“And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:” Genesis 13:14 One of the hardest words to hear in this world is the word goodbye. In some instances, goodbye can be a good word, it sounds sweet, but most of the time, it’s the kind of word that brings or causes a feeling of hurt. It feels easy on the ears hearing “Hello”, “How are you?” or “You are welcome”, but when it comes to goodbye’s, you get a certain feeling, an angst we call it, a kind of prick that some one is going to be missed, that someone is going to miss somebody. This is the feeling a person has when one is departing or leaving
Every good thing or every new beginning of life usually starts with goodbye. If there is no goodbye, there is no new beginning. Whenever God is about to do something new at times, God will allow something to come to an end. It doesn’t matter how it comes to an end, somehow it could end in a hurting way. That you may not like to happen but God allows it in order for new things to commence in your life. To move forward in life (to start a new life that is) usually starts with a “goodbye.” Though saying goodbye hurts or pains and we don't like it one bit, it happens. However, in every goodbye, there are blessings. The blessings of good things God is preparing for you. As a Christian, never be sad when people separate from you. When they do, they are not part of your future to begin with. No matter what you try to do to make them stay, you are working contrary against God’s
purpose for you. Though it’s easy, it hurts. When someone you love, someone in your ministry, someone in your business, when they’re cut off from you, it hurts but that’s not the end of you. You need to understand, accept and allow these people to go, because if they were there, you may not be able to see what God wants to do in your life. If you observed in our text message, God didn’t communicate with Abraham before Lot separated from him. Abraham and Lot we’re having misunderstandings, they were quarreling, they were fighting each other. Abraham was facing a challenge with Lot that time. God never said anything, neither did He say a word. The moment Lot separated from or parted ways with Abraham, there was intervention of God. There are times God does not intervene until you hear the word goodbye. Sometimes, there are new revelations, some guidance,
some light that God wants to shine in your life, but will never be released until the word goodbye comes. Applying to your situation, you may have experienced loss of a loved one, feeling you cannot move on with life, relationship has been very long it's hard to let go. God allows that departing for better things to come in your life. You will never miss the real purpose of God. There is a blessing in the word goodbye. Probably, you were kicked out of the company and felt sorry for that job loss. It made you ponder on how you started working with them, stood by them through thick and thin, and then when new management took over, you were already unemployed. But that’s not the end of your corporate life story. It means, God is taking you to the next level in your career. For a new things to happen, holding on must end. And presumably when the “holding on”
ends, goodbye is expected. But when you hear the word goodbye, it's not the end of it all. I remember in the early days of my ministry, I had a conversation with a contemporary and her husband. I was starting then and I saw them growing and getting big in the work of the Lord. On one occasion the couple and I were attending, a certain woman approach the man and both exchanged pleasantries. Obviously, the man who was with his wife that time was somehow surprised by that woman’s presence because she was his ex-girlfriend who refused him many years ago. The great woman of God, the wife, stretched forth her hand to acknowledge acquaintance. It could have been an awkwardly uncomfortable meet up. The wife could have just acted out but instead, she thanked the woman because had they been together still, there wasn’t any chance that they could meet. The great
woman further said that had the two been married, she couldn’t have met him and they wouldn’t have been the happy ministering couple that they are now. The truth is, if that woman didn’t say goodbye, the man wouldn’t be able to meet that woman who stood with him to the end. Sometimes, your first boyfriend, the one you love very much, your wife, your husband, your relative or your friend, they might have severed from you, it was just time for you to hear the word goodbye from them. You have to come to terms with it, because it’s not the end of you. Take heart, do not lose hope because of that. Remember, even the greatest people under went the same one time in their life. But as they made the decision to start again, their goodbyes of yesterday have become their blessings of tomorrow. You may have experienced this, God is preparing for your tomorrow. God is a good God. God is
preparing some good and new things behind the scene, beyond what you can see physically. You may have had severance in the not so remote past, frustrations were real, you were told you were not already needed nor wanted, let me tell you, “God is just preparing you for a great tomorrow!” God is a good God, He is doing great things which you cannot see now physically, beyond what you can imagine. Joseph, the man in the Bible characterizes the life of success in the land of strangers because he changed the course of life including the very existence of a nation where he was in. Joseph and his life there were full of pain and hurt, thorns of goodbye included. In Genesis 37, Joseph was depicted to be the man in the land where he had dreams and great tomorrows. Those dreams he shared
with his siblings, dreams of him envisioning a lot of things, like the sun, the moon, and the stars which all bowed down to him. The Bible said, they (Joseph's brothers) hated him for it, (vs 26-27). Despite the fact that they hated him, they still stayed together with him. They still looked at him as their younger brother. But there came a certain day, the siblings gathered together and plotted something against Joseph. v27) Come and let us sell him (Joseph) to the Ishmaelite and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers were content. For the brethren, seeing Joseph everyday is torture. It is a problem to them, especially when he was sharing great dreams that they themselves could not endure, visions that they believed should not come to pass. Then they decided to kill him at first, and then
finally decided to sell him for a small amount of money. (V28) Then there passed the Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. Joseph's brothers started advertising him in order to sell him. As great as the destiny of Joseph, and yours, it doesn't matter what the enemy say about you but God has a better plan for you. The brethren told Joseph that he has been sold, that he'll be with them and Joseph looked at the strangers (he hasn't seen before) got looked at his family and thought of his family._______ If you use in Joseph's stance, what would you feel at that moment?
