Transcription
And lesson number two is that there is always a purpose for which trials are allowed to happen. There is always a purpose, divinely permitted. Trials in the way of the writers are always allowed to happen for a purpose, for a reason. They are never allowed to happen for nothing, or just for the pain, the damage, the humiliation, or prolonged weight that the victims usually go through. So no matter how difficult your trials may seem, in God's eyes, in God's plan, it is ultimately for a greater good. Somebody say amen. May God help you to see things from the bigger picture.
So there is always something to be tested. There is always something to be examined. There is always something to be proven. There is always something to be achieved. And sometimes there is a prophecy to be fulfilled. That is why what is happening is happening. And some of the purposes why God allows this thing to happen: One, some trials are allowed to happen in order to examine the degree of your faith, obedience, and commitment to God. Your faith in God, your obedience to God, your commitment to God. Some people started the race very committed, very faithful to God, but the moment challenges came, they compromised, they backslid, and some of them even walked away from God.
In Genesis chapter 22, verse 1, Genesis 22, verse 1, Amplified Bible, it says, "And now after these things, God tested the faith and commitment of Abraham." I pray that in your own season of divine testing, you will pass the test, in the name of Jesus. And in Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 2, Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 2, Amplified Bible, it says, "And you shall remember always all the ways which the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not." The New Living Translation, Deuteronomy 8, verse 2, it says, "humbling you and testing you to prove your character and to find out whether or not you will obey His commandments." The Voice version of the Bible, Deuteronomy 8, verse 2, he says, "He did this to humble you, to test you, to test you, to uncover your motivations, to uncover your motivations, to see if you will obey His commands." And then Genesis chapter 22, verse 12, New Living Translation, he says, "Don't lay a hand on the boy," the angel said, "Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son."
Now, the second purpose why God permits these trials to happen is that some actual trials are actually a blessing in disguise. And I can say that authoritatively to someone listening to me right now, that what started as a very painful, challenging experience for you is ultimately going to turn out for your good, in the name of Jesus. A blessing in disguise is when what was initially an unpleasant experience for certain people eventually turns out to be very good and beneficial, and beneficial to them. So by the influence of the power of God, things will end well for you. What started as pain will end in pleasure for you.
And there are some events in the Bible that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The first one: God gave Abraham a very difficult test to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, which eventually led to Abraham receiving his greatest blessing from God. Genesis 22:1-19. The second instance was Joseph. Joseph was sold out into slavery by his brothers, which eventually took him to Egypt, which turned out to be the same location of his destined promotion. So, someone listening to me right now, people may do certain things to you trying to get rid of you, trying to frustrate you, trying to cut you off permanently, but unknown to them, that same action they are taking or they have taken is what God will use to move you into the reign of your next major promotion. Genesis chapter 50, verse 20.
And then the third instance was the experience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The death sentence that was passed upon them for refusing to bow to the image of the king eventually led to their promotion. Deuteronomy chapter, sorry, Daniel chapter 3, verse 13 to 30.
And then the third and final purpose for which these trials, God allows these trials to happen, because He could have stopped it. He could have even prevented it completely. So the reason why He allows you to go through what you have been through, one other reason for it is that sometimes God will decide to make a particular person a living proof or evidence of His ability to make possible something that is naturally impossible. The miraculous healing of a man that was born blind from birth. John chapter 9, verse 1 to 7. Specifically, if you look at John chapter 9, verse 3, John 9, verse 3, Easy to Read Version, it says, "Jesus answered, 'It was not any sin of this man or his parents that caused him to be blind. He was born blind so that he could be used to show.'" Are you saying this in scripture? "So that it could be used to show what great things God can do." God is about to prove a point through your current challenges. You will have the last laugh, in the name of Jesus. Your story is not yet over. It is still playing out. There's a time in your story of trials when people could laugh and mock at you, but unknown to them, that story has not ended. There could be a time in your life when people think you are finished. Unknown to them, that is going to be the stepping stone.
Amplified Bible, John 9:3: "Amplified Bible, these things are in scriptures, and whatever has happened before will happen again. There is nothing new under the sun. Whatever you are going through today, people have experienced something worse, something more painful, something more challenging in the past. At the end of the day, God proved His faithfulness." And Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him." A time will come when preachers, when preachers are preaching of God's ability to do a particular thing, your testimony will be mentioned. Your testimony will be mentioned. People will be asking, "Can God do it?" Then, as people, somebody stands up to say, "Yes, God has already done it before." Your story will be mentioned.
