It feels like it's been 'centuries' since my last post and I hope it won't be 'decades' before the next one, but in the mean time, I'd like to share a recent piece with you. It's a little something I wrote for the new year edition of a magazine; Hope it blesses you.
Here goes...
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It’s that time of year again when hope is rife and many start to make plans for the days ahead. Regardless of how the last twelve months have been, the chance to see another year is proof that God has been faithful, and as the New Year rolls around, it tends to bring with it an aura of being at the starting point of a race; one that has God’s promises as the prizes at stake.
It’s not unusual to hear specific prophecies on what God is saying at the start of the year, but even if we don’t hear any new ones, there are apparently 8810 promises of God tucked away in the Bible. What’s interesting about God’s promises though, is that He puts them within our reach, not in our hands. His design is such that we are expected to co-labour with Him to bring them to pass in our lives, and by stretching to receive His promises, our faith muscles are developed and we mature as believers. The need to co-labour is demonstrated in the story of the Israelites, who were promised a land flowing with milk and honey when they came out of slavery in Egypt. God had promised them the land, but they still had to contend for it. They couldn’t take possession without going to battle and driving out the inhabitants of the land first. This is where many of us miss the mark; we don’t understand human involvement in the plans of God and the contention we might face along the way.
I used to think that everything God said would come to pass regardless of what I did, and that with God it would always be smooth-sailing. The reality is that He never promised that we wouldn’t face adversity, so I’m not sure why I ever thought otherwise. I think the dilemma for us as human beings is in trying to comprehend how someone who is all-powerful can say that He loves you, but yet allow you to go through some very difficult situations. We generally don’t associate love with any sort of pain.
To be fair, a lot of the pain that we go through can be avoided if we would only make better choices. We suffer much for disobeying God and a lack of knowledge. However, the Bible also speaks of trials i.e. adverse situations not necessarily brought about as a direct consequence of one’s actions and omissions. They are an inherent part of the Christian walk and often times, moving to a new level in our faith comes out of a crisis that we have had to deal with. God’s pattern of success is one of purification by way of crises, so like the Israelites on the way to the Promised Land, we will face trials, but we must fight courageously to overcome them and take hold of all that’s been promised to us.
When faced with adversity, God desires for us to be like the three Hebrew boys in Daniel 3 (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego). They refused to bow down and worship the golden image created by king Nebuchadnezzar. When he summoned them and threatened to roast them alive, their disposition was, “God is able... and He will deliver us... but even if He chooses not to, we’re still not going to bow!” They were subsequently thrown into a fiery furnace and preserved by God in what was an incredible miracle, but the moral was that they stuck with their faith in God, even when faced with possible death. They understood something that we would do well to comprehend and that is, we are only defeated in adversity when we turn away from God. When you’re going through a trial, it’s not the time to disobey God or yield to pressures or temptations. Compromising in any of these ways is a setup for defeat.
God also expects us to live by principles, so for instance the Bible teaches that we reap whatever we sow and we’re encouraged to sow into the lives of others. Every action, word and thought qualifies as a seed. The Bible also teaches about honour. We honour our leaders (all leaders - spiritual, civil or otherwise), our parents (that we may have long life), and we really shouldn’t dishonour any human being for the simple fact that Jesus esteemed them enough to die for them too. There are many more principles in the Bible and each one is essentially a setup to be blessed by God, but diligence is required to reap the full rewards and we mustn’t quit when we don’t see immediate results. In trials, the people who triumph are those who persist; Persistence will wear out the obstacles in your life.
The truth is that everybody goes through challenges at some point in life. However, the word of God tells us not to be anxious about anything, but commit everything to Him and stay thankful. We also have to develop the tenacity to praise God even when things appear contrary to what we’re expecting. When it seems like God isn’t working on the things you so desperately want Him to, He’s doing some work on you, and you have to let that work be complete before you can move to the next level. His plan is always to take us from glory to glory, and trials are often about becoming the people that can handle the promise and not get distracted when the blessings come.
The right response to trials, James says in the Bible, is to count it all joy (James 1:2), because they test our faith and produce patience in us. Paul also says in Romans 5:3 that we ‘glory in tribulations’ because they work patience (or perseverance) in us. So we can deduce that the Bible doesn’t teach us to take joy in trials because they are enjoyable in any way; we do so because of what they make us. God’s is constantly working to make us more like Jesus and without patience we are not complete.
One other thing that trials do is reveal God’s character to us in a greater dimension. So for instance when needs are miraculously met, He is revealed as Jehovah Jireh, and when someone receives healing, it validates the existence of a Jehovah Rapha. Basically, whenever God brings you through a trial and you catch a revelation of who He is, you can stand on that revelation unshaken – and it is the people who know their God, that are strong and do exploits! (Daniel 11:32b) So, as we go into a new year and all of these amazing promises are set before us once again, let’s run the race with endurance, knowing this time that trials may come, but there is a right approach to them and they mustn’t be allowed to distract us from our goals.
Here’s to an exceptional year... God bless you!
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