WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE IN HOPLESS SITUATION

Today Pastor Roth had a wonderful message about the
covenant of friendship. In his sermon, he discussed how
David and Jonathan had made a blood covenant that they
would share each other's positions, wealth, and power. This
covenant ,
they promised, would extend to each other's
descendants. After Jonathan died and David became king,
David sought out Jonathan's descendants to make good on
his promise to Jonathan. Mephibosheth was Jonathan's son
and was crippled. He was living in LoDebar which means "the
land of nothing" with relatives and been told terrible things
about David. When Mephibosheth was summonsed before
King David, he was quite surprised to know that King David
was not as bad as relatives said and would extend the
covenant's promise that he had made with Jonathan to him.
Mephibosheth would receive the fruits of the covenant and
receive the land of Saul's people, some servants to work the
land and be able to eat at the king's table as long as he and
his descendants lived. Pastor correlated the covenant
between David and Jonathan and the covenant between
Christ and us. What an awesome sermon! 2 Samuel 9
As Pastor spoke, I was imagining about how it must have
been before Mephibosheth was brought before the king. As a
crippled in a dry and poor area, surely he went hungry most
nights. Surely, he watched from a dirt floor as others went
about their daily duties. As he watched, he probably wished
for wholeness. During that era in history, the crippled became
beggars and were giving the worst of human treatment.
Somehow David, true to his word, remembered his brother,
Jonathan. Mephibosheth, through his relation to Jonathan,
was given something that his living relatives couldn't give him.
I think about LoDebar and I do recognize that place. I
recognize it because I have dwelled in it many days and
nights. LoDebar, for me, was a place of exile, a spiritual place
where I have laid in my bed; crying for a new day. I was
crippled in my emotions. I was crippled in my spirit. I would
look around and I would see the same dry, desolate
surroundings. Nowadays, they call it depression but That was
my LoDebar experience. I have struggled for all of my life; in
my life, very rarely stable. So, I sat, for a portion, of my life;
crippled in my ability to elevate and move out of my
circumstances. I would hope for a better day. I would fall
asleep and dream of the day of freedom, spiritual,
emotionally, and financially. It was 2005. I was living in an
apartment with my infant daughter and my young boys. I had
just lost my job and my car had been repossessed. I had no
money and my daughter was running out of pampers. I was
running out of food. No income; no food stamps, nothing.
LoDebar. I was watching my last couple of days of television
before the cable got cut off and I turned to a Bishop TD Jakes
sermon. In the midst of sermon, tears began to fall. I heard
the King call me. My heart was so broken. I couldn't walk to
him. So, His servant, my BFF brought me to church. I gave my
life to Christ there but I didn't feel convinced of my worth. I
was still one breath from hunger. I felt an unction to speak
with Pastor and the First Lady. I went to the Pastor and told
him about my situation. He said that he would see what he
do. The next day, he arrived with a SUV full of food and paper
goods including diapers and toiletries! He went to the
supermarket and bought me everything and anything he could;
Royal, Divine Provisions! To this day, I hold a very special
place in my heart for him and his wife.
LoDebar doesn't feel good. There are many reasons to lose all
hope in LoDebar because there is no beauty to look upon
there. I was Mephibosheth. I had nothing. I lived in an area
where there was nothing nearby. Many days, my kids and I
walked a mile or more to get groceries or the occasionally
treat of pizza. We walked in rain, snow or extreme heat or
cold. It wasn't until the King summonsed me that I began
softened. The conditions in my LoDebar experience had
hardened my heart. I was very resentful; especially towards
my children's father. I stood before Him, dirty, angry, and
hungry. I had nothing to deserve His Favor. I was so broken.
All I could offer Him in return was my broken heart, my
sleepless nights, my empty belly, and the tears that ran from
my face. However, He offered me more than what my family
could've offered me; just like Mephibosheth and David. David
offered Mephibosheth fellowship, forgiveness, family and
fortunes. King Jesus offered me forgiveness,
fellowship, family, fortunes, rest and His everlasting love.
What had been kept from me my whole life, just like
Mephibosheth, the King presented before me. Why? I ask
myself this question like Mephibosheth asked David. All I had
was hope and my dreams; nothing had gone right up until
then. Mephibosheth probably had small slivers of hope and
dreams. Why a broken sinner like me?
Well, He promised. That's why and that's all we need to know!
I guess, as I transition from step to step in Him. I needed to
be reminded, today, that even in LoDebar, God is faithful to
those He has called. Guess what? He calls everyone! All you
have to do is say, 'yes'! I struggle with poverty and lack. I
struggle with loneliness. I struggle with my emotions and the
wounds of the past; needing healing. However the bible says
in Hebrews 10:23, " Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful. " Through His
covenant, I don't have to just cling to hope when things seem
desolate. I can prepare myself to receive to the King's Royal
Provisions. .