Suffering That Produces Hope

Oftentimes, we tend to look for a way out of every challenge that comes our way. We feel that it is not God’s desire for us to go through pain, so we tell ourselves, “Perhaps this is not God. God would not allow me to go through this, He is not that wicked, but who are we to judge God.”

But let us not forget God’s faithful act in the life of Job. God remained faithful and kind to Job even in his suffering. Sometimes, the very things we desperately want to escape are the things God is using to produce something valuable in us.

Romans 5:3–5 says:

«“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”»

The goal of suffering is not simply the pain itself. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. These are qualities that are essential for Christian living, even when we are waiting on the Lord for something.

You can be asking God for something, but if your character has not been developed to sustain what you are asking for, you may lose it when it comes.

This is why the Apostle Paul admonished us to glory even in our sufferings. Our suffering is not  evidence that God has abandoned us. Sometimes, it is part of the process through which God develops the perseverance, character, and hope that we need for what He is preparing to bring us into.

So today, I want you to know this: the suffering you are experiencing at work, at home, in church, or in any other area of your life may be producing something in you that you will need for your next phase.

Do not be so focused on escaping the process that you miss what God is building in you through it.

Cheer up and judge God faithful.

He is still working, even in the uncomfortable seasons.

Stay Revived!

THE SEASON OF RELEASE

To release is to set free, to let go, and to allow something to be made known or brought into the open.

This word came to my mind as I studied the Scriptures in Leviticus 25:28:

“But if he is unable to redeem it, it shall remain in the buyer’s possession until the Year of Jubilee, when it shall be released and he may return to it.”

As I studied this Scripture, I began to see the significance of release.

In the season that is shortly to come upon us, for many of us, the Lord will be releasing that which has been withheld from us—both legally as a result of error on our part and illegally. Things that were forcefully taken from us will be restored, and the Lord is calling us to take a posture of preparedness through communion with Him and genuine relationship with our neighbours.

For many of us, there will be a release from strongholds in the mind, workplaces, families, and environments—strongholds that have limited our knowledge of who God is and prevented us from walking into the fullness of His light.

So, what do you do?

Take a posture of prayer, communion with God, genuine love, and care for your neighbours.

This release will not always happen in secret. For some, it will be loud enough for people to see and people who you thoughtwere not relevantwill be used in this process. For others, it may happen quietly, but the evidence will be tangible. It will bring about a drastic change in the lives of those who experience it.

There will be a release from the strongholds of limitation that have kept people trapped in cycles of stagnation.

A release from the slavery of working and having nothing to show for it.

A release from patterns that have kept generations of families bound in certain areas, patterns that have been accepted as normal: “This is just how we behave in my family.”

A release is coming.

The season of JUBILEE is upon us.

And for those who have been sowing—in prayer, in charity, in obedience, in wisdom, and in strategy the cloud is full.

There will be a release.

It is time to prepare your heart. Take a posture of consistent communion with God. Love your neighbours and continuous sowing for a release only comes when your seed, time is complete.

For when the appointed time comes, what has been withheld will be released, what has been bound will be set free, and what has remained hidden will become evident.

The season of Jubilee is upon us.

Stay Revived!

Letting Go and Holding On to the One Thing That Truly Matters — God

Not attachment to the things of this world. And if there must be an attachment, let it be to the things of God.

1 Corinthians 7:29–30 (NLT)

“Now let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short, so husbands should not let marriage be their major concern. Happiness or sadness or wealth should not keep anyone from doing God’s work.”

Have you ever wanted a miracle from the Lord so deeply, only for Him to give you a prophetic word concerning it, and then you find yourself in a waiting season? Months turn into years, weeks turn into months, and yet you still haven’t seen the word manifest.

Along the way, a certain kind of doubt can begin to creep in. It may not necessarily be unbelief in God, but it can become something that keeps us from serving Him. It becomes the reason we begin to stray, to look elsewhere, to seek another truth, or even to desire something other than what God has spoken.

Yes, that can be part of the enemy’s strategy.

As long as he can keep us distracted, discouraged, disappointed, or consumed with what we are waiting for—anything that keeps us from serving the Lord—he is satisfied.

Financial struggles, childlessness, business challenges, health difficulties, and other painful circumstances can become mechanisms through which the enemy tries to attack our heart posture toward God.

As I read these words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Christians today, I understand more clearly that this is a warfare believers will continually face: the fight for our heart posture toward God.

