Life, goes the popular saying, is not a bed of roses. Many times I have been asked the question, 'why do believers go through pain and difficulties?' Time   and time again, I respond, 'God did not call us into a problem-free life; He called us out of darkness into light, from sin into righteousness and from death to life."

However, we still live in a dark world, so understandably, we are subjected to trials, temptations and tribulations. In all this however, we are promised victory in Christ Jesus. We are not victims, rather, we are victors because within us is a life that cannot be defeated.



What should be our attitude when life throws negative things our way? Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose"

When reading the above scripture, it brought to mind the process of cooking a meal. Some meals are cooked with ingredients which on their own are bitter or tasteless. Yet after the meal is done, the aroma is enough to make a person's mouth water. The cooking is the process which turns the mixture of ingredients into a great meal.

Everyone of us go through a process where everything happening to us are the ingredients which make us into what God has called us to be.  Some of the things are good, others are not so good. We've had our times of sadness and also our times of rejoicing.  At the point when these things happen to us, we can only respond to the individual events. However, God our Father sees the big picture. He knows the end from the beginning and when we trust Him, he helps us understand that the events we are experiencing is just a piece of the big picture.

Put yourself in Joseph's shoes. Scene 1, He was just a young boy who had a dream and was excited about. Scene 2, He was captured by his brothers and sold into slavery. A total opposite to the dream he   had. Scene 3, He ends up in Potiphar's house and soon becomes Potiphar's trusted hand.  So it looks like he is back on course towards his dream. Scene 4, He is in prison for a crime he did not commit. It looks like the end of the road but wait, there is another scene emerging¡Ä someone remembers him from the palace and he is summoned to Pharaoh. He never went back to prison but ended up being the prime minister of Egypt.

If you are going through a tough situation at the moment, do not see it as permanent feature in your life,   or see at as if it is the end of the world. Rather, see it as part of the picture because God's ultimate plan for you is that you will have a great future that you hope for.

"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end" Jeremiah 29:11

 

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the owner of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He lives in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org