God loves each and every one of His creations and desires to give them the best of everything. This is clearly evident in the process of creation and then redemption through the sacrifice of His Son. There would be hardly anyone who does not want God’s best for himself and his family. All acts of religiosity and charity are aimed towards this end only. However, there are very few who receive and enjoy the best that God gives. There is an earnest search on this issue in every society in the world, with a prayer on their lips to find the right answer.
Why does a believer suffer lack? After the Son of God was ordained by the Father, at His baptism, to move forward in His ministry, He was alone and fasting for forty days and nights, preparing for an intense action filled time ahead. After that, Satan tested Him in three things and finally took Him to ‘an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory’ (Matthew 4:8-10). The dominion that was given to Adam was stolen by the devil through deceit and that he offered to Lord Jesus. The only condition was, ‘if You will fall down and worship me’. He had tried this earlier in heaven by trying to ‘ascend above the heights of the clouds’ and be ‘like the Most-High’ (Isaiah 14:14). He was thrown out of the presence of God in heaven to the earth.
From birth, everyone is placed at a certain level, by God, according to the decreed task for his life. Satan tried to rise higher than he was designed to go and lost the God given height also. His sole desire is to be above everyone else and the strategy adopted by him is to bring all down below him. He tried the same trick with the Messiah Lord and was rebuked by Him, ‘Away with you Satan!’, for the Son was one with the Father in heaven and worshipped and served Him alone. The devil looked at His earthly status but the Lord showed His heavenly status of worshipping and being in the presence of God.
Lord Jesus, as our Redeemer, took away our sins and cleansed us with His blood. Then God ‘raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (Ephesians 2:6). In our ‘New Birth’, through the sacrifice of the Son of God’, we are raised high above all the forces of darkness and evil on the earth. Most believers continue to live out their lives as before, with the slight modification of going to Church. They never experience the joy of being the children of God and continue to live in chains of the devil, struggling in their faith and unanswered prayers.
Lord Jesus, in His pre-incarnation state, appeared to Gideon, while he was threshing ‘wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites’ (Judges 6:12-14). Gideon was called out, ‘The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valour’, whereas he was hiding from the enemy, lest they loot his crop. Gideon, like many believers today, raised a question, ‘O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about’. The Israelites had started worshipping the gods of the people around them, in the hope of finding strength from and through them. In addition to our worship of God, we add other things, our wealth, jobs, success and way of life, for worship. The LORD God commanded a certain way of life for His people with the first command being, ‘you shall have no other gods before Me’ (Exodus 20:3). This is about holding anyone or anything else more important than God.
Apostle Paul lived in absolute obedience of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He could say, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ’ (Ephesians 1:3). We are provided in the spiritual realm all that we need to fulfil our role as a believer. There were more than five thousand families who were to be fed, while ‘only five loaves and two fish’ were available (Matthew 14:19-20). Lord Jesus, ‘took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes’. A total of about twelve thousand people ‘ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained’.
Where and how did the loaves multiply? Lord Jesus, in faith tapped into the heavenly realm, to start the supply and the disciples started distributing. In their hands, the pieces of loaves continued appearing and they distributed. We receive our blessings through walking in faith and God multiplies what we already have.
Despite his strong faith, why did Apostle Paul suffer? The Son of God was well aware of all that was to happen, yet He could teach, ‘In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33). He suffered so much, how did He overcome the world? Judas Iscariot came with the Roman guards, and a large group of Jews from the chief priests and the elders of the people came to arrest the Lord. Apostle Peter pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of the ‘servant of the high priest’. He was commanded by the Lord to stop and keep his sword in its place, saying, ‘do you think that I cannot pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?’ (Matthew 26:52-53). A legion of Roman soldiers comprised more than six thousand troops. The Lord appeared to Joshua, while he was near Jericho to study its defences. He introduced Himself as ‘Commander of the army of the LORD’ and Joshua ‘fell on his face and worshipped’ (Joshua 5:14). An angel from heaven would never accept worship from anyone for only God must be worshipped. Lord Jesus has the entire heavenly army at His disposal and six legions could destroy everything on earth at His one signal. One angel destroyed 85 thousand soldiers of the Assyrian army in one night (2 Kings 19:35). Our Lord overcame the world through obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. The Saviour was well versed in Scripture prophecy, ‘Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief’, and accept all that came His way to redeem mankind (Isaiah 53:10).
Apostle Paul could understand the way of overcoming every situation and say, ‘it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13-14). First, God reveals His will for us in a situation, through the Holy Spirit and then He guides and strengthens us to do that. We are further told, ‘Do all things without complaining and disputing’. In this is God’s pleasure to see His children moving in faith despite all the adversities that come their way. Apostle Paul has given his personal example, ‘I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full, and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need’ (Philippians 4:12).
