It is not a
good thing to come before God in our daily devotions while always filled with
anxieties. Why not? Because by this we are telling Him that He
does not give ear to us – or that He isn’t on top of all the issues that burden
His children. He knows the way
alright. But the fact of the matter is
that we are going to suffer some things in this life. We are told in Acts : 14: 22 that it will be
through many tribulations that we will enter the kingdom of God – all a part of
the upward call.
Our God has
an army. It is made up of His sons and
His daughters, along with innumerable companies of angels. We are at war. The hard facts are that in a time of war
soldiers are wounded and soldiers die.
Yet when we come before the Lord each day, you can believe that He truly
appreciates it when we approach Him in soundness of mind, knowing that all is
in His hands. Not always easy – but
always possible.
Once the greatest
soldier of all, the apostle Paul, begged the Lord to deliver him from a
terribly oppressive demon. The
Almighty’s answer was, “Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness.” What the
Lord had shown to Paul that day is that there will be times when we will suffer
defeat in the battle; yes, be taken down hard.
Yet it will be during such times as these that the Spirit’s strength
will surge within our own spirit man, now making strong what has been made
weak.
Upon Paul’s
learning of this he comes to welcome pains and troubles and heartaches of every
kind. And why? Hear it in his own words. “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
If every
believer stood to their feet and decided to follow in the steps of Paul, then
surely the armies of Satan would be on the run.
J. Pecoraro
