“Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28)
If
you wake up in the morning feeling defeated already, you are starting your day
on the wrong foot. With a certainty, you must have been counting your troubles
instead of your blessings prior to going to bed; harping more on the negative
than on the positive. That is how Satan wants you to behave in the light of
God’s goodness. You do not only sound despondent, you look discouraged – like
you have come to the end of your tether.
It should not be so. There will always be problems of all sorts strewn on your way but all depends how you handle them. Our Lord Jesus affirms: “In this world will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Who do you look up to for solutions, God or man? The solution to your myriad problems does not lie in your ability, in your connection or relationships either. You must seek God and pursue him. First you must believe that he can save all who come to him. “... and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honour me.” (Psalm 50:15)
Problems are intended to make us grow not to ground us. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) Thank God for problems because you will transform each one of them into stepping stones in order to move ahead! “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19)
Problems will only give way when we confront them, confident that God has given us the appropriate weapon to fight back. When we faint under its influence, we are not building the necessary muscles to keep them at bay. Each time trouble shows up, take it to the Lord in prayer. The devil is a formidable foe but “no weapon forged against you will prevail.” (Isaiah 54:17) Our problems and troubles are meant to be under our feet, under control. They should not submerge us in any way. We shall triumph over them.
Is your failing health a problem? That should not be the case. Christ Jesus our Lord settled that at the cross of Calvary where he conquered death and Satan, the agent of death. Claim your healing! Prophet Isaiah who lived some eight hundred years before the coming of the Messiah had prophesied; “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows ... he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:4-5) Apostle Peter echoes it thus: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
Hand over all your ailments to Jesus and he will heal you of them. Stop saying ‘my arthritis, my hypertension, my diabetes;’ these are foreign to your body that is why they have resulted in sickness. Send them away! Jesus will take care of them. Just like that, you ask? Well, that is what the Word of God says. Believe it! Just do what it says. If Jesus has taken then why on earth do we want to keep them?
Is poverty on your troubles list? God says; “The silver is mine and the gold is mine.” (Haggai 2:8) “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45) “The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and everything you put your hand to.” (Deuteronomy 28:8) Hard work provides a way out of poverty but more so obedience. In addition, “If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.” (Deuteronomy 28:13)
Trials are like building blocks, the more we scale them the better we become at dealing with them. In the case of David, a lion and a bear tested this young shepherd boy’s ability to defend his flock and he killed them with his bare hands. He was upgrading from wolves. Therefore when he encountered a giant named Goliath it was easy for him to say, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head ... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel ... it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into my hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47) That settled it. Giant Goliath was thrust to the ground flat on his face after receiving the stone David slung straight into his forehead.
Is there a Goliath in your life that looks to you like an immovable giant? Hand him over to Jesus, our burden bearer, for a lasting solution. There is no problem of whatever magnitude he cannot handle.