Ananias, a believer in Damascus, was commanded in a vision, by Lord Jesus, to put his hand on Saul, so that his sight may be restored (Acts 9:10-16). To put away his fears of going, Lord Jesus told him about the future ministry of Saul, later Apostle Paul, ‘I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake’. He, a Pharisee, was there at the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, and ‘the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul’. He was trusted by the executioners as being a part of them, though not directly involved in throwing the stones to kill Stephen. It is not that despite the forgiveness of past sins, Apostle Paul suffered. However, any sin results in two effects, first, the spiritual alienation with God, which is restored through repentance and faith in the Saviour Lord. The second, is the earthly part in its effect on others, lacking due to immoral living.
Many people suffering from lack of resources are unwilling to accept their part in landing up in that situation. They seek God to give them more to pay off their debts. God is a loving Father, who sacrificed His Son to turn us towards Him and start living in a righteous and holy life. Transformation and change in attitude is part of repentance. Challenges are not a sign that God hates us, but are actions initiated by the devil to hinder our walk of faith. Lord Jesus defined the work of the devil, ‘The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy’ (John 10:10). By telling a lie to Eve, the devil, through the serpent caused death to come in, stole their dominion rights over everything and brought on them a life of hard labour and pain.
The devil brings all suffering but we consent to his lies and then start blaming each other and God for our sufferings. This world is full of challenges and opportunities and God has given everyone the ability to make the right choices, fight the forces of evil and move to claim what God has already given. Apostle Paul knew this fact and could carry on despite all the challenges in the way, being content and thankful to God.
Entering into and living in abundance of God – The Saviour Lord has shown us the right way, for He said, ‘I am the door. If anyone enters by Me; he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture’ (John 10:9-10). A door in the spiritual sense denoted a boundary or separation between the sacred and the profane. To go in is to enter Divine presence and blessings and to go out is liberation from the past. After showing the work of the devil, Lord Jesus revealed His work also, ‘I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly’. This life implies a quality of life that is fulfilling, beyond expectation and filled with spiritual blessings, with a close relationship with God.
As children of God we are entitled to this state and Apostle Paul was so full of the presence of the Holy Spirit that he rejoiced in meeting challenges. He could say, ‘I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). For him and for us, problems become opportunities for God’s supernatural power to work in and through us. Joshua, the new leader of Israel to lead them into the Promised Land received God’s promise (Joshua 1:5). He was told, ‘No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you’.
David was anointed as king of Israel by Prophet Samuel, while he was caring for the sheep of his father Jesse. From that low estate, he reached a place to donate for the Temple building, ‘three thousand talents of gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver’, while a talent was equal to 34 kilos of weight.
How do we live and remain victorious like Joshua, David and others? First, they meditated on the Word of God and developed a close relationship with the Lord. The LORD ‘spoke to Moses, face to face, as a man speaks to his friend’ (Exodus 33:11). God promised Joshua the result of such closeness, ‘then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success’ (Joshua 1:8). On the same basis, Lord Jesus called all believers as ‘friends’ for He has made us known all that He received from God the Father (John 15:15).
Second, prayer and worship was and is a regular part of the life of a victor. Apostle Paul has taught, what he practiced, ‘be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God’ (Philippians 4:6). In times of extreme distress, David always strengthened himself in the Lord.
Third, they obeyed God and cast all their burdens on Him. After a great victory over Jericho, the Israelites were severely defeated by the inhabitants of a very small town, Ai. Joshua cried out to the Lord, learnt about the sin of Achan, dealt with it and moved on to success (Joshua 7:11-15). The disciples had deserted the Lord, but stayed together in prayer, waiting in expectation and were blessed (John 20:19).
Four, they looked ahead, forgetting the past. Prophet Isaiah declared the will of God, ‘I, even I, am He, who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins’ (Isaiah 43:25). Lord Jesus has fulfilled this for all humanity, and anyone can turn to Him in faith to receive this blessing. In like manner, we should also forgive and forget the wrongs of others and move into a close relationship.
Five, they believed in the Sovereignty of God, who can and does turn ‘all things for the good of those who love Him’ (Romans 8:28). Then the lack of the present moment also becomes a lesson for us to be transformed into His will and ways. The devil may appear to be prevailing but God is in control and has set a boundary over everything that Satan can do in a believer’s life.
Six, grow in faith. Apostle Peter provided the clue to ‘escape the corruption that is in the world through lust’ (2 Peter 1:4-7). The Apostle who suffered attack from the devil at the most critical moment has taught, ‘add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge’. We are advised to exercise self-control, persevere in godliness, kindness and love for others. All these are deliberate actions and we have to work at it.
Seven, control your mind and thoughts. We are to love God with our whole being, thoughts, desires of the heart, deep longing of the soul and then bring our body and all possessions for His service. The Dead Sea is so, for there is no outlet of water that flows into it. Once we start receiving only, without giving out to others for God’s glory, we stink of arrogance and pride.
Lord Jesus offered ