RENEWAL

A famous Kenyan author and former journalist wrote a statement in his book that jumped out
at me. It is the following statement:

"There comes a time in a man’s life when fate offers him a chance to do
something significant. It is rarely extended twice."

That statement got me thinking. To me,it is not fate as the author asserts but God.

I fully believe that in the process of our lives God provides a singular or a specific set of
opportunities which if taken by us change the course of our lives forever,and affect a great
number of people beyond us.

In Job 14:14, We read:

14 If someone dies, will they live again?

All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come.

It seems that Job was talking of his struggles and hardships while waiting for
relief,breakthrough and release. I know many of us may be thinking,"Here goes another
prosperity message again!".Not so.

Look at how Job describes his expectations of his renewal:

Job 14:15-17:

15 You will call and I will answer you;

you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16 Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.
17 My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
you will cover over my sin.

Renewal for Job means:

a. Job answering God's call - speaks of deep accurate communion with God; being able to
hear God and give Him the right response. (DISCERNMENT)

b. God longing for him - speaks of God being attracted to us as he fashions us to look like
Him. (TRANSFORMATION)

c. God covering up his sin and offenses - speaks of God's redemptive nature. (SALVATION)

d. God counting his steps - speaks of God directing the course of his life (PURPOSE AND
FULFILLMENT OF DESTINY)

And indeed,many people live mundane and obscure lives until they hear God. It is then a
process of transformation,salvation and redirection thrusts them into who God really wanted
them to be and into an assignment that He creates a capacity in them to fulfill.

Noah in Genesis 6 finds favour with God in that he lived a life that allowed God to spare him
as a remnant to begin the new phase of humanity.He understood his renewal and His
response to God not only saved him,his family and the animals,but the entire earth was
renewed through Him.

Look at Abraham in Genesis 12. He was living his own ordinary life until He hears God in
Verse 1-9. His response to God's instructions changes not only his very nature,but the entire
course of the world as we know it.

Throughout the bible,I can quote many who followed these men's examples and are now
heroes commended by God for their relationship and service to Him and his people.

The question you should ask yourself is: "When is my renewal?" Key indicators you should
check are:
1. God's Call - There is a need to discern when God is calling you using a
situation,person,event,circumstance and know how to answer Him. This may and will usually
involve leaving a familiar grouping or environment, what we usually call a "comfort zone."

2. Transformation - God only longs for the creatures He has made. This not only speaks of
our physical state,but also our spiritual state. There is a way God has called each of us to
represent Him in the earth.Only when we move towards our ordained identity in God does He
draw closer and closer to us.

3. Salvation - We all come into the earth in a fallen state.We have the wrong perception of
ourselves,God and just about everything.Only God can save us from this humiliating state.But
He only do so if we acknowledge that we don't meet His standards and we want to be like
Him;to remove us from this state into the state He can work with - "a new man".

4. Purpose and fulfillment of destiny - It is God who created us, and therefore it goes without
saying He is the only one who can give our lives not only purpose,but also the process to
bring it to fulfillment. No person,entity apart from God and His chosen leaders can bring clarity
of what one is supposed to do and how to do it to completion.