You're protected

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Job 1:8-12

All religions never promise their followers a life full of flowers. Not even for Christianity. You will be met with struggles, temptations and tests. But what I am going to share with you all today, is a knowledge that many of us did not realise. Read the above passage again and notice that Satan ASKED FOR PERMISSION from God to "disturb" Job. Satan asked for permission! Do you get it? All your trials, struggles and temptations are "approved" by God. WHY? Why would God do such a thing to you? 

Good and bad things come from the Lord. He has a purpose to let us go through whatever we are going through. You have to know that His purpose is never to destroy us. His purpose is to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). When you are met with trials, know that God let Satan gives you that, and God has confident that you will pass the test. God let you be "disturbed" by Satan because He want to "show you off" to Satan. He wants to proudly present you to Satan to show him that you love God for nothing! Now that you know this, I hope your perspective towards your struggles will change a little bit. Now that you know where your struggles, trials and temptations come from, it should be motivating you to pass the test. All the bad things and happenings that are surrounding you right now, are all temporary. It is something that you have to go through, maybe it is to test your faith, maybe it is to build your endurance. 

3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 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.

Romans 5:3-5

All sufferings will produce perseverance, then character, then hope. It is not easy to reach that stage where we can rejoice in our trials and sufferings like apostle Paul. But if we continually keep our focus on God, continue to be humble, continue to be thirsty for God and strive for spiritual growth, I am sure we will reach that stage where we will praise God for our struggles and persecutions. 

The next time you are met with some struggles in your life, remember that God allows it to happen. Why? The answer, that you have to seek Him. Ask Him why does He allow you to go through this struggles. Humbly ask Him, what message He wants to send to you. There are a few things you can do when you are met with struggles, trials and sufferings.

1. Seek God - Since God is the one who allows it to happen, why not go to Him for help.

2. Endure - God has a purpose for you, ask God to take it away if He is willing. But if you are up to the challenge, say this powerful phrase, "BE IT UNTO ME".

3. Give thanks - I know it is hard and seems impossible to be in the mood of giving thanks when you are in deep trouble. But let's try it. Read Job 1:21-22

I guarantee you that if humans can visibly see our final rewards, we will gladly receive whatever hurdles and tests we have to go through in order to get it. But we can't. However, God sent His Spirit to be with us as a "deposit" of the covenant we have with God. 

who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.                     Ephesians 1:14

God is gracious that He send the Holy Spirit to assure us that we are getting our final rewards. Now that we have the "Deposit", let us walk our life worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1). Let us ask the Lord to guide us and enable us to say "No" to sins in the midst of our struggles. 

Let's Pray

Dear God, I want to thank you for watching over me. Thank you for protecting me. I might not understand Your purpose in letting me go through this struggles. But I trust that You are beside me and You are carrying me. I know that I am not alone in this struggles. 

I admit that I am tempted to give up on following your decree, but I want to thank You that You did not let me follow the path to destructions. But You have preserved me for Your Kingdom. Lord, I have no strength and helpless in this struggles. Please help me to get out of this mess. Bring me to see Your light, I do not want to be in this darkness anymore. I want to invite the Holy Spirit to empower me to go through this struggles. I want to emerge victorious, I do not want to let the evil win. Empower me Lord that I will not fall into sins in the midst of my struggles. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!

Writer's note:
Please do not misunderstand this with my previous post. Lacking in basic needs is not the topic here. If you are still lacking in your basic needs, you need to sit down with a church leader or someone who is more spiritually in tune with God and get their advice and ask them to pray for you.