“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm.” — Psalm 40:2 In today's verse, the Psalmist tells us what God has done. After patient waiting, he testifies of the deliverance of the Lord. Here, we see two specific things God did for him. First, He brought him up out of the pit and the miry clay. The pit of destruction is a place of hopelessness, ruin, or death that traps a person. David was in that state—but he gives a testimony: *God brought me up.* You may be in the same state. You feel like you are rotting. You have been scammed. Sickness is eating you up. Cry out to the God who brought David up, and patiently wait on Him.  Let me share a memory from my village in Tubur. There were days we went to the garden with bulls to plough when the soil was wet from rain. The ground became sticky, miry clay. You would step on it and sink. Sometimes your gumboot would remain stuck in the mud while your leg cam...

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.” — Psalm 40:1 In tonight's verse, the writer says he waited. In Hebrew, the word for wait is Qavah. This word portrays deliberate, tension-filled waiting that binds the heart to the expected intervention of Yahweh. It is not passive. It is not lazy. It is faith stretched toward the sure character of God. But what does it mean to wait patiently for the Lord? Does it mean sitting down while everything falls apart around you? No tuition for your children? Just sit and wait for God to pay it? Getting older and still single? Just sit and never look for a spouse? Hungry? Just sit and do nothing while you starve? No. That is not biblical waiting. Waiting in Scripture is never passive resignation. It is active trust. It is crying out. It is seeking. It is hoping. “Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame” (Psalm 25:3). David did not just sit. He cried to the Lord. He called on Him. He humbled himself. He pra...

A brief response to honest questions Recently, in response to a prayer update about the escalating conflict in the Middle East, someone with a name, Penanu raised two important questions: 1. “Sorry to say, it's only Africans who believe in Jesus Christ's teachings. Otherwise, why destroy human life?” 2. “To those who are not scholars, they may think Israelites are Christians—that's very wrong.” These are honest questions that many people wrestle with. Let's take a moment to address both with humility and biblical clarity. Part One: Is Faith in Jesus Only an African Reality? The short answer is no—and the Bible itself shows us why. A Global Faith from the Beginning Christianity did not begin in Africa or Europe. It began in the Middle East, among Jewish people, and spread outward in every direction. Some of the earliest Christian communities were in: · Jerusalem (Israel) · Antioch (modern-day Turkey) · Alexandria (Egypt) · Ethiopia (Africa) · Rome (Europe) From its birth...

Sometimes the strongest faith is not the one that speaks most loudly, but the one that depends most fully. Not self-built confidence, not rehearsed declarations of faith, but a quiet, complete reliance on the Lord who knows all things. Consider the prophet Ezekiel. Brought to a valley of dry, lifeless bones, he faced a question that defied human logic: “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” — Ezekiel 37:3 Ezekiel did not muster confidence in his own ability to prophesy life. He did not analyze the situation or offer strategic solutions. He simply placed the impossible back into the hands of the One who holds all knowledge and power: “O Lord God, You know.” The Faith That Rests This is the faith we are called to walk in. Not faith in our own words, our own strength, or our own understanding. But faith that looks at the dry bones—the impossible situations, the dead dreams, the hopeless circumstances—and says, “Lord, You know.” You do not need t...