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REJOICING IN TRIBULATION
by Anthony Osei Boateng It is often perceived by many Christians that going through trials and tribulations is a sign that God is not happy with them or a result of their sins. John 16:33b states: In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (NKJV). Some other Christians also have the notion that the devil can only tempt them when they are in sin. If you are in sin, then you are where the devil wants you to be already, there is no need for him to struggle to bring you where you already are. The devil however targets you when you get to the peak of your spirituality. In Mat. 4, Jesus, the Son of God was tempted after fasting for forty days and forty nights. If the devil had the audacity to tempt the Son of God after forty days and forty nights of fasting, how much more we, mere mortals? Jesus knew this, so He placed a provision in the prayer He taught His disciples and our generation as well, concerning temptation. So brace yourself for temptations and trials, especially when you are at the peak of your Christian life and spirituality. The Bible says in Phil. 4:4 that rejoice in the LORD always. Again I say rejoice. It did not ask Christians to rejoice only when things are going great but the word was always; meaning that it includes bad times as well. So how can we overcome temptation and also rejoice in tribulation. Jesus overcame temptation by quoting from the Word. Paul and Silas rejoiced in prison through faith. As Christians, we should imbibe the Word of God into our being and be saturated with it. That is the surest way to our redemption. The trials will come and the temptations will also come, but with Jesus Christ in our boat, we shall smile at the storms of life. Amen. Anthony Osei Boateng is a PhD researcher, writer, pianist, singer, motivational speaker and teacher with publications on many websites and many magazines worldwide. His passion lies in e-evangelism. Please send feedback and messages to my Page titled Anthony Osei Boateng Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |