Downtime?!
Friday, February 13, 2009
When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
Job 22: 29 (KJV)
It is a known fact that everything that works (man or machine) should have a time to recuperate or regain used up strength. Some banks go temporarily out of service due to system down time or for them to simply tell their customers that the system is down. For some of the internet service providers (ISP) or telecoms service providers, they simply say “no service" or "no network”.
Similarly, as humans, there are times when you know you’re not ill due to sickness but at the same time you know you’re not just well. You know something is not right about you…you simply feel down. For some, they don’t feel like rising up from the bed, for others, they prefer to be left alone. These experiences could be said to be periods of downtime.
Wikipedia defines downtime as periods when a system is unavailable. Downtime or outage duration refers to a period of time that a system fails to provide or perform its primary function.
If machines that are lifeless equipments could experience downtime and just stop working in order to rest and start working again. We may not be totally exempted from downtimes but we can live above it.
However, God has made certain provisions in His word to help get through those periods of downtime in our lives. Some of the things that help us get through these times and make us get back on track is what I intend to share with you.
It is Normal
It is good for you to know that when you continually stress yourself or go through a series of emotional torture overtime, you are most likely to breakdown in tears or inaction. But note that it is not where God intends you to remain. The above scripture says “when men are cast down” which means it is a matter of time- ‘when’ not ’if’. It is however not an excuse for you to be down at every instance, many have learnt to live above it- you too can.
Watch Your Mouth
What you say when you’re going through your downtime matters. Many have spoken themselves into the grave. Telling everyone you’re going through hell or that you can’t get out of this mess… you know those stuffs you say when you are down. It will not help you. Please speak POSITIVE words always. When David lost everything in 1Samuel 30, the bible says he encouraged himself in the Lord. Nobody will encourage you for you! Encourage yourself.
The same scripture above says ” I will say there is lifting up” I will say there is breakthrough, there’s favor, there’s advancement… Go ahead and say what you want because what you SAY is what you SEE.
Give a sacrifice of Praise
Hebrews 13: 15 (KJV) says ”By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name”
A sacrifice is something that is not convenient to do. This simply means we should use our lips to give praise to His name even when we seem down. Really, there may not be any reason to give Him thanks at that moment but it says you should sacrifice… what a mystery. The best time to give thanks is when things are not really going the way you want it. Praise calls for God’s presence and when God comes, all fears disappear. Give Him praise today. I’ve done mine this morning and I’ll still do it again and again…It works.
Restart
Technical persons have recommended that at times when system goes through downtime or malfunctions, simply restarting it can make it start working properly again. I have personally seen this happen several times. What you need during a downtime after doing the above might just be to revisit the issue or take the pains to start all over again. Don’t always forget to push the Restart button.
Rejoice
The initial intention of the devil is to get at your joy, to make you depressed and make you say negative things and blame God. God is not the one behind your downtime. Job’s wife told him to curse God and die, but Job never yielded, the end was that God gave him double of everything he had before except the wife and number of children. Don’t let the devil get at your joy. Rejoice always, again I say rejoice.
IF GOD HAS BROUGHT YOU TO IT, HE CAN TAKE YOU TRHOUGH IT.
I LOVE YOU!
