By Minister Gabriel Adunmade,
There is one thing that is sure about life; there is one thing that is as certain as death.
There is one thing that no man can avoid in life irrespective of whether you are a believer or not.
- There will be a time of trouble when life will throw at us what we never bargained for
- Challenges that will almost cause us to say ‘where is God?’
- Trouble times have no on gender, race or religion
- Trouble time does not respect our high level of anointing or spirituality
- Trouble/challenges visit every human being on this planet earth at some point and the response of individual to it determines the ultimate outcome and their overall success in life.
As Christians we ought to find out what the bible says about trouble and more importantly, what our response is suppose to be.
Many Christians struggle with how to reconcile their faith with some of the challenges that often come their way.
Trouble alert- there are many trouble alerts in the bible- that are meant to prepare us for trouble/challenges- these alerts are not to scare us or discourage us
- God sometimes allows challenges/trouble to come our way not to destroy us but to build us up, to promote us and give God all the glory after we might have overcome.
Job 14:1 says that man who is born of a woman has very few days and full of troubles.
David had so many things to say about trouble Psalm 9:9;27:5 talk about God being our tower of refugee and shelter in times of trouble.
Psalm 34:19; Psalm 9:15; John 16:3 all of these clearly warned us that trouble will come but the good news is that God has got it sorted in His plan for us. Amos 3:6(b) says “Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has planned it (allowed it)”
If God allows trouble/challenges to come our way, it is for a purpose and the purpose is for our good and also to glorify himself. Romans 8:28 “everything works together for good…”
Remember it was Jesus Christ himself who initiated the crossing to the other side of the sea when the storm arose in the mist of the sea.
Lets see what some people in the bible did when trouble came their way: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Abraham – In Genesis 12, Abraham was called by God and was told to leave his family to go to a place to be confirmed by God. He obeyed with out questioning and almost immediately trouble showed up. There was a grievous famine and Abraham left for Egypt because it was the logical thing to do (Genesis12:10). There was no record in the bible that he sought the face of the Lord before doing so and he ran into more trouble because he lied. He was later expelled from Egypt (Genesis 12:20). Later, Abraham got it right when he allowed lot to choose first in order to allow peace to reign the decision was rewarded when God appeared to him and gave him all he could see and immortalized his name forever.
Isaac also ran into trouble times when there was another famine. He was prepared to run like his dad when God appeared to him and instructed him not to go to Egypt. Isaac obeyed and as a result sowed in the same land and reaped a hundred fold the same year in the mist of famine. Genesis 26.
Jacob got into trouble by trying to help God. He tried to make happen what God had ordained to happen to him. He got the blessing from his father that was meant for his brother through pretence. He ended up having to run for his life and worked for 14 years without wages. He later came to realisation of his stand with God. He recovered all from his uncle and more.
All these great men ran into trouble, learnt to trust God and eventually walked into their destiny) just as you will walk into your destiny in Jesus name.
David was anointed as king at 17 years but did not get to the throne until he was 30 years, he ran into many troubles. One of the memorable was at ZIKLAG. He came back to his village to discover it had been raided and all their families and possessions taken. He wept until he had no strength to weep then he encouraged himself in the lord and inquired from the lord about what to do. He was instructed to pursue and overtake the raider. He obeyed, pursued, overtook and recovered all. He got even more than he lost.
Jesus Christ was not even speared out of earthly trouble when he was here as a man.
He ran into lots of trouble. He was seemingly killed by his accusers, but he resurrected to give hope to mankind forever. In times of trouble, Jesus spent longer time to pray. The bible says on one occasion, his sweat was like drops of blood while he was praying. The implication of that was that he expressed His vulnerability to God and ask for strength. He courageously went through it, trusted God and became the only hope for all humanity.
Brethren, trouble/challenge will come the way of man but God will always give victory to his children.
In summary, here are 8 things to know and do in time of trouble and challenges.
- Know that nothing surprises God
- Be aware that trouble will come and be prepared; store prayers in bank so that you can draw from it when trouble comes
- Build a relationship with God before trouble comes. It is not only about knowing God but establishing a relationship with God. It is possible to know somebody without having a relationship with them. Don’t use God as a spare tyre that you turn to in time of trouble but make God the steering wheel to control your life
- Inquire of him what to do when in trouble
- Trust him to have a perfect solution for your situation
- Obey and do whatever he tells you to do
- Stand in courage by faith as the landscape changes
- Rejoice and thank God as he brings you to your wealthy place of victory
Prayers
- Lord give me the courage to stand by faith when trouble comes my way
- Lord as you helped Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to come out of their troubles triumphantly, help me as well
- I will not loose my head to Satan in time of trouble
Minister Gabriel Adunmade is a minister of RCCG Everlasting Father’s Assembly, Leeds