IT IS NOT ORDINARY!

Dearly Beloved, IT IS NOT ORDINARY! “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me” (Psalm 3:5 NIV). Every morning, my alarm clock would ring by 4.30am and I would wake up and start my daily routine. At times, I would have woken up before the sound of the alarm. This has been happening for years, and I tend to think that it is ordinary or normal to wake up early in the morning either by the sound of the alarm or before its rings. However, it recently dawned on me that it is really not ordinary to sleep and wake up; it is a divine arrangement and grace. If you do not agree with this, place an alarm beside a dead man and see if he would wake up when the alarm rings. It is not ordinary or normal to sleep and wake up. Only God makes one to do so every day. The psalmist realized this and declared, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me” (Psalm 3:5 NIV). “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8 NIV). “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for [God] grants sleep to those he loves” (Psalm 127:2 NIV). Sleeping and waking up are not only things that we consider normal or ordinary. Breathing, eating, drinking, talking, hearing, walking, lifting of hands and any other part of our body, in fact, everything that one can think of as ordinary or normal are not really ordinary and normal. It is God in His infinite mercy that has arranged them and allows us to be enjoying them. As part of His covenant with Noah after the flood, God said, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22 NIV). He continues to keep that covenant! The implication of this is that we ought to always praise God for the gift of life every day and the ability to do what we are able to do each day. Thank you Lord for everything. It is not ordinary! In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Point: Lord, help me not to take the seemingly ordinary things of life for granted, but to always appreciate you for all these things.