How NOT to give up, when problems and trials are all around II

I am glad to welcome each one of you to „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”!

Yesterday we started talking about how not to give up, when problems and trials are all around us. Today we are going to continue about it and I would like to share with you where we can find the strength for it.

In order for us not to give up when dealing with hardships and challenges we must know that problems are a common thing and a part of life. Nobody is secured against them no matter how big your love for God is. If you think that you are the only one with problems and the others don’t have any, then you set yourself up for failure. Here is what the Word of God says about it: «Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter» (1 Peter, 4: 12-16).

The Bible clearly talks about temptations, sorrows and suffering being a regular part of life and not to be considered as something strange. You mustn’t wonder why these things come into your life. In Paul’s letter to Timothy it says, «…persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me in Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra – what persecutions I endured. And out of them all them Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution» (2 Timothy, 3: 11-12).

As you see, Paul did not consider it strange when different afflictions, persecutions, hardships and slandering happened to him. He knew that all these things are common so he prepared for them. It is no surprise that in all these afflictions Paul could speak of victory, «… out of them all the Lord delivered me».

If a person understands that temptations are inevitable, then he begins to arm himself with all the necessary weapons that help him to overcome these temptations. God is obliged to give victory to such a person. That is why Paul reminds his spiritual son Timothy about the fact that afflictions and temptations are inevitable and it is necessary for a person to prepare himself to overcome these temptations.

Today God desires to remind every one of us that hardships and tests are inevitable in this world and in the life of every person so that we can prepare ourselves and be ready to overcome them. I wish you to win many victories in this life.

God bless you!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Similar Posts

  • Sacrifice as a measure of love! IV

    I want to tell you that singing to God, praising Him, enjoying His presence is not a difficult task at all, if we will only take a moment to reflect or think of His grace. Even when you are having very hard times in life, you can still find something in your life that you can thank God for. Even when you think everything in your life is falling to pieces and your situation is the worst on earth, nevertheless, continue to believe – you simply have not encountered a situation that is worse than yours. But, when you see such a situation, you will find that you live in paradise.
  • Worthy Goal for Life

    Every person has a goal, whether he talks about it or not. He is driven to do something. But if we talk about goals, it is important to determinewhether it is WORTHY or UNWORTHY. Paul had a worthy goal and talked about it all the time:«…according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
  • The purpose of ministry is to draw people to God

    When we serve people, we should be careful to see to it that all the good works we do, such as taking care of people, giving words of encouragement, gestures and deeds of love are all done for the purpose of drawing those people closer to Jesus and uniting them with Him, and not to glorify ourselves. You should understand that people’s problems will be solved only when they are united with God. If we really want to help people we should understand that nobody can do it better than our Creator.
  • Hope of salvation III

    Hope already helps us to have peace nowadays, when thinking about our future. While hope always points our attention on the future, it already has auspicious impact on our life nowadays.In order to effectively use hope of salvation as a weapon, we have to undeerstand who we are in this world and how we should you this world.Paul wrote: « … and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.» (1 Corinthians 7: 31).
  • We must walk not only before God, but also before people God has set as overseers in our lives

    I must note that ‘accountability group’ (small group, home group) is not the place where you only share your problems or weaknesses. Of course, accountability implies all of it. But if we only do that, then there is no time for instruction or feed-back, and then this group can turn into a place of gossip and slandering.Accountability group or Christian fellowship is the place of learning where we all strive to be more like Jesus. We do it through questions and answers, Bible study, prayer; we listen to each other and support each other.
  • The sample of effective prayer

    In order to pray effectively one needs a sample. Christian life is a spiritual life, therefore, connection with Heaven is vitally important. Our God is a spirit, but we all live on Earth, so we need to stay connected with God. There are only two ways of having fellowship with God – The word of God and a prayer. The God speaks to us through His word. The word of God is His revelation about God himself. Neither you can create the character of God by yourself nor you can imagine what kind of person He is, because you can easily fail getting it right. The God tells us in His word about who He is, what He can do and how He acts.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *