“In the world you will have tribulation. Be of good cheer! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
No one likes to get through life barely getting by. Yet, this is a struggle that we need to be able to come to grips with when those seasons hit.
It is funny to think that when we get saved, God is a genie in a bottle whom we can command, at will, to take our struggles away. Some of us mistakenly think that Christianity is a “crisis exemption” status (i.e. get saved = no more crisis).
And when the struggles still remain present after some ‘prayer and believing’, we either lose heart or throw a ‘justified’ tantrum. At a certain juncture, some of us may even contemplate whether God is real and if He is, then whether He really has the power to pull off the prayer request.
We need to realise that we cannot enter into a mode of escapism and use our faith as a ‘get out of jail free’ card through prayer. I like how Jesus presented Himself before the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane – “If it is possible, take this cup from Me, nonetheless not My will but Yours be done”. The struggle was so real from within – that He sweat drops of blood.
Elijah on the other hand, could not overcome that struggle – even with a victory over the prophets of Baal, he succumbed to the pressure of death threats from Jezebel and slipped into depression and eventually, out of ministry.
We often hear the phrase “you are not alone in this, God is with you”, and while it is comforting to know that He is with us, how can we better relate to this as we go through our struggles?
Let’s begin to battle through the struggles one step at a time – Christ is always in that vessel with you in the midst of the struggles and storms. Don’t let this truth slip you by. Instead of praying to get out of the storm – begin to meditate on His goodness and start speaking to your struggle and situation in faith:
“I will not be overcome by this issue. I will overcome it in the name of Jesus!”
“This too shall pass in Jesus’ name!”
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