Overcoming Tests, Trials and Tribulations We as Christians cannot expect to navigate through life without encountering difficulties, challenges and obstacles. Each one of us will encounter test, trials and tribulations that place pressure on us either physically, emotionally, financially or spiritually. What can we do when trail and tribulations come into our lives? How can we prepare ourselves to face difficult challenges? Such questions as these were in the minds of Jesus’ disciple after an occasion took place when they were traveling in a boat across the Sea of Galilee. Mark 4:38-40 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? While Jesus was asleep a furious storm came up and almost sunk the boat. Often we are just like those disciples who did not have a clue what to do when they found themselves in this trial. Fortunately, the Lord was there to come to their aid. Yet, afterward he reprimanded them for their lack of faith. They had not yet learned to rely on God as their source. 1 Peter 4:12 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: The Apostle Peter reminds us not be surprised when trials, tests and tribulations come into our lives. You see, we have an adversary who wants to hinder our spiritual growth. He wants to keep us in bondage to fear, render us ineffective and deny us the blessings that are ours as God’s children. And he wants to keep us from reaching the destiny that God has in mind for us. The devil uses tribulations to make us doubt God’s promises and to steal the word of God that we have received into our hearts. The Lord, on the other hand, wants us to use those times of trial and testing: To develop our faith in him as our source. To put into practice spiritual principles to overcome our obstacles. To bring him glory as we triumph over the challenges we face. You see, it is not God’s purpose to knock us down but rather for us to rise to a higher level of spiritual maturity. It is God’s purpose, as Romans 8:29 tells us, for every believer to be conformed to the image of his Son. And the only way for us to reach those higher levels is to go through challenging situations; as the Apostle Paul told believers in Antioch that we enter God’s kingdom through many tribulations (Acts 14:22). It turns out that what happens inside us is more important that what happens to us. Remember that statement and let it take root in your spirit. What happens to us is not as important as how we respond to the events that take place in our lives. It is by responding in the proper ways that we are able to progress toward our dreams. God gives each of us dreams to strive for. Yet for a number of you those dreams has not yet been accomplished. You have encountered many obstacles and setbacks and now your dream seems distance and unreachable. Those are the obstacles that we see. But Paul reminds us not to pay attention to those things we can see because they are temporary; they are subject to change. Rather we are to fix our eyes on the end result, on the dream that God has given us. Have tests, trails, challenges and difficulties kept your dream from becoming a reality? Maybe you have given up on your dream, but I’m here to tell you that God has not given up on your dream. Is. 40:31 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. You may be without hope or strength to pursue the dream that God has planted into your heart but the Bible tells us that, “but if we are doing our part, that is being patient and remaining faithful to the vision God has given us, then the Lord will continue working, often behind the scenes. Bible tells us that, “But as it is written, ‘Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him’,” 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10. It also says in Galatians, “Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up,” Galatians 6 So do not let the dreams that God has placed in your heart slip away. For all of us the Lord has a destiny and a destination. Though trials, test and tribulations will come into our lives, Christ reminds us in John 16:33 that he has overcome the world. Plus, we have been raised with Christ, the anointed one, to a new life and the Father has equipped us with his word and placed his Spirit inside of us. Thus, as we continue on the path to our destiny that God has for us we must not forget that that test and trials serve not to weaken us, but to make us stronger. They enhance us the same way a goldsmith refines precious metals. The Bible speaks about God refining us just like gold and silver. The writer of Psalm 66 tells us, “For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined,” Psalms 66:10. The purpose of refining metals like gold and silver is to remove their impurities. We too have impurities in our motives and desires, in our speech, in our way of doing things. But the Lord can free us from those impurities as we learn to apply his word in our lives. And that is the choice we have to make whenever we encounter trials. We have the choice to either to react according to our human nature (that is the flesh) or according to the principles of God’s word. And this we can do if we learn how to apply the principles that God’s word gives for dealing with tests, trials and tribulations. What then are the principles of God’s word that we can put into practice when trials, tests and tribulations come? Determine that whatever event or issue you are facing is a test or trial We have to recognize that what we are experiencing is a trial or test. Sometimes we do not see that the situation we are in calls for us to utilize our faith and the principles of God’s word. Often we think that we are able to handle whatever situations that arise in our lives according to our own strength and wisdom. Or we wait too long and allow circumstances to get out of control before we start utilizing God’s principles. For us to respond correctly and appropriately to all the difficulties we may face we should recognize that test and trails are coming into our lives all the time and in all form and sizes. So if we can correctly perceive when we are experiencing a test or a trial then we will not be caught off guard; we will be in a position to employ all the resource that God has provided for us to deal with our challenges. Which then brings us to the second principle, that when we encounter a test or a trial, we start should rejoicing. We should rejoice not because of what is happening to us, but for what overcoming this challenge will do for us. It will cause us to grow spiritually, physically and mentally and become stronger. God want us to become more like Christ. The Apostles James tells us in James 1:2- 3 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. James is telling us to do what does not come normally or easily. Our flesh does not want to rejoice. To overcome any trial, test of tribulation we have to walk by faith and not by sight because God is our source. We do not go by what we see, hear or feel but by the principles of God’s word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we start rejoicing in the mist of our trial we unleash unseen spiritual forces in our behalf. They overcame…because of the word of their testimony…. You know, anyone can praise God after a great victory. But it is the ones who are confident in their God that can praise him before the triumph takes place. We are not following what we can see, hear and feel from the world’s reality. We are leaning to live according to God’s reality. It is a choice that we can make. Even though we may feel crushed or anxious we choose to rejoice because we are expecting something better to come in spite of our circumstances. And just think how upset the devil gets when instead of getting fretful and anxious we start praising God and start saying positive things about the outcome of our trials. Oh, he does not like it at all. But he can do anything about that because by rejoicing we have demonstrated that he cannot defeat us! So when trials, tests and tribulations come we need to keep reminding ourselves to maintain an attitude of victory rather than an attitude of defeat since God is our source. We are able to take charge of our destiny by rejoicing. Get excited for the victory that going to come and for the spiritual development that is taking place in your life. You are advancing in your spiritual maturity. When you conquer self and the desires of our flesh, we are fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives. Yet, if we are going to see true and lasting spiritual growth in our lives and victory over our circumstances, then we must deal with the wants and desires of our flesh. Often in situations like these we react emotionally, according to the desires of our flesh, without realizing that our dilemma cannot be solved not by threats, hostility, worry or pressure but rather by responding in faith. We are then demonstrating Christ’s love and walking according to God’s Spirit. Romans 8:5-8 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Paul says that living according to the flesh is a way of thinking. It is a way of thinking that is contrary to God and his word. So those impulses that we feel in times of pressure are not best ways for us to respond. Later on in Romans 8 Paul reminds us that we are more than conquers. So we need to conquer our flesh. Rather than following its impulses we should walk according to the Spirit of God. Jesus told us in John 6:63, “It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.” How can we learn to walk according to the Spirit of God? By walking according to the word of God. As we continue to walk according to the word of God, our thoughts will line up with God’s thoughts and our ways will line up with God’s ways. Once we have learn that we can put our flesh into subjection to the Spirit of God then we are free from the hindrances that try to discourage us from following God’s will and we will be ready to receive the wisdom and guidance that we need to overcome our test or trials. Ask God for wisdom Rather than following the desires of our flesh, we need to pray. In test and trials often we pray for deliverance, but we do not recognize that God expects us to play a role in our deliverance, that we learn to respond correctly and become stronger. If God instantly delivered us from every test and trial we would never grow. Rather what we want to do for step four is to pray for guidance and wisdom to deal with our test or trial as the Apostle James tells us in James 1: But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him. James reminds us that no matter how difficult are circumstances are, God always offers us his guidance. His ways, you see, are high than our ways. He has ideas and solutions that we have never thought of. Guard your heart Proverbs 4:20-23 20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. It is from the heart that we develop the attitudes that govern our lives. Our ability to visualize or imagine is in our hearts. Often when trials and tribulations come we have a tendency to imagine the worst that could happen. Jesus explains that what is produced in our lives comes from the contents of our hearts. Whatever is in abundance in our hearts and spoken by our mouths is what we get. It is necessary for us to guard our hearts, to keep out things such as doubt, grief, dread, anxiety, depression and fear. How do we guard our hearts? Peter tells us to cast all our care: “Casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you,” 1 Peter 5:7. We transfer the responsibility from our care on to God and leave them with him. Phil. 4:6-7 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Paul tells us to guard our hearts by utilizing the peace of God: it is through prayer that we transfer our care over to God and we thank him for the answer. We do not need to pray over and over rather, whenever we feel anxious about our test or trial we just thanking him resolving the situation and receive his peace by faith. Develop the right attitudes that will carry you on to the end of your test of trial We need to develop the right attitudes. From what is in our hearts we develop attitudes that govern our conduct. And our attitudes and conduct will carry us to the end of our test or trial. What then are the proper attitudes should we maintain towards God, towards others and towards those who have wronged us? Is it correct to think God is trying to cause us trouble because of the trial we are going through? No, God is on our side and wants to see us come through this test or trial victorious. What about our attitude towards others? In you tests or trials do not forget that others are still important. Treat them special, as more important than yourself. You will be demonstrating the love of Christ. And that love will come back to you. We are not to allow ourselves to be overcome by evil. That is, we do not imitate the ways of those who do evil things. Instead we respond to evil by doing good: praying for, performing good deeds for and blessing those that have wronged us, not necessarily because we feel like it, but out of obedience to Christ. We are not going by what we see. We are living victorious now, before we see our breakthrough. Make positive confession about your situation Thus we are guarding our hearts, filling them with the word of God and develop the right attitudes but what about our mouths? What should be coming out of our mouths? Should we complaining about our circumstances or cursing our lot in life? No, if we recognize that God is our source then we should be speaking positively about the outcome of our circumstances. Jesus said in Mark 11:23: For most assuredly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. Jesus tells us that what we believe and speak out of our months is what comes to pass in our lives. Thus, what we say about our circumstances is important. So stop and call things as they already are. Finally, we need to recognize that we should never give up; we always keeping pressing toward the mark. Bishop
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 16:18:13 +0000
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