In the Good News Translation of John chapter 9, verse 3, Good News Translation, he said, "Jesus answered, 'His blindness has nothing to do with his sins. Please, let me turn to your neighbor and say, neighbor, stop accusing me. Stop accusing my parents.'" You know, this could even happen sometimes between husband and wife when things are not going well, and they saw the disciples saw this man, and they were aware of his story, and they started arguing, "Is it because of his sin or because of his parents' sins?" Jesus answered, "His blindness has nothing to do with his sins. His blindness has nothing to do with his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him." A day is coming when God's power will be displayed in your life. Receive access to that encounter, in the name of Jesus.
Life is deep, and one of the attributes of a mature person is that a mature person sees life from this deep perspective. So one of the reasons why God allows some innocent people to go through extremely challenging situations is to make such people a living proof of God's power and ability to turn around such serious challenges or impossible situations. God wants to make them an evidence of His power to overcome such.
And lesson number three is that the trials of the righteous always have an end. Surely, there is an end. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse 1: "For everything under heaven, there is a time and there is a season." The trials of the righteous are never forever. Some may be longer, but never forever. Most divine testings are predetermined to end at a particular point in time. I pray that the grace of God will keep you. I pray that God will, by His Holy Spirit, keep on encouraging you, that you will not backslide before your breakthrough. You will not compromise before your turning point. You will not give up on God before your day of victory, in the name of Jesus.
So, most of these trials are predetermined. But I can tell you something: God, most of the time, will never reveal to you when that challenge will finally end. Very rare occasions that God would speak ahead of time of a trial and also speak ahead of time when that trial will end. When you know ahead that this problem is going to be for just a very specific period, no matter how long, it's easier for you to cope. So one of the reasons why people become discouraged is that that turning point is unknown to you. By faith, you are just believing that there is going to be a turning point, but God has not revealed a specific date or time as a turning point. But if you are privileged to know, it will be easier for you to stand up to it, and the date of the turning point becomes a point of a source of encouragement. So most of the time, God will not reveal to you when your situation is going to eventually change, or someone listening to me, is going to happen earlier than you are expecting.
Sometimes the duration could be based on time. It's like 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Genesis 15:13-14. Our Lord Jesus Christ was to spend three days in the grave. Mark 10:34. Sometimes the duration could also be based on the trial getting to an unbearable extreme, unbearable extreme. Do you know that sometimes when even when God is judging the wicked, He would sometimes admonish His sons and daughters not to rejoice over the punishment of the wicked, because when you begin to rejoice, it can move God to stop the punishment? So you can then imagine what would then happen when it's a godly person going through the same thing as well. It says, "And when God saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb." That is just the nature of God. It's already enough that someone is going to try us. But when God noticed that, you know, there's so much hate, so much people are so much mockery, and people are secretly rejoicing over the misfortunes of a particular person, that can move God to show that person mercy. I pray for someone right now in the same situation that the mercy of God will speak on your behalf, in the name of Jesus.
In closing, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13, The Voice version of the Bible, it says, "Any temptation you face will be nothing new. My father died at a young age. It is nothing new. My mother died in childbirth. I never grew up to meet my mother. It is nothing new. I lost all my children in an accident. It is nothing new. Job lost 10 children, 10 on the same day." Have you, have you, have you encountered that? Have you met someone with that kind of experience in this present time? Ten children on the same day. One man is there in scripture. "Any temptation you face will be nothing. It has happened to someone before. But God is faithful." Check the, you know, the way the narrative changes. He said, "But God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can handle, but He will always provide a way of escape so that you will not be able to endure and keep moving forward." I see you moving forward. I see Nigeria moving forward, in the name of Jesus.
Easy to Read Version, 1 Corinthians 10:13: "The only temptations that you have are the same temptations that all people have. But you can trust God." Tell your neighbor, neighbor, you can trust God. Tell that neighbor, say, "Neighbor, I may not know what you are going through, but hear what God is saying right now. In the midst of what you are going through, you can trust God." Can somebody say, "I will trust the Lord"?
He says, "He will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. But when you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape that temptation, then you will be able to endure it." So your current trial will also come to an end. The days of your trials are numbered. Although you may not know the exact time the trial will end, but the days of your trials are numbered. Although Jesus Christ was in the grave for two nights, the grave was only a temporary experience. So what someone is going through right now, what the widow is going through right now, what that brother, that man is going through for some time now, is only a temporary experience. It will not be forever. I see light at the end of the tunnel. So Jesus was only going to be in the grave for, for a particular time, before the inevitable manifestation of God's power and promise.
And the last lesson is that most of the time, the trials of the righteous always end with restoration, compensation, and promotion. The trials, most of the time, the trials of the righteous will always end with restoration, compensation, and promotion. Take note of this. Joseph told Pharaoh, he said, "The reason why God has repeated this dream to you is because what God is revealing is absolutely certain. When God deliberately prompts you to hear a particular thing within a given period of time repeatedly, it's a confirmation that that thing, what God is saying, will happen." Restoration, compensation, promotion will surely happen, in the name of Jesus.
In Romans chapter 8, verse 28, Romans 8:28, Amplified Bible, it says, "And we know with great confidence that God is deeply concerned about us, and it causes all things to work together as a plan for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose." For instance, in Genesis chapter 22, verse 16 to 18, at the end of the test that God gave Abraham, there was a big promotion, a big blessing. Says, "I, the Lord, have sworn by Myself, that was an irreversible blessing. That because you have obeyed Me and have not withheld even your beloved son from Me, I will bless you with incredible blessings and multiply your descendants into countless thousands and millions." Are Christians in the world in millions today? In the billion bracket. God did not mention billions, but we Christians today are already in the billion bracket. So what He told Abraham has come to pass like the stars above you in the sky and like the sands along the seashore. They will conquer their enemies, and your offspring will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, all because you have obeyed Me." I pray you will obey God to the end, to the very end, in the name of Jesus.
And of course, we saw the experience of our Lord Jesus Christ in Philippians 2, verse 5 to 11. "And yet it was because of this that God raised Him up to the heights of the heavens and gave Him a name which is above every other name, and at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." So the trials of the righteous are never allowed to happen just for the pain or damage. Take note of these. Every godly vessel that remained barren for over 10 years in the Bible, we are all later blessed with children of great destinies, not just children, but children of great destinies. When the trials are finally over, God will ensure that you will never remain the same. It will be your season to experience God's mercy. Psalm 102, verse 13 will come to pass, for there it is written that when You will arise, New Living Translation, "You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem." Jerusalem is someone's name here. Zion is someone's name here. He said, "And now is the time to pity her. Now is the time You promised help. Help from above is your portion." So when this set time comes, it's usually a time of vindication. Those who thought God had left you will apologize because something will happen that will make it clear that if God is not with you, this could never have happened. It will be a season of divine vindication. Psalm 105:19. All those who called Joseph a dreamer, when God's word eventually came to pass, they regretted what they had said earlier. It would be a time of harvest of delayed blessings. Galatians 6:9. And for some of you, it's going to be your season of restoration. Job 42:10. And for some, it will be your moment of divine honor. 1 Peter 5:6. And I hear the Spirit of God saying to a lady listening to me that God is going to honor your consecration unto Him by giving unto you a godly husband with a great destiny, in the name of Jesus.
So it's going to be a time when those who have sincerely followed God will finally be vindicated. The damage and losses from the trials will be restored. I've always given an illustration: if you give permission for your house to be used in recording a film, and in the process, certain things are destroyed, the moment it's over, everything that was damaged will be restored. Everything that was destroyed would be restored. And the pleasant aspect of it is that some of the things that now will be restored will be brand new, and as such, better than what was there before. Your tomorrow will be better than your today.
And in closing, I stand as God's servant to declare to someone here that your reward is unstoppable. Our Lord Jesus Christ was going to be in the grave, but on the third day, there was a prophecy and promise that God will raise Him back to life. In any realm of life where you have been down, I see God raising you back. I see God restoring. I see God compensating you. I see God promoting you. I see God vindicating you, in the name of Jesus.
Sunday morning was coming for our Lord Jesus Christ. On Friday night, there was rejoicing in the kingdom of hell. They thought Jesus was finished. Saturday, the rejoicing continued, but Sunday morning was coming. Turn to someone saying, "Neighbor, Sunday morning is coming." And when Sunday morning finally came, the God who never fails, who has never failed, and who will never fail, raised up Jesus from the dead. Your Sunday morning of divine vindication is coming. Your Sunday morning of divine approval is coming. Your Sunday morning of divine restoration is coming. Your Sunday morning of divine promotion is coming. Your Sunday morning of divine compensation is coming.