Strength In The Face Of Challenges

My mind just kept dancing around how people will tell me they want their lives to be like mine. They see my smiles and think my life is perfect. I always smile when I see people say they want the 'perfect' life of another. Well, no man's life is perfect. The only thing that separates one from the other is our orientation towards handling our imperfect situations.

I have been through really tough times in my life.  I have experienced FIRST DEGREE lack. I have failed woefully before. I have been sick. I have been betrayed by those I trusted. I have suffered losses. I have been rejected. I have had to mark time on a spot for longer than I would have wanted. . . I have had my share of the universal cake of troubles and I'm still eating a portion of it. So you see, my life is not perfect.

You may say that the weight of your issues supercedes that of others so they cannot understand. That may be true. But as far as I know there is no problem weighing device given to man so save your energy for the purpose of pulling through your challenge  successfully.

One thing is sure though- God knows you can take it. He knows you can withstand the heat without melting off if you decide not to and rely on His strength. It is left for you to embrace His provision of strength and grace.

". . . The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. . ." (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)

I was just thinking about what the predicament of Job would have been if he lived in our age. Probably people would have said that he brought all the evil that came his way upon himself through his sins. On the contrary, God testified about Job's perfection and uprightness.

 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” (Job 1:8 NLT)

. . .Yet he suffered great losses and pain. He was being tested like you probably are being tested right now.

I am not a preacher of no troubles once you are a Christian because that is contrary to the stance of the Bible. As much as people will prefer to be lied to that being a Christian exempts them from troubles, I won't be a party to that deception. Jesus says we will face troubles in this world but we should be of good cheer because He has overcome the world.

It's simple. Having challenges in life is normal.

Your focus should be on how not to fail/disappoint God by falling under pressure. You cannot afford to fail this test. Ask God for inner strength. You can stand strong until the end of this test. God knows you can so you can.

I am here to tell you that you are not alone. Remember that there are people whose cases may be worse than yours. God knows about ALL that you are going through and He cares. He has made provision for you to scale through unscathed.

He will make all things beautiful for you at the right time.

Be encouraged. . . This too shall pass.

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2015