Thessalonians 5:17-18 says, “Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (NLT). Pray so that Satan does not work through you, anyone else, or any demon to delay your miracle. The prince of the kingdom of Persia delayed the answer to Daniel’s prayer. Satan detained the man (a messenger) sent to Daniel for 21 days, during which Daniel continued praying and fasting, until Michael, one of the chief princes (archangels), came to help him (Daniel 10:12-13). Pray fervently against hindrance or delay to the manifestation of your miracles or answer to your prayer.

5. Patiently wait for the manifestation of what God is doing. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD” (NLT). Similarly, Psalm 37:7a says to rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him. Don’t be in haste. “Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed” (Habakkuk 2:3 NLT).

6. Rejoice always and give thanks in everything. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 says to always be joyful. Verse 18 says in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. While you’re waiting for the manifestation of what the LORD is doing, be joyful, and give thanks to God.

The joy of the LORD is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Grumbling, whining, complaining, and similar negative attitudes will not help you. Writing from his Roman prison to the Christians in Philippi, Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 NKJV).  Also, Apostle James said, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3 NKJV).

The Bible talks a lot about thanksgiving. Give thanks to God for what He has done for you and for what you believe Him to do for you.

Conclusion: Don’t misconstrue God’s silence as God forsaking you. God knows what He is doing. Cry to Him and patiently await His salvation, His deliverance. Rejoice! He surely knows what He is doing. He will come down to deliver you and bring you to a wealthy place (Psalm 62:12). He’ll take you to a land flowing with milk and honey.

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The LORD be with you.

T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org