On the one hand, there is a scripture of grace and abundance:

2 Corinthians 9:8 (AMPC)

And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. 

 

On the other hand, there is this scripture of trial and challenges.

James 1:2-4 (TPT)

My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested, it stirs up in you the power of endurance. And then as your endurance grows even stronger, it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.

 

Both scriptures aim to bring out the best in us. 

There is this nugget that says people complain that roses have thorns, but they forget that thorns have roses in them.

 

The reality of our kingdom lifestyle aligns with the proverbs of Solomon about times for everything. 

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

 

Both seasons of abundance and trials could be double-edged swords. They can either make us better or worse off. The season of grace stimulates our human senses, and we can become ecstatic. However, there is the possibility of becoming arrogant or forgetting God and being carried away by materialism. On the other hand, the seasons of trial can be excruciating such that you can lose faith in God, but there is an opportunity to become stronger.

 

Job was a man of lack passion like us. He went through good times and bad times. His approach to his season of grace was commendable, so much so that God used him as a bragging right for satan. 

 

Job 1:8

Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?

 

But the incompleteness or insufficiency in Job became apparent during his times of temptation. Job questioned and argued with God but never cursed or lost his trust. Cursing God was the RED line he was never to cross, but he could not refrain from questioning God because of the pains he was going through, coupled with his friends making him feel he was the worst of sinners. However, a story that seemed like a tragedy was climaxed by the blessings of God. In chapter 42 of Job, the bible makes us understand that the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. Yet, despite God's blessings in Job's latter days, I have always wondered how Job enjoyed his latter blessings from God without the regrets of the past. Job lost all his household, including all his children, possessions, and lofty position in society, all within the space of a day or so. How could he forget these experiences despite his newly found blessings from God?

 

I recall the scripture shared yesterday by Pastor Lakers in Philippians 3:13-14, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: *but this one thing I do*, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. How did Paul do the "forgetting of past things?" Pastor Lakers did raise this question yesterday, and this scripture, which was in Paul's answer to the question, flashed into my mind.

 

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

So never think when you go through trials and challenges, you will ever live to regret them. There is a peace from God that passeth our understanding that can take over your heart and mind after such experiences as long as you press in on God in prayers.

 

On the one hand, there is a scripture of grace and abundance:

2 Corinthians 9:8 (AMPC)

And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. 

 

On the other hand, there is this scripture of trial and challenges.

James 1:2-4 (TPT)

My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested, it stirs up in you the power of endurance. And then as your endurance grows even stronger, it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.

 

Both scriptures aim to bring out the best in us. 

There is this nugget that says people complain that roses have thorns, but they forget that thorns have roses in them.

 

The reality of our kingdom lifestyle aligns with the proverbs of Solomon about times for everything. 

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

 

Both seasons of abundance and trials could be double-edged swords. They can either make us better or worse off. The season of grace stimulates our human senses, and we can become ecstatic. However, there is the possibility of becoming arrogant or forgetting God and being carried away by materialism. On the other hand, the seasons of trial can be excruciating such that you can lose faith in God, but there is an opportunity to become stronger.

 

Job was a man of lack passion like us. He went through good times and bad times. His approach to his season of grace was commendable, so much so that God used him as a bragging right for satan. 

 

Job 1:8

Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?

 

But the incompleteness or insufficiency in Job became apparent during his times of temptation. Job questioned and argued with God but never cursed or lost his trust. Cursing God was the RED line he was never to cross, but he could not refrain from questioning God because of the pains he was going through, coupled with his friends making him feel he was the worst of sinners. However, a story that seemed like a tragedy was climaxed by the blessings of God. In chapter 42 of Job, the bible makes us understand that the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. Yet, despite God's blessings in Job's latter days, I have always wondered how Job enjoyed his latter blessings from God without the regrets of the past. Job lost all his household, including all his children, possessions, and lofty position in society, all within the space of a day or so. How could he forget these experiences despite his newly found blessings from God?

 

I recall the scripture shared yesterday by Pastor Lakers in Philippians 3:13-14, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: *but this one thing I do*, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. How did Paul do the "forgetting of past things?" Pastor Lakers did raise this question yesterday, and this scripture, which was in Paul's answer to the question, flashed into my mind.

 

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

So never think when you go through trials and challenges, you will ever live to regret them. There is a peace from God that passeth our understanding that can take over your heart and mind after such experiences as long as you press in on God in prayers.

 

 

Prayer Points:

1. Your understanding of how trials and challenges pan out for us as children of God is your first step to overcoming them. So, we must thank God for this series of revelations and understanding.

 

2. No one wants trials and tribulations, but the reality is that they will come. It is always good we are prepared before they arrive to enable us to overcome. So pray that the Lord will remove every grey area of our understanding in going through and overcoming trials.

 

3. Our understanding of the "prize of the high calling of God in Christ", as mentioned by Paul in Philippians, is an anchor for our souls. So, pray that the Lord will help you gain more insight into this and always keep this in view in your life journey.