Before I got saved, I heard about the love of God. I heard how He loved us so much; He gave His only son as a sacrifice for our sins. I heard how great that love was such that if I was the only sinner on earth, He would still have sent His son to die in my place. I heard that if I asked anything in His name, He would give me and if I sinned at anytime, He would be faithful and just to forgive my sins. This is all true. I know more than most the abundance of God’s love, His tender mercies, His compassion and faithfulness.
But after he has wooed you (and me) and groomed you (and me), then what? Would I continue to sin so that grace would continue to abound? Would I continue to ask and receive and never give anything back?
And then as I got to know Him better, I started to face challenges, struggles and unanswered prayers. That was when I read about the Lord’s trouble. Do you remember the story of the exodus of God’s children from Egypt to the Promised Land? Did you read Exodus chapter 5? Did you see that even after Moses had obeyed God and relayed His message to Pharaoh, the children of Israel were subjected to more hardship rather than the deliverance they had cried to Him for. This is what Moses said to the Lord in verses 22 & 23: Lord why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it you have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have you delivered your people at all!!!
Before Moses spoke to Pharaoh, the children of Israel were crying under great hardship and bondage. They were calling to God for deliverance. After Moses spoke to Pharaoh, the children of Israel faced even tougher times. More hardship and I guess, they cried more, but eventually the deliverance came. If it was deliverance they wanted and cried to God for why then did they have to pass through more hardship to get there?
Did you read Paul’s own story? Read 2 Corinthians 11 verses 23 – 27: Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have travelled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
Trust me, Paul the learned fellow before he met Jesus Christ did not go through any of this. But what keeps him going? The knowledge that we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
This is just a part of the big picture and I am privileged to play a part in it. I try to look beyond my selfishness and see that it’s all about Him for He must display His glory and that glory must cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. If He chooses to use me in anyway, to display that glory, then I am truly honoured, and only then - truly alive.
Like Paul, I’m learning to say: We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
Life continues to be a battle-ground, but the Lord’s troubles bring victory. Ask the children of Israel. Pharaoh let them go! He chased them out bearing the riches of his land.
ID Ogufere, March 2010
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