In the first part of this subject, we addressed the fact that adverse circumstances and challenges were not designed by God. James says God will not tempt us with evil. Then if it's not God who is frustrating you, bringing awful situations your way to test your faith who is responsible for all that happened to you? In the first part of this subject, we saw the intention of the devil (John 10:10) and also the intention of God (John 10:11). It will be so funny to say that God became a man to die for man's sin and then today afflicts you with sickness to check your faith in him. This same God will go to heal people who are sick even without being invited how then will you say God put a disease on you so you can faithfully serve him?
I went out preaching last year and I saw a guy who was using a walking aid, so I ran to him to pray for him to walk without using the walking aid. The moment I approached him, he would not want me to pray for him until I got a detail about him and told him by God's Spirit then I got his attention. As we sat to talk, he said the reason for his condition was God trying to get his attention back home so he could faithfully serve God. As I went on to show him God's nature in Scripture he began to smile because his claim about God is different from God's Word. After he saw that he could be healed and that God finds no delight in pain he was opened to be prayed for. I saw him in a meeting where I went to preach sometime ago, and he was there playing keyboard without the walking aid. Glory to God for that.
The moment you have a precise knowledge of God you will know the right thing to attack. Ignorance kills a faithful believer. In a church meeting, a Pastor was praying for the sick and there was a woman on the healing line who was to be prayed for, but she said to the Pastor, "God put this cancer on my body to make me more humble". The Pastor told her to lift her hands to God and she should repeat the prayer after him and he said "Lord Jesus, I thank you for this cancer, I ask that you give me more cancer to be more humble" and the woman screamed out refusing to say the prayer. God has given us his word so we can have a full knowledge about his nature, character, what he can do and what he would not do. But laziness has made us believe people's opinions and experiences about God. The nature of God is constant. He doesn't have good and evil in him. The good God became a man, lived among man, was killed by man, died as a man, rose in the human body and today he is living inside of man. He did everything for man why then will he still choose to suffer man?
Hence, we have the assurance that if we are in Christ, the Lord will help us to go through the challenges. There are no challenges that should push you to give up or to think of committing suicide. Even the Lord Jesus faced challenges while he was on Earth. Yes, you read that right. Jesus the God on earth faced challenges. From his birth to his death, he was faced with a lot of hard times. He was to be killed at birth, but he escaped that, tempted by the devil, and not accepted by his own family, he was hungry, and he did ministry among the most controversial set of people, to summarize it all: he was killed, and scripture recorded that Jesus was filled with joy all through his days.
Are you at the end of your life? Or you have tried many things to get out of those challenges, remember it was not God who put you there. And if it is not God, you will overcome it. Nothing or no one is greater than God. No challenges can take you out. There was a storm, and the people were panicking while Jesus who has control over nature and walks on water was right inside the boat sleeping. He stepped out and spoke to the storm to be still. The Psalmist in Psalm 23 says even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, fear no evil. Why? Because the Lord is with you! One thing that must be your mantra all through those hard days is that the Lord is with you! He can never leave you stranded. Matthew 28:20 says he is with you always. John 14:16 says the comforter is in you forever. So, when you are going through the hard times, the comforter is right there with you.
ACTION POINT
Always turn to the big one living in you and not the challenges, adverse circumstances and situations of life. The more you pay attention to challenges the more you worry. But the more you pay attention to The God of The Universe inside of you the more you feel at peace.
leave a comment on this article