Happiness or sadness or wealth should not keep anyone from doing God’s work.

Let nothing keep us from doing God’s work.

Even when our emotions become overwhelming, I have chosen to bring my weary heart back to the One who made me the promises and gave me His Word.

Can I share the words I have anchored my heart in over these past few weeks?

I choose to judge God faithful.

It might not look like what I desire. It might not happen according to my timeline. But God is good to me, and He always will be.

Dear friend, can you take a deep breath today and say these words to yourself?

“God is good to me, and He always will be.”

Anchor yourself in these words today.

Let go of whatever is competing for your heart, and hold on to the One thing that truly matters: God.

Stay Revived.

A RESET

 

I once had a silver steel watch that my Sister got for me.

From the very day she gave it to me, I noticed that the timing wasn’t working properly. It would stop repeatedly. I returned it to her and she had it worked on. It started working again, but after some time, it stopped once more.

Yet, I continued wearing the watch.

I would often tell myself that I would stop using it, but I didn’t. At that time, I didn’t have another watch to replace it with, so I simply continued wearing the one I had, even though I knew it wasn’t keeping time correctly.

After wearing that watch for a long time, I had a dream.

In the dream, I was in my room getting dressed. As I looked at myself, I noticed that I was wearing that same silver watch on my wrist.

I looked at it and wondered, “Why isn’t this watch working?”

Then I noticed another watch.

It was gold—beautiful, shiny, and working perfectly.

As I tried to put the gold watch on my wrist, it immediately seemed to glue itself to my hand. Then I felt something like an electric shock run through my body.

Suddenly, the electric wave stopped.

I looked at it again, and it was working perfectly.

I woke up with the picture of those two watches in my heart.

And I began to think about time and timing.

TIME AND TIMING

Time is a system God established to regulate the affairs of man on the earth.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says:

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

God is a God of times and seasons.

There are things He has written concerning our lives that are connected to particular seasons. There are doors that require the right timing. There are assignments that require preparation. There are places we are meant to enter, things we are meant to build, people we are meant to encounter, and battles we are meant to fight, all within the framework of God's purposes and timing.

But sometimes, without realizing it, we can become stuck in a particular time.

We keep moving, but we are not progressing.

We keep trying, but nothing seems to shift.

We keep repeating the same patterns, making the same decisions, encountering the same limitations, and wondering why we cannot seem to move forward.

It is possible to be physically moving while spiritually remaining in the same place.

You can change locations and still remain in the same season.

You can grow older and still be operating with an old pattern.

You can have new opportunities and still carry an old mindset.

And sometimes, what we need is not simply another attempt.

What we need is a reset.

A reset is the process of returning a device, system, or setting to its original or intended state so that it can function properly again.

Spiritually, there are moments when God begins to call us back into alignment.

Back to prayer.

Back to obedience.

Back to His Word.

Back to His instructions.

Back to the place He originally assigned us.

Because sometimes, the issue is not that God has stopped moving. But we have continued to stay in a place God has asked us to move from.

And just like my silver watch, we know something is wrong, yet we continue wearing it because we have become accustomed to it.

We say, “At least I have a watch.”

But the question is not whether you have a watch.

The question is: Is it keeping time?

WHEN GOD BEGINS TO RESET YOU

When you begin to come into alignment with God, He begins to deal with the things that have kept you  in a season.

He begins to remove weights.

He begins to correct perspectives.

He begins to expose patterns.

He begins to change your strategies.

He begins to restore your sensitivity to His voice.

And as your alignment with Him becomes consistent, something begins to shift.

And what seemed like stagnation begins to give way to movement.

That is a reset. A reset does not necessarily mean God is giving you something new.

Sometimes, it is God, restoring you to the place where you can properly carry what He has already prepared for you.

David did not become king because he suddenly became someone else.

Joseph did not become governor because God abandoned the process.

Esther did not suddenly discover purpose on the day she became queen.

The reset begins with alignment.

1. Prayer.
2. The Word.
3. Obedience.
4. Fasting.
5. Wisdom.
6. Strategy.

And sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

So, ask yourself:

What am I still wearing that God is asking me to remove?

What old system am I using to navigate a new season?

What has become familiar that God is calling me to release?

Where is God asking me to realign?

Most times the answer is not try harder but Look again, what do you see?

Stay Revived!