destruction to humanity , their dreams and visions and sadly , he is succeeding . The fact that the enemy has been using this weapon successfully means that there is a lot that needs to be done both in the church and outside the world .
Life is not a bed of roses and challenges are a reality of life . Jesus said in the book of John 16:33 that “ in the world you will have tribulation . But take heart ; I have overcome the world ”. We cannot control what the enemy brings our way , but we can control how it affects our lives – by how we respond to it . Job is one man who went through so much suffering which , according to me , was out of order and unnecessary . God allowed Satan to make him suffer and he didn ’ t spare him . He brought all the calamities and troubles into his life to an extent that his wife and friends questioned the reason for his suffering . Job accused God of being unjust and not operating the world according to the principles of justice , and his friends believed that his suffering was as a result of his own sin . But God reminded him that the world has order and beauty , but it ’ s also wild and dangerous . While we do not always know why we suffer , we can trust God to bring us out of the pain and grief we go through and restore us back .
Why do we despair ?
Proverbs 13:12 says that deferred hope makes the heart sick , but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life . This means that the number one reason why many of us end up in disparity is deferred hope . All of us have expectations in life and when things do not go the way we expect them to , we are bound to despair . In my case for example , I had recorded one failure after another and one disappointment after another ; I had been constantly hurt , rejected , ignored , judged , misunderstood and condemned . Nothing and no one seemed to care or wanted to offer help . Day by day it kept on crossing my mind that the world and its inhabitants thereof is a cruel world . I felt alone and like I have been dumped and left to figure out the way all by myself , when I didn ’ t have the power or the wisdom to do it . All the hopes that I had – for a better tomorrow – slowly faded away and I was left hopeless . Needless to say , my hopes were paralyzed and I despaired of life itself . It is one experience I can ’ t really wish for anyone .
Count it all joy , my brothers , when you meet trials of various kinds , for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness ~ James 1:3 ESV
Not only that , but we rejoice in our sufferings , knowing that suffering produces endurance , and endurance produces character , and character produces hope , and hope does not put us to shame , because God ’ s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us ~ Romans 5:3-5 ESV
It may not be obvious for each of us to do as the above scripture tells us to , but we need to understand that through it all , God is always present and ready to help us . At some point in their walk with the Lord Jesus Christ , the disciples of Jesus found themselves in the midst of a stormy sea and Jesus was right there in their boat sleeping . They were overwhelmed with fear and cried out to Him saying ; " Lord don ' t you care that we are about to perish "? Jesus woke up and calmed the storm and everything went back to normal . This is how it is with those who put their trust in Him .
I waited patiently for the Lord ; he inclined to me and heard my cry . He drew me up from the pit of destruction , out of the miry bog , and set my feet upon a rock , making my steps secure ~ Psalms 40:1-2 ESV
Some of the things we go through are extremely tough , hard and difficult and more than once , I have found myself wondering if it is worth to fight or respond to them , but the most grievous mistake I ' ve made in times like this has been to run away from them and retreat . This , I have learned the hard way , that it ' s not the best way to solve my mess . In such
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