A friend of mine called me and said “Tj, I am in a lot of
mess and I don’t think I am going to make it through this storm”, (Paused for
while) my answer was “don’t let what you going through define the outcome of
what you going through, you define the outcome by your attitude towards what
you going through.”
I was also directed
to the scripture James 1:2-3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet
trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the
testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” I have shared a series
sermon on the book of James and more specifically on this verse but the way I saw
it lately just astound me. The impression I got from this verse is thus “We in
our situations, conditions, or circumstance for a season and also for a reason”
sometimes it feels like what we going through is forever and no reason for what
we going through. But that is a lie from the enemy because James clearly states
that “when you find yourself in various predicament, know that it is for the
testing of your faith, and your faith producing a fruit” (paraphrased). Predicament
are not there to kill you but to benefit your faith but that will be determined
by whom you direct your faith to when storms comes.
The book of Romans also
highlights this , Romans 8:28” And we know that for those who love God all things work together for
good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Paul here also
communicates the same concept that we all go through predicaments for a season
and a reason and they all work together for good.
As I read
these verses (Romans 8:28/James1:2-3 ), I realized also that MY CONDITION IS
NOT MY CONCLUSION, There is something out of the storms we going through, It is
either we grow strong in them or weak and timid in them. I READ a very powerful story in the book of John
5: 1-6 about a man who was an invalid (paralyzed) for thirty eight years, I loved these
following verses “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in
Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In
these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was
there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.6 When
Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time,
he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
Verse (6a) “when
Jesus saw him” See we don’t serve a blind God but we serve a God that sees and
able to work with us in our conditions.
Verse (6b) “and
knew that he already been there a long time” nobody told Jesus what this man
was going through and how long he has been in this condition. He knows what we
going through and definitely knows how long we been through our storm, and he
is asking us a simple question that needs a yes or no from us, the question He
asked the invalid guy; “ Do you want to be healed/well?” Its God desire to see us well, what is going
to be your answer? God is asking us if we want to be well in our condition, He
wants to walk with us in our condition, He wants to be there with us… Jesus was
saying to this invalid man I know you have been in this condition for a long
time(season) but the is reason for your season, it’s for me(God) to display my
glory.
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