Never be stopped by problems!
Dear children of God, welcome to our column «Daily word for spiritual strength»!
Yesterday we concluded, that problems and trials are a test to all of us. This test either puts a shame on you and takes the Spirit of glory away from you or you will rejoice and get excited of the honour and opportunity to be tested.
It was also mentioned, that focusing ourselves not on sufferings, pain or problems but on the reward and the glory that are waiting for you at the end of the tunnel we receive power to reach that end.
On the next step we have to strengthen our spirit, so that we can draw strength and not give up walking through the valley of shadow of our life. That´s the topic for today.
The Bible states «A man’s spirit will sustain him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?» (Proverbs 18:14). Satan wants to hit our spirit via hardships, trials and problems. When your spirit is strengthened, you can overcome any kind of weakness, get through all kind of hardships and trials. So how can we strengthen our spirit? God´s word and His promises strengthen our spirit and overcome weakness and sufferings. In order to not give up, we need to learn how to lean on the word of God and His promises – fully and unconditionally. We have to learn God´s faithfulness and realise that God will never forsake us unless we abandon Him ourselves.
Apostle Paul tells us a secret of how to stay cheerful when everything around us seems getting worse. That´s what he says in his letter to Corinthians:
« Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.» (2 Cor 4:16-18).Paul stated that he learned to look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. We are able to look at the things which are not seen through our faith to the word of God and His promises. Those help us to see the image of victory more clearly, which, in turn, changes the circumstances around us. Outer circumstances have no power over the person (his soul, mind and thoughts) being constantly renewed internally through the word of God.
When we look at our situations God´s way (via His word), we are able to see opportunities and glory where the others see pain and sufferings. This is exactly what a psalmist is singing about:
«Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength. Everyone of them appears before God in Zion.» (Psalm 83:6-8).We may discover SPRINGS even in our valley. It fully depends on the way we respond to our problems. God wants us to rejoice facing problems: «knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.». (James 1:3).
Nevertheless, such attitude to trials is possible only when we look at them with God´s eyes.
Joy in the Lord is a real spiritual and physical strength! Strengthening our spirit and looking at our life with God´s eyes, we face problems with a great joy, so we are able to draw strength from Him and never give up! Finalising our today´s meditation I would like to say this: never be stopped by problems! Trust God´s victory and move forward, in the Name of Christ!
If you are going through a situation now, I pray that God´s light and revelation of the Holy Spirit dress you up and strengthen you for the victory in your case, in the Name of Jesus!
Lord bless you, my friends!
Rufus Adjiboye, pastor.
