ON THE BRINK!

I was to take my usual study class with a young man we fellowship together every Sunday at church.
As I read through the introductory part of the manual I saw what I had not really taken cognizance of jumped at me and spoke expressly to what I was going through at the moment. As this blessed me, I had you at heart, knowing fully well it would be of immense blessing to you too.



Have you been in or currently in a situation where you are already dreaming of how big the celebration of a looming testimony is going to look like; every requirement to having that success is already met? All that is left is an official delivery, however, suddenly, a challenge comes up that makes the whole hope of celebration look like a fairy tale. That experience can be so life threatening that all that you have been celebrating all along melts away in the face of the current situation. It is what I call being on the brink; you may add “of success”.





The Israelites had been in Egypt under hard labour for years praying to God for a deliverance. Their cry went up to God and He decided to send help to them. He sent a man to bring them out of the land of slavery. This deliverance wouldn’t happen without shoulders cracking.




Pharaoh was their task master. He began to do all he could to ensure they remained in Egypt serving as slaves. He fought God’s ordinance headlong. Moses’ entire attempt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt met with roadblocks from Pharaoh until the Lord brought death upon all the first born sons of the Egyptians. At this point, the victory long desired came through for the Israelites. It didn’t just come for them in leaving Egypt; they had the wealth of Egypt all in their hands as they left. So, this became an exciting victory with the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey where they will enjoy all they had.



I can imagine the joy that would have filled the heart of both young and old, leaving the land of slavery finally to the promised land; a land flowing with milk and honey. Leaving the grips of Pharaoh is as a Sarah conceiving at the age of 90. It is a huge miracle, but giving birth is of much importance.




As events unfold, this dance of victory seems to be short-lived. Suddenly, they looked ahead and saw they were at a dead end; the Red Sea was before them. That would not have resulted in a total loss of hope until they turned back to see if there could be another route, only to see the Egyptian army chasing after them. At that point, the whole victory felt like a curse more than a blessing. They shouted to the anchor man of their supposed short-lived deliverance: “for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness”.



This is the exact situation of being on the brink. What looked like victory suddenly begins to look like God set you up for heartbreak. It tears apart and arouses the feeling of regret.



The Israelites had the Red Sea ahead of them and behind was the Army of Egypt. This was a complete hopeless situation that could only require the hand of the supernatural. It was on the brink of success. They thought they were on a journey to a Promised Land and here they were facing destruction. Immediately their response was the fear of having left Egypt that was manageable behind and that of never going to make it to the desired destination.



So, what exactly are you dealing with at the moment that it looks like the end has come and that energy with which you thought you were going to celebrate has turned cold? Imagine having gone for a job interview up to the last stage, and you were told all that is left is just your consent to receiving the offer. And suddenly information came in that they needed somebody younger than your current age? That would crush the spirit and lead to that question “why did God allow me come this far?”



These are the lessons from the experience of the Israelites:

The God who was able to bring them out of the horrible experiences in Egypt is still the same God who brought them to the point of facing the Red Sea and having the Egyptian onslaught coming behind, He would not have deserted them there except He wasn’t a faithful God.


God deliberately arranged the two horrors to swallow each other.


The Red Sea eventually swallowed the Egyptian army. These two hurdles represented a type of fear. They both swallowed each other and the Israelites had a sigh of relief again. 


Lastly, the climax of the experience was for the Israelites to come to a place of having faith in God entirely, it was not to hurt them.



Are you currently on the brink? He will not desert you; your fears are swallowing each other up; have faith in Him, He never hurts.



On the brink, He doesn't leave.
You are getting there.


Till next week, stay innovated.
Olufemi Ibitoye