TARGET THE ROOT
Memorise: “Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly” (1 Samuel 23:22)
Read: 1 Samuel 23:19-24
by Pastor E. Adeboye
To deal effectively with a problem, wisdom demands that you take it from its roots. A tree that is cut down does not cease to grow. With time, it gets nourishment from its former source and springs up again. The only time you are assured of total victory is when the enemy is uprooted.
It is not enough for Goliath to fall. He can rise again after recovering strength. Until the head is off, there should be no celebration. Many of us still engage in premature celebration of victory. Put such celebrations on hold until victory is total. King Saul knew better than many of us.
Some brothers from the same parents struggled through life. One of them was a pastor. The difficulty encountered in that family negatively affected his ministry. Growth was hampered. He struggled with his finances. At a point of frustration, he cried out to God to reveal the root cause. The Lord asked him to go and see his mother back home. On visiting home, after narrating the ordeal of all the brothers, he asked her what could be the cause for lack of progress in the family.
She told him the only thing she could recall took place several years before. At that time, she was a spinster. Her parents were wealthy and quite influential. An incidence involving their family occurred which led to the death of a member of one of the less privileged families in their neighbourhood. But instead of proper restitution or justice from the court of law, the family used their wealth to bury the matter.
What they thought was over, was just beginning. The aggrieved family made certain pronouncements. They said if there was no more wealth in that family, they would cease to oppress the poor. Since then, wealth, progress and the likes became a rarity. As they rubbed minds, they decided to trace that family. They found one aged man still alive. When confronted with the facts of the case, the man confirmed it.
They asked how they could right their wrong and he said the victim of oppression had not been buried for lack of money. He said if they can give him a befitting burial, they would be left off the hook. They did. Not long afterwards, wealth, prosperity and progress returned to their family. The pastor’s ministry witnessed a boom and became largely successful. Many people are where they are inspite of fasting, deliverance and other efforts because attempts at resolving their matter are not getting at the root. Ask God to unveil the root of that problem to you. Take necessary corrective measures and you will be free.
The only path to solving a problem is when efforts are directed at the source. Ask God to show you the root cause of that persistent problem in your life
