When one first surrendered their life to Christ, we were all encouraged with the knowledge that Christ had died for our sins and that through Him we had overcome every work of the enemy. But as time goes on and life’s challenges attempt to weigh you down, you begin to understand that quoting scripture is easy, and the real task is believing and holding onto it.
Life itself is not easy, talk less of striving to remain firm in faith as a Christian in a world that is pulling away from God by the day. But the Bible tells us that we will go through trials and tribulations and the difference and silver lining for us as believers is knowing that regardless of the situations we face; we will overcome and ultimately have the victory.
There are many examples in the Bible of people who had to overcome such great difficulties to reach the purpose that God had destined them, so here are a few to encourage you to keep the good fight going and not to be disheartened.
1. Joseph was a young man who God spoke to through dreams. To reach the purposes of God for himself and his families lives he had to go through so many trials (1 Peter 5:10); Betrayal from his family, being envied and hated, being lied on, helping others but never quite seeing the same reciprocated back to him. But through all of this he persevered and stayed faithful to God. Trials and tribulations are not a bad thing, when we look at them through the eyes of God. It is a way to prune us and install the fruits of the Spirit within us. With all he had been through Joseph was able to learn the power of forgiveness, long suffering, patience and many more to reach his destiny.
‘My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing’
(James 1:2-4)
2. Abraham desired to have a child but because of his and his wife’s old age, he didn’t see it possible but God told him that He will bless him with descendants as many as the stars in the sky. Abraham was taken aback by this as he was focused on all the odds lined up against them. But the Bible tells us that God is not like man where He should lie. (Numbers 23:19) God also says:
‘So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’
(Isaiah 55:11)
3. This is seen when God told Moses that He was going to use him to deliver his people out of the hands of Pharaoh in Egypt (Exodus 3:7). At first Moses deemed this as a task far too great for him but God reassured him that He will be with him.
Throughout the journey to freedom you saw that the Israelites did not have it easy. Many times it seemed as if God’s word would not come to pass as they were constantly being faced with rejection, but sure enough with their obedience, the Egyptians that they once saw, no longer existed once the hand of God was done with them (Exodus 14:13) When going through testing times we have to remember that God’s word instructs us:
‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’
(2 Chronicles 20:15)
Due to the pressures from our circumstances, we begin to use our own thoughts and might to tackle the issue that we lose sight of what the scripture says. The Bible explains:
‘…the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds’
(2 Corinthians 10:4-6)
Let us be mighty in God to deal with every situation in our lives because it’s only through Him that we are guaranteed victory.
But remember, in order to see this victory come to pass we have to participate by standing firm in His word in faith along with using one of our weapons of warfare, prayer. In this way, we can continually jump for joy in the peaks and the troughs.
The Battle Has Already Been WonThe Battle Has Already Been Won69Words by Delores Oblitey
