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That we face challenges or go through trials is a constant in life. Except that you are a day-old baby, toddler, or infant who cannot comprehend much, that you will face challenges and trials in life is a constant thing in life. Unfortunately, because we don’t know what the future holds and the timings of life belong to God, there is little or nothing we can do to avoid challenges.
Some challenges can feel so crushing, while some feel light.
Some linger for so long while some are quick to go away. It is so easy to focus
our attention on these challenges that we let them shut the door to our only
way of escape. Some even die needlessly under the weight of the challenge. For
some, they wait for others who equally have their share of concerns to help
them out.
I have had my own fair share of troubles in life. I suppose
I would have been a wasted person without the challenges I have faced in my
life. I am not a challenge pro, but I have experienced enough in my lifetime to
make me want to give up on God. The only truth is that where am I giving up to?
God is the wing beneath my wings, even in the face of troubles. When Paul says
in Romans 8:38-39 that what shall separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus, I happen to be one of those he was referring to.
When faced with challenges, two words that have worked for
me and I want to share in today’s post are “DISCERNMENT” and “RETROSPECT.” The
dictionary defines discernment as “perception in the absence of
judgement with a view of obtaining spiritual guidance and understanding. It
also defines retrospect as a “review of past course of events or period
of time.”
In Jeremiah 29:11, God tells us that He knows the thoughts
He has towards us, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give us a future and a
hope. But when we face those crumbling challenges, this scripture feels like a
lie. Then Isaiah 49:16 tells us that God has inscribed us on the palms of His
hands, and our walls are continually before Him. Luke 12:7 and Matthew 10:30
tell us that God knows and cares for us so well that the strands of hair on our
head are numbered by Him. Psalms 23:1 reminds us that the Lord is our shepherd,
and we shall not want. Psalms 121 tells us that He who keeps us does not
slumber. I can go on and on picking out Bible scriptures that make you feel God
must be lying with these words in the face of crumbling challenges, but is that
really the case?
James 2:1 tells us to count it as joy when we face trials,
and Hebrews 12:3-11 speaks of the profit that comes with chastisement by God,
which translates to challenges and trials that we face. If, then, there is a
profit in challenges we face, painful as they may be, then there is a need to
look beyond the challenge and think deeply into the mind of God concerning what
you are going through.
Remember that discernment is defined as perception in the
absence of judgment with the view of obtaining spiritual guidance and
understanding, so the first thing your challenge needs is discernment.
You are not making any judgment yet, but you want to gain as much understanding
as possible regarding that event in your life with the aim of gaining spiritual
guidance. You want to pray that God opens your eyes of understanding to see
what He sees concerning what you are going through.
If God loves and cares for you like He said He does, and God
never lies, and He is not taking the challenge away, then believe me when I say
there is a profit in that trial. When you pray, God answers. As you seek
understanding into the mind of God concerning the event of your life, the next
useful word you need is retrospect.
There is nothing new under the sun. There is nothing that is
happening to you that has never happened before. So, you need to search for
events similar to yours. I assure you that you will find an abundance of them
in the Bible. Check for patterns similar to yours. One truth is that you will
find deliverance at the end of each story, except in cases where sin is
involved. Then note that if God did it for them, He’ll do yours too, if you
remain in faith and obedience to His leading.
Oftentimes, when God is nudging me to do something or take
action, and I am dragging my feet, I find out that a fight erupts between my
husband and me out of nowhere. Even when I am angry, I slow down to pray and
ask why that occurrence occurred. Why the unnecessary fight? And even though
this may not be a huge challenge, I always realize that it is God screaming for
my attention, and pushing me to do what He has laid on my heart to do that I
had been procrastinating about.
Your miracle is like a diamond in the rough. Your glory is
hidden in your story, and your testimony resides in the center of your test. To
avoid the story is to throw away the glory, and to run away from the test is to
do away with the testimony. A lot of people have focused on the test and have
missed the glory that has been set before them.
A lot have drowned in the test, and have gotten buried in
the story because they let the test and story take the center stage, and forgot
to discern and then retrospect. God loves you too much to allow you to go
through a profitless journey. The journey is painful yet profitable.
Isaiah 43:2 tells us that when we pass through the waters,
God will be with us, and when we pass through the rivers, they shall not
overflow us, and when we walk through the fire, we shall not be burned. Is God
lying here? Absolutely not. Moses was in the river as a baby; the river did not
overflow him, and Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego were in the fire, yet they
were not consumed. God is tested and proven to be true, so your case will not
be different.
But truth be told, God never promised us a life without
challenges; He only promised that when we are going through it, He will be with
us and help us through it. Psalm 23:4 tells us that when we walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, you know those challenges that look like they
want to take your life with them, you should still not be afraid because even
in that situation, God is still with you. So, when next you walk through a
trial, don’t just endure it—discern it. Don’t just survive it—reflect on it.
For your glory is hidden in your story, and your victory is already in motion.
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