It was a sad situation for Joseph, so sad that he would be with strangers, so sad that it reminded him of his mother. So bad that it made him wonder where to find his mother, or any relative who can help him. Everyday was never insignificant to help him… that goodbye is not the end of you. God has a plan and His plans shall bot go unfulfilled in your life. Back to v28, just after a few hour, Joseph was already with the Ishmaelites whom he was sold to. Following that, he had different difficulties like he didn't know their language, and him moving to another land, he didn't know what will happen. Either he'd be killed or he'd be done evil to. Joseph would see his brother going home, say goodbye to him or waving goodbye to his dreams. Learn from this: Anybody who says you are finished and you've been knocked down by
them, that is the WORK of the devil, as if saying your dreams are not going to come to realization, that you are insignificant, unwanted and you are better off away and that you can NEVER make it. But God has the final say. (V36) And the Midianites (who bought Joseph from his brothers) sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an Officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard. Joseph became sort of a product, when people push you here and there and say byebye here, you walk there, they don't understand you, and they say bye-bye, you try to please them, and don't understand you and they leave you alone, it simply means you are a precious product. It means there's something important about you that's why Satan is pushing you here and there. But that is not the end of you.
Listen to this message: They pushed Joseph to another group of people. They saw it for themselves. Now imagine, they thought they have done evil to Joseph. They thought they were making things difficult for him in that place, from Midianites to the Egyptian. They sold him to the man in Egypt. So Joseph, after hearing words of goodbye from his people, had to hear it again from the Midianites so he can be able to go to Egypt where the purpose of his life will come to pass. As for you, you may have had so many incalculable farewells, how many relationship you have been into and cried over, you suffered so much but I want to tell you God knows what He is doing. He is taking you somewhere. You will never miss the purpose of God in the precious name of Jesus. That’s part of the message of blessings of goodbyes. It’s a hard word. It hurts, but
never forget (to understand) that God is ever faithful. Hallelujah! Joseph was sold to slavery in Egypt and it was the beginning of the fulfillment of his dream. The problem that is pushing you now, it’s not for your destruction. The challenges, the places of your rejection, they are not for your destruction. God is taking you somewhere. The person that bode you goodbye, has moved out of your life. Yes! They may not be part of the fulfillment of your destiny. It is so difficult they move out of your life because you love them so much. Hard to accept but you need to in order to receive the blessings of goodbye. Hallelujah! How to turn goodbyes into blessings? There are five important points: 1. LOOK UP. Genesis 13:14 is about the severance of Abraham and Lot.
“And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward…” Let us paraphrase the verse. Now, Lot has cheated Abraham, he has taken all the lands his uncle had tirelessly worked to acquire. Lot has separated from him in bad faith. Now, you, like Abraham, have been knocked down, crying badly. Do not let the situation blow you down. As Abraham
did, lift up your eyes and see something. Look up! Many people at the point of goodbye in life, are being swallowed by their problem, because their problem totally hit them black and blue. They thought everything is done and gone hopeless. Everytime people say goodbye to you, every time situations render you separated or cut off from those you love and care for, look unto God. The Bible says, look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher, the Beginning and the End of destiny. So if you want to avoid getting swallowed by the quicksand of goodbyes,
never remove your eyes from Jesus. Isaiah 45:22 When you keep on looking unto the people who said goodbye to you, you will always continue to see problems. You will always be affected emotionally. When you keep remembering all things, all days you will never see the good Lord in action. The beginning of the blessings of goodbye is removing your attention from the people who disappointed you and looking up unto Jesus instead. When you look unto Him, you will see Him in action.
He will surprise you. Listen! Look unto God as He will arrange some people, important ones, who can help in the fulfillment of your destiny. More important than those who moved away from you, than those who shunned you away from themselves. The moment you look unto Jesus, He will know how to arrange everything. From the house of Potiphar, where Joseph was enjoying his life, the devil targeted Joseph and released the third streak of goodbye to him. Where did he go? Where was he going? To the prison. As he was on the way to prison, his hope remained in God only. At that moment,
God was too detailed arranging the people working in the palace of Pharaoh to become a prisoner. In the prison, where Joseph met them, they became connections to the throne where Joseph is going. God is also doing the same thing to you these days. He is getting more important people ready than those who left you, than those who forsook you who said goodbye to you. He is arranging better connection for your fulfillment. You won't miss it in the precious name of Jesus. In converting your goodbye to blessing, remember number 1: to look unto God.
Look unto Him through prayer, through having relationship with Him, you look unto Him by hearing His word, reading the Bible and Christian literature and also by having praises and worship time with Him. Have intimacy with your God. Your destiny will be secured in the precious name of Jesus. 2. SEE BETTER THINGS AHEAD. See better days in the front. When people are hurting with goodbyes, like being told to go away, that they're unwanted, that they are done with you or they can't be with you anymore, it is actually an emotional attack that blindfolds to prevent you from
seeing a bright tomorrow. The feeling leads people to cry and be saddened everyday to the extent they no longer see the silver lining, the better horizon. This is a dangerous state of a person. Genesis 13:14, when God talked with our father Abraham, He said “Now that Lot had departed from you, look up, see the south, see the north, see the west and see the east. Everywhere you set your eyes on, I will give it to you.” What do you see after people say goodbye to you? Do you see that hope was lost? Do you see the end of your journey? No!!! You need to allow your vision to go father, make your eyes
see farther. There's no way you can see all points at the same time with your physical eyes either. Abraham allowed his inner mind to see greater things coming in order for him to attain greater things from God. Same goes with you. Never be hind-sighted or blindfolded by the challenge caused by those who betrayed you or separated from you. Never be blinded by those who cast you away. Their bye-bye word won't be the end of you. See better tomorrow, even if your marriage was lost, that is not the end of you. God has prepared another better comfort for you. God is preparing you to be a great
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