Reversal of fortunes

“Behold, I will turn the shadow [denoting the time of day] on the steps or degrees, which
has gone down on the steps or sundial of Ahaz, backward ten steps or degrees. And the
sunlight turned back ten steps on the steps on which it had gone down.” (Is38:8AMP)

Time as we say is never our friend and it is our friend. For one, it is only when you are idle or
you are bereft of ideas or things are not gelling for you that time seemed to be so slow. It is
then that it looks like it is taking eternity for things to get done. On the other hand when we
are busy getting things done, everything working to plan and rosy, then time is never
enough. There are times you wonder if we all are using different time; for whereas some say
the time is short another says it’s long. We can conclude therefore, that what makes time
fast or slow depends on how things are working out for you.

This argument of time had brought to fore two different schools of thought. While one
school say God will have us live very long on earth so that our lives may count, another
school says it is not how long you spend on earth that matters but what you achieve. A
school of thought teaches on longevity while the other says it is immaterial. Both have used
the scriptures to buttress their points. I believe they are both right, because not minding
how long you spend on earth, the one thing is that you should fulfil destiny, your life should
count, and you should be making contribution. So, not minding that you lived long or short
the major question is what did you live for? What are you to be remembered for when you
exit the earth? Did you fulfil your destiny and purpose in life? Were you just a leach on earth
or you added to the progress of mankind? What impact did you make in your long or short
life?

These I believe are the salient questions to answer. Moreover, a good understanding of
God’s word shows His principles and along the way also shows the exceptions. That is why
for example the scripture says, “the just shall live by faith” yet we see the miraculous hand
of God interfering in man’s affair. Whereas nature is set in place with its principle, miracle
sometimes holds back the hand of nature to effect God’s will. What I am saying in essence is
that God cannot be put in a box because He is sovereign. If He is absolutely predictable to
man, then He has lost His sovereignty and that my friend is impossible.

Majorly I believe time is our friend, were it not so God will not permit it. God will never
allow for anything that will hurt us ultimately. Most of the time, time creeps in upon the
undiscerning, the careless and those who are not pursuing a worthy cause, summarily time
is not a friend to the ungodly. For the scripture says, “So be careful how you live. Don't live
like ignorant people, but like wise people....Don't be fools, then, but try to find out what the
Lord wants you to do.” (Eph5:15,17GNB). A man therefore who is unconscious of the will of
God for his life is a fool and for such, time will creep in on him without his knowing. Time
should therefore help us to be and live in right perspective, it should help us to measure our
lives and to consciously ask ourselves if we are on course, how far we have gone and what’s
left to be done. Is time your friend or your enemy?

Time also dispense with it opportunities. With every lost opportunity is a lost time which can
never be reversed. That is the reason for the popular saying, “that opportunity once lost can
never be regained” because its time has passed. But the irony of life is that as we grow
older, we each can point to at least an opportunity lost, we all can point to time wasted on
frivolities either through ignorance, exuberance, or share carelessness. If this were so (and it
is), none of us can claim to have used up all the opportunities that came our ways
judiciously. The poser is then to ask, “Have we all been short changed by life?” Can we
honestly say because we have lost some opportunities in the past that our lives have been
totally out of course? Of course not! Some of us are still enjoying the best of times right now
even though we have regrets of the lost times and opportunities. While some of us are yet
to find our bearings while still languishing about the lost opportunities of the past.

We can surmise therefore that, though opportunity once lost cannot be reversed, the
disaster in live is not to learn from the mistakes of the past to structure the future because
more opportunities still lies ahead in the future. Ladies and gentlemen, I have gone this far
to tell you that my God is a God of second chance; I dare say He is a God of many chances.
This is one of the beauties of salvation, it is God bestowing to mankind the opportunity to
get back to Genesis. Adam and Eve, our progenitors made mockery of God’s plan for
mankind, yet God in His infinite mercies have opened for us again another chance back into
His presence.

