PEACE LIKE A RIVER
O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. – Isaiah 48:18
One of the most terrible storms that anyone can enter into is financial storm. All storms are ba–d things are not going well; things are turbulent. Storms signify trouble, fear, lack of rest, etc. Peace on the other hand signifies anything that is good, beautiful, and calm. Again, financial storm can be one of the worst storms that anyone can encounter. This is because financial storms can trigger other storms.
For instance, Proverbs 14:20 says,
The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
In other words, if you get into financial storms, it can generate hatred for you from your neighbours. Your neighbours and friends can hate you because you are going through financial storms. As we saw in the previous chapter, poverty can make someone think of committing suicide.
In 1 Kings 17:8-16, with the widow of Zarephath, things were so hard with just one meal left. The whole city was going through financial storms. She decided to eat the last meal with the son and die.
Financial storms can lead to terrible things like cannibalism (women eating their sons as recorded in2 Kings 6:25-29). Financial storms can lead to all forms of evil. I prophesy unto you: In the name that is above every other name, Jesus, financial storms will never come near you again!
It is financial storms that make people swallow charms, and consult the devil. If you know what some of the so called rich people do at night, it will frighten you. Some of them have to go to graveyards at particular times in the month to eat, in order to sustain their wealth. Thank God that His blessings makes rich and adds no sorrow.
On the other hand, financial peace can lead to other dimensions of peace. For example Proverbs 14:20 as we read earlier, also says that riches (financial peace) attracts many friends. In other words, the moment a poor person becomes rich;
the moment the tide turns from poverty to prosperity, everything becomes friendship. Those who hated him before will suddenly become his friends.
Ecclesiastes 10:19 tells us that money answers all things:
A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Several queries in the past suddenly find answers in the presence of money. Money indeed answers all things. Ecclesiastes 7:11 sums it up:
For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.
It is therefore clear that financial peace can lead to every other type of peace.
How to Achieve Financial Peace
It is evident that we all need financial peace. But the serious question is, “ How do we achieve financial peace? ” My prayer for you is that when it comes to financial peace, your peace will be like a river.
From the key text above in Isaiah 48:18, the Almighty God is telling us that if only we can hearken unto His commandments, our peace will be like a river. God expects us to not just read the Bible, but study it with mediation, in order to practice what it says. The Bible is the inspired word of God; it is not the voice of any man. It was not written to you by any pastor. Therefore, if you study the word of God carefully and obey, your peace will be like that of a river.
If you give yourself to the Word of God, you will discover that Proverbs 13:15 says that
Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.
Hardship is meant for sinners, not for the child of God. But if the child of God will not listen, he will be on the same level with the transgressor. In Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 11-12 state clearly:
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God…And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto
thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
If you hearken diligently to the commands of God, you will experience financial peace on all sides. The blessings here are too heavy. You will lend to nations, and will never have to borrow.
Obedience in Details
When God commands us to do something, we must not obey in part. Part obedience is still disobedience. Our obedience must be in details. When God wants to prosper us he gives us instructions. In fact, God’s instructions for prosperity are written all over the scriptures. But obedience to the details is what God requires. The summary of it is that whatever God asks you to do, just do it to the details.
In 2 Kings 4:1-7, Elisha commanded the widow of the son of the prophet to go home, shut the door, gather vessels, and keep pouring the oil. These were series of instructions for her to get out of poverty. The prophet told her what to do in details. Step by step, in detail.
Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. – 2 Kings 4:1-7
The widow obeyed the instructions to the details. Had she missed any of the instructions, no miracle would have happened. For instance, if she had gone home, got all the vessels, and kept the door open, the oil would not flow.
God expects us to pay attention to details of his commands if we must prosper. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, God commands:
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
This scripture is a very popular one. But most Christians last paid attention to this verse of scripture the first time they heard it. Some others have never even paid attention to it. Many people even before they leave home to church have already decided on what they will give no matter whatever anyone says on the pulpit. Even if this verse of scripture is read over and over again, to most Christians it rings no bell. It is only a remnant of Christians that are grateful for God reminding them of this verse every time they hear it.
This verse of scripture did not just say we should give bountifully, but it also says we must do it cheerfully. To some, the worse time during service in church is offering time or calling for seeds. They keep wondering, “These people are at it again.” That is why they are still having financial storms. But if you will hearken to God and change your ways, financial storms will end in your life today.
God is not poor. It is amazing how children of the Most High God have limited the Holy One of Israel. Again, God is not poor. I discovered a long time ago that each time I argue with the Lord over His commands, I suffer a lot.
In Malachi 3:8-11 says,
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Here, the Lord explains why there are curses in the lives of many Christians; curses in their finances; why there are devo–urers because we rob him of tithes and offerings. Someone can say, “Don’t tell me that…I pay my tithe.” The question is, “Do you pay ALL?” Some pay some, and keep some. Paying in part
is the same as not paying at all. Our obedience must be in detail. I learnt from experience that one cannot joke with God’s commands. The problem with many Christians is that they do not learn.
As a mathematician, I used to argue with God over tithes. How can 90% be enough when 100% of my income is not even enough? What type of mathematics is that? By the time devourers were done with me, I learnt my lessons with time. Stop intellectualizing! Submit your brain to the Almighty God.
When I decided to start paying my tithe, God moved in ways I could not understand. He caused someone who owed me for five years to knock on my door at midnight and paid. I had forgotten about the money I lent him. He said he could not sleep. The money he gave me was the exact amount I needed to bind my research thesis, which I did not have. God caused my Head of Department to deliver my thesis to the external supervisor by hand. This was supposed to be posted. He also told the supervisor that he was not moving an inch until he read the thesis. Something that should have taken him six months to read took him just three days. What a mighty God we serve! All these happened because I stopped intellectualizing about my tithe.
I pray for you that whoever God has ordained to help you will not be able to sleep, in the mighty name of Jesus. God will surprise you. As you begin to obey God, financial peace will become your portion, in the name of Jesus.
Proverbs 3:9-10 instructs us to honour God with our first fruits. When you honour someone, you are giving something he does not really need. But the act of respect is what delights the person being honoured.
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. – Proverbs 3:9- 10
In the universities for instance, they give what is called honorary degrees to distinguished people in society. The degrees are given to people who really do not need them. They are not given to ordinary, peasant farmers or petty traders. They give it to eminent people. God does not need your money. There is nothing you want to give him that He does not have. But when you give him, you honour him. Besides, there is nothing you have that He did not give you. The hand you use to sign cheques was given to you by God. The brain you use in thinking was received from God. The fact that you have not lost your mind is because of the mercy of God. So, what is it you want to give God that He did not give to you?
Up till this moment you may have been just hearing. It is time to obey. I pray that God will quicken your understanding in Jesus’ name.
Zechariah 1:17 says,
Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
The prosperity that God wants to release is not for those who want to build a kingdom for themselves. It is for those who will build God’s kingdom all over the earth. The Almighty God is looking for those who will partner with his kingdom anywhere in the world. I pray that you will be one of them. If you hearken to God’s voice, your peace will be like a river. You will become an inexhaustible ocean of prosperity.
Prayer Points
- Father, give me a hearing ear and an understanding heart, in the name of Jesus.
- Father, give me the grace to do all your will, in the name of Jesus.
- Father, give me the grace to do things exactly the way you want them, in the name of Jesus.
- Father, beginning from now, financial peace like a river; let it be my portion, in the name of Jesus.
- Father, let every financial storm in my life end now, in the name of Jesus.
