One of the God’s promises to His people is that they shall rejoice, when the people of the world are sorrowing. And this is true to the letter, because God cannot lie. But if you are a child of God and your situation is not in tandem with the aforementioned promise, then I want to assure you that the time to turn your sorrow to joy has come.
It doesn’t matter the pain or sorrow you are experiencing now or how strong the person behind it is, or how long you have been into it. You may have prayed without receiving answers, and thus thought that you have been doomed to sorrow forever. But I am assuring you to the contrary, because God has set out a special programme to bring you from sorrow to joy. Comes this weekend, God is coming with rain of blessings that will turn your sorrow to joy.
And after that, the traces of sorrow, disappointment, grief and mourning that have prevailed upon your mind will become a story of the past. Indeed, there shall be transformation and restoration, because God is coming to turn our sorrow to joy and through the visitation, yokes shall be broken; diseases shall be cured, sicknesses shall be healed and the afflicted shall be delivered.
God may have allowed you to experience sorrow all these days in order to let you know the importance of joy and crave it. This weekend is God’s set time, when He will turn your sorrow to joy.
You should remember that God is not a man. While men have sinful nature, God has a holy nature. He is pure and holy and thus, no unholy person can be allowed to be in His presence. So, for us to be among those He is coming to address their problems and bring succour to their needs, we must prepare to be holy.
Lev. 19:2 says, “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.”
If you desire to benefit from this visitation, you must be holy. If your case is disappointment and lack of promotion, and you want to experience favour, you must prepare to be holy in order to be allowed in His presence. If you are a pertinacious sinner and you are looking for mercy, you must be prepared to repent. If you are barren, prepare to be fruitful. He has given us promises to encourage us to prepare. We must, therefore, prepare to meet Him. He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Those who will remain in their state after His visit will have themselves to blame.
Exodus 19:10-11 says, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.”
In the days of Moses, whenever God proposed to visit the children of Israel, He must direct Moses to sanctify them to conform to His nature of holiness. This is because without holiness, no eye shall see the Lord. Moses, accordingly, would cause them to cleanse and prepare themselves. The commanded outward washing of clothes was symbolic of the inward cleansing of the heart from sin, which God required of every one. During those days, two things particularly were prescribed, as instances of their preparation; these are sanctification and washing of clothes. Washing of clothes is symbolic of cleansing themselves from all sinful pollutions. Not that God regards their clothes, but while they were washing their clothes, He would have them think of washing their souls by repentance.
