Isaiah 40:1-2: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2: Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
Mourning comes for a number of reasons ranging from loss of loved one(s), affliction of sicknesses and diseases or punishment for sins committed that may make God allow the enemies to attack His children. When one is mourning, there is always an avenue for comfort from God Almighty through an anointed servant of God that will declare God’s Word to the people, and make them accept our Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. The declaration of God’s word will bring comfort to the people that are mourning.
This is done when there is change of attitude, brought about by repentance that will usher in rebirth of mind for life devoid of sin and wickedness. In the lead scripture above, there is provision for forgiveness of sins committed by the mourners. The intervention of God, following repentance will bring about comfort. There is hope of comfort for people that are mourning.
Anointed men of God use declarative Word of God to bring comfort to the people that mourn. That is why the Bible declares in Isaiah 60:1-2: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. 2: To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” This scripture is the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fortunately, our Lord Jesus Christ read this very scripture in Nazareth, when He attended service in a synagogue. God sent Him to preach good news to the poor, comfort the broken hearted, open the door of prison to the captives and declare the year of grace, which is what He called the acceptable year of the Lord. During the acceptable year of the Lord, the people that mourn in one way or the other are comforted, as they are released from their problems. The day of vengeance of our God is yet to come; that is the time our Lord Jesus Christ will come again in His glory as a ruling King.
However, it is pertinent to note here that prior to the first advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Israelites celebrated this acceptable year of the Lord as the Year of Jubilee. It is the year of grace, when all sins are forgiven; all slaves are freed and are allowed to return to their original homes as freed people. Then, people are not to plant and labour. Rather, they eat from fruits and food that grow on their own accord. The people mourning are comforted and encouraged to continue their lives on a good note.
Now that our Lord Jesus Christ has come, there is grace for as many as would accept Him as Lord and Saviour. They will be comforted in Him, as they will be liberated from the Devil’s bondage. The Bible says in Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” This is our Lord Jesus Christ saying that the people that mourn will be blessed. The blessing will come through Him, when the people must have repented of their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. There is comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is abundant grace for the people in the Lord Jesus Christ, so much so they will have no reason to mourn for anything. There is bright future for the people of the Lord.
Their affairs are handed over to God. Their future is in God’s Hands. There is comfortable hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the people that do not trust in the Lord, one misfortune or the other can cause them to mourn. But for God’s people, any situation they find themselves is an avenue for Divine intervention in their life.
At the very ripe age, Abraham and his wife, Sarah had no child, but God’s intervention made it possible for them to be blessed with a male child, when Abraham was 100 years and Sarah 90 years. The problem of barrenness called for mourning, but they did not do that because they knew that God’s promise would be fulfilled. That was why the Bible expressed Sarah’s happiness in this manner in Genesis 21:1-6 saying: “And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2: For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3: And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4: And Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac,being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5: And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. 6: And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.” When people begin to laugh at an individual that has been mourning, the problem has been solved and the person’s situation changed for better. This is the case of Sarah in this context and that will also be for as many people as will trust in the Lord on whatever ugly situation they may be facing in their lives.
In Matthew 15:13 the Bible says: “But he answered and said, every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” God’s Will for His children is that they will always live comfortably. He makes provision for them. If the Devil comes, whatever the evil one does must be removed at the appointed time. In some cases, God sets up a testing programme for His trusted children; whoever undergoes that test successfully must have promotion.
In whatever situation you find yourself, hand it over to God. His intervention will bring you out of it victoriously. God does not allow His children to mourn and by His grace, you will never mourn in Jesus’ name.
Testimony Of The Lord’s Doing
How God Blessed Victim Of Ambiguous Genitalia With Baby
MY name is Sister Destiny Muokafrom Abia State, precisely IsialaNgwa South local council. My husband is from Ozubulu in Anambra State. I want to share my testimony of how God wiped away my tears, removed reproach and confirmed my gender.
Before now, I was neither a male nor female because I was born with ambiguous genitalia. And because my private part was incompletely developed, there was no visible organ that could classify me as a girl or a boy. I was more or less an androgynous being, having the physical characteristic of both sexes. As I grew up, I discovered I had the physique of a boy, but the voice of a woman. My parents, in their confused state, named me Chiemezie, which is a unisex name. I was stigmatised by foes and friends.
My family did all to give me a gender identity to no avail. They took me to several hospitals and maternity homes, looking for an answer to my identity to no avail. At a point, the issue became a contention between my father and mother. While my mother was blaming my father, the latter was accusing the other as the maker of the problem. When their quarrel degenerated and it was clear even to the blind that there was no more love between them, my mother returned to her family. My mother’s absence shifted the whole burden to my father, who continued seeking solution to my problem. Unfortunately, when I was 12, my father died in a ghastly motor accident. And after his death, things became more unbearable, as I was left to my fate.
As I approached the age of 14, I suddenly began to experience blood coming out from the small hole in my private part. Consequently, I was taken to LUTH when other hospitals could not identify the real cause of the bleeding. At the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), I underwent many tests and conducted many scan. The consultants attributed the problem to malformed genital (private part). I was told that I could not conceive or bear children.
I had already resigned my fate to God, when my employer, who is a member of The Lord’s Chosen, introduced me to the ministry. The first day I attended The Chosen service, I heard many amazing testimonies of the Lord’s doing and felt God’s presence amid members. I, thus, decided to pitch my tent with them, hoping that one day, God will make me to rejoice. By this conviction, I became active in all the church’s activities and was fervent in prayers. And before I knew it, a brother approached me, asking for my hand in marriage. When I told my pastor about it, he told me God is a Master Planner and was not ignorant of my problem and that with Him, nothing is impossible.
Of course, I had no doubt of what God could do because He has done more than that of which I am a witness. So, I accepted the marriage proposal. When he went to pay my dowry, my uncle refused to accept the money because according to him, they did not know my gender. However, we went ahead and wedded in Chosen.
Lo and behold, within a short time after the wedding, I conceived and today, I am a mother. I am very happy for what God has done for me. People have been visiting and asking whether what they heard was true. I told them it is true and most of them, after my testimony, renewed their faith in God.
I am very happy that today, I can be called a woman. In fact, if I carry this baby to Cele-Egbe now, those who know me will be excited because they thought I was a man, just like my village people. God has put laughter in my mouth.
Recall that my mother abandoned me when I needed her most, but I have forgiven her. She was in the hospital when I was delivered of this girl and was very sorry the way she treated me. She wanted to kneel down to beg me, but I said no, she should not kneel down for me. Since God has done it for me, I did not depend on her. She even wanted to come here (my house) to see me, but I told her not yet.
If it is possible to see God physically, I don’t know what to do for Him, only to preach and bring people to His kingdom.
