With joy, we will draw water from the well of salvation.

Happy new month, everyone!.

As you know, the penultimate month of the year is here! 2022 is almost coming to a wrap.

I trust that you have been working on the action-points you outlined at the beginning of the year, and have been seeing significant progress towards your goals.

I am not sure if it is the same for anyone else, but I have personally gone through quite a number of seasons throughout the year. Earlier today, my eyes landed on the bright purple-coloured vision board I had designed at the beginning of the year. A couple of times, I have had to change/refine my goals as I progressed through the year. On the other hand, there were times when I ran up a mountain as with deer’s feet towards my goals. However, there were also days when I could not care less about any goal or target. And then, some goals I have actioned as much as depends on me and all I am doing now is trusting and waiting for the results to mature.

Today, I would like to share a scripture that is a great encouragement to me in this season.

I believe that this short passage will spark something new for you in your own journey as well. No matter how you feel about your journey right now; whether everything is going according to plan, or if you are doing everything you should but it feels like your goal (the weight-loss target, the job offer, the spiritual reawakening, the parenting goal, the promotion) isn’t coming fast enough.

Here is a prophecy to fuel your faith.

Isaiah 12

In that day you will say:
“I will praise you, Lord.
    Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
    and you have comforted me.
2 Surely God is my salvation;
    I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence;
    he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water
    from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done,
    and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;
    let this be known to all the world.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
    for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

Isaiah 12 is a charge for us to stay in the place of praise and joyfulness. And have you noticed that praise, thanksgiving and joy have become overarching themes in most Christian communities this period?

Praise, thanksgiving, joy.

In this scripture, God is saying to you, dear reader, that He is no longer angry with you. He has forgiven your past mistakes. He has put them behind Him. On the contrary, right now, you have His favour and comfort.

God says that He will be your strength and your song. Another translation replaces “song” here with “defence”. It means that God will be your war song, your victory song. It is just like Jehoshaphat, a king of Judah experienced. (II Chronicles 20: 20-22)

See, Jehoshaphat had 5 strong kingdoms coming against his relatively smaller kingdom for a war. He didn’t know how he could survive the attack. It seemed like a sure win against the land of Judah. But instead of giving in to despair, Jehoshaphat prayed and called on God for help. He didn’t stop there. He invited some delegates (the Levites) who led his kingdom in praising God.

Seemed like an illogical strategy, right? How can merely giving praises to God save a kingdom from imminent attack?

Well, one thing is sure: there is nothing mere, mean or average about praises and joy. Praise is a tried, tested and trusted weapon of warfare – as is staying joyful.

In whatever way praise is offered – be it in singing, recounting God’s goodness, declaring His attributes and character to glorify Him, praises to God are potent because they bring us into an atmosphere where we can experience the extraordinary and miraculous.

Just like it happened for King Jehoshaphat, if we will praise God ahead of our battles, when we arrive at the battlefield, we will only see results – a finished battle with victory secured in our favour. God will fight the battle on our behalf.

Finally, in Isaiah 12 above, God also says that with joy, we will draw water (sustenance and flourishing) from Him because He is our salvation. That He, the Holy One of Israel is great among us.

Practice joyfulness. Joy is a weapon that will work in your favour.

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To conclude, I invite you to join me in this personalized version of Isaiah 12 as an affirmation of victory.

Today, I declare:
“I praise you, dear Lord.
    Because you are not angry with me, 
rather you have comforted and favoured me.
Lord, you are my salvation;
    I trust in you, and I will not be afraid.
You are my strength, my song and my defence;
    You have become my salvation.”

With joy, I draw water
    from the wells of salvation.
Praise be to the Lord, I see all that You have done,
    I exalt your name.
Lord, you have done glorious things;
    that I will declare to all the world.
I sing and shout aloud for joy,
    because you Lord are great among us!”