Time to Celebrate

Happy Sunday!
Bishop Alexis A. Thomas preached "It's Time To Celebrate!" He used Isaiah 54:1-4 as his reference scripture.

The Eternal One says, "Sing, childless woman, you who have never given birth. Raise a joyful shout, you who have never gone through labor. You, whose husband is dead, will bring forth much more than the fertile one who has a husband. Enlarge your house. You are going to need a bigger place; don’t underestimate the amount of room that you’ll need. So build, build, build. You will increase in every direction to fill the world. Your offspring will take over the nations; Your people will revitalize long-abandoned towns. Don’t be afraid, for there is no one to shame you. Don’t fear humiliation, for there is no one to disgrace you. The shame of your younger years and the sorrow of your widowhood are over. You’ll forget those days as if they never happened". Isaiah 54:1-4 (Voice Translation)

Isaiah 55:9 says, "I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think". (Message Translation) Did you get that? God doesn't think like we think. His thoughts and plans are far, far above our limited imaginations. He says so in the Word, "God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" Ephesians 3:20 (Message Translation)

Through the prophet Isaiah, God commands the strangest people to rejoice. He commands a barren woman and a widowed woman to "Sing". Think about this. Women in that biblical culture were considered second class citizens, if not less. There was no feminism. Women were at the mercy of their husbands and they were judged by their ability to bear children. Do you remember Hannah? She was taunted by her husbands' other wife Peninnah because she couldn't have children. Do you remember Rachel the beloved wife of Jacob? Because she was barren, she was willing to give her handmaiden to her husband just to give him a child. What problems that caused! What about widows? Widows were also in a precarious state. Without their husbands to provide for them, they would have to rely on their sons. If they had no sons it could be even more disastrous. But God tells these two groups of women to "Sing".

Our enemy wants to silence us! He wants to stop our celebration. But God wants us to "Shout First!" What do I mean by that? I'm so glad you asked. When the Children of Israel went into the Promised Land they had to conquer the city of Jericho. Jericho's walls were high and wide. God didn't tell them to go in and try to tear the walls down. He told them to march around the walls silently one time a day for 6 days. On the seventh day they were commanded to march around the city seven times. On the seventh time on the seventh day, the Priests were to blow the trumpets and the people were to shout. They had to obey and shout before they saw the outcome! They had to trust God that something great was going to happen even though it looked impossible. Just like the scripture text used today...people with little hope for a full, and prosperous future have to trust God and "Sing".

Do you remember Paul and Silas? They cast a demon out of a young woman. She had been bringing in a lot of money for her masters by fortune telling. Acts 16:23-26 says, "And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed". (New King James Version) Paul and Silas hadn't done anything wrong! They were beaten and imprisoned unfairly. They could have easily begun to cry, "Nobody knows, the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows my sorrow!" But they didn't! They prayed and sang and God miraculously brought them out!

What does this have to do with you? So glad you asked! No matter what you are facing right now, God wants you to sing and rejoice because he is going to bring you out! God can be trusted! He keeps his promises!

Love and prayers,

Cynthia