The thing about new opportunities is that they never come as the last, but nevertheless, if
we make good use of them, even though we may never gain the benefits of the lost ones,
we can still enjoy the best of times in the presence. So Eden now is not as before, whereas
what we read in Genesis had to do with a location, the Eden now is a life. Jesus came to put
Eden in mankind, so that now, we may not see it yet we can enjoy it. The greatest tragedy of
mankind is to lose the opportunity of Eden this one time. That is why God will patiently keep
presenting this opportunity to us till we die. Are you back in Eden yet? Is it already in you?

Salvation experience brings to the fore the opportunity to enjoy life to the full till it
overflows. It is a chance maybe not to undo the past but to reshape the present and live a
glorious future. It is never too late for the child of God. Peradventure, you think you are far
gone or you have lived the worst of life or age is no more on your side, I want you to know
that it is not too late, it is not too far gone, mercy is still available, the blood still cleanses the
vilest of sins, He still restores life, you can still fulfil destiny. Nothing He promised is still
beyond you because your God is not limited by time, He is eternal, and all you need do now
is just believe! Put on the helmet of salvation and you are on.

The base scripture of reference was what Isaiah the prophet told Hezekiah the king. You
know the story, Hezekiah was sick unto death and the prophet Isaiah had a word for him
from the Lord to put his house in order for he was going to die. Then the Bible said, the king
faced the wall and entreated God, and before the prophet could leave the palace the Lord
sent him back to tell the king that he will be well and that He God will add fifteen more
years to his life and to assure him of the promise the prophet said the Lord will give him a
sign, which is our base scripture.

The sign the Lord gave him was actually unprecedented, nowhere in the scripture did it ever
occur again, moreover, the sign affected the whole galaxy of planet earth. In summary, God
in other to assure Hezekiah of His promise told him, that He God will turn back the hand of
time by ten degree. Isn’t that incredible, God through His supernatural workings, caused
time to be relived (reversed) just for once in the history of mankind. In case you struggle
with this fact, it has been scientifically proven that at a time in this galaxy, time actually
went back by ten degree.

This goes a long way to prove and show to you how far God can and will go in the life of just
one person who is in His will. Child of God you matter a lot to God and there is nothing He
cannot do for you. In actual fact, through Jesus Christ, there is nothing that God has not
done for you already. He has given unto you all that pertain to life and godliness, you may
not see it and you may not know it but that does not negate the fact that you are already
provided for, the least you should do is to believe, for we live by faith in God and not by
sight.

Notice the beginning of that verse of scripture again it says, “Behold I will turn....” the KJV
says, “Behold I will bring again....” That is rather sweet, but what I want you to take home in
this scripture especially is the fact that God is able to turn your captivity around again, your
best days are not past you, though you may have lost and misuse many opportunities God is
able to bring more your way again. As long as like the king you have turned you back on the
world and faced your God, you will hear good news again. While Hezekiah had given up on
life because of sickness, when he summoned up courage to face his God he heard the voice
of hope, the voice of reversal of fortune and the voice of opportunity again and God turned
back the time for him again by presenting him new opportunities.

If you have studied that story, Hezekiah had not had a child before then, but in the turning
of his time, he was able to present an heir to his throne. Likewise you, as long as you are
alive you have hope, no case is dead in your life. As a man of God said the difference
between a seed and the dead is hope. While you plant a seed, you bury the dead, yet both
are put underground. The seed is planted, and its death is to bring forth better and greater
harvest of fruit while the dead buried is the end of a dream. Hezekiah was sick but he was
not dead so he prayed. You may be down but you are not out, opportunity might have been
lost in the past, but you have a fresh start now. You can build that business again, you can
still have joy in your marriage, your dreams can still come to fruition in spite of the many
disappointment, you can still marry, you can still have your children, your child is not yet a
hopeless case, he can change, you are not condemned to sickness, neither are you
condemned to poverty change can still come your way. Anytime you wake up to a new day,
God is telling you it is not over with you yet, there are still bundles of benefit in store for
you, for you serve the God of many opportunities who is always able to turn your situations
around for good. I see God reversing your fortune in every ramification, I see him bringing
fresh opportunities your way, I see Him opening doors for you and I see God turning around
times for your sake!!! AMEN!!!!!