"IS IT TOO LATE?"

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

"IS IT TOO LATE?"

"The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, 'This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.' Then you will say in your heart, 'Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these--where have they come from?'" (Isaiah 49:20-21 NIV).

I was with my father in his farmhouse some years ago when he was telling me his life story. It was the early part of his marriage with my mother. They had lost their first three sons in succession. All his contemporaries were successfully having children. It seemed that there was no hope of having another child. As he was in that same farmhouse one afternoon pondering about his dilemma, he heard a voice saying: "IS IT TOO LATE?" He did not know the source of the voice, but he believed that it came from God, and that it was actually not too late for him and his young wife to have children that would live.

That was about forty years ago. The Lord has now blessed my parents with five sons, three daughters and eight other grandchildren - all alive to God's glory! It was indeed not too late for my father to be a biological father and even now a grandfather. The bereaved family of two is now about twenty. My parents still wonder till today that they could have such number of living children.

I remembered this situation as I was reading the above Bible passage recently. Hannah was in a similar situation. The Bible introduced her as a sad childless woman (1 Samuel 1:2-7). However, God changed her story. She later had three sons and two daughters after giving birth to that great man of God, Samuel (1 Samuel 2:21).

What is your situation? Do you also have a similar situation? It may not be childlessness. It may be any other seemingly hopeless situation. Let me reaffirm it that IT IS NOT TOO LATE! The Lord is not done with you yet. He will arise in His appointed time and manifest His power in your life. Remember the words the Psalmist, "When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.' The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy" (Psalm 126:1-3 NIV. Read also Jeremiah 31:16-17).

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor)

Prayer Point: Lord, arise in Your appointed time and manifest Your power in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.

NB

This message was first sent out on October 31, 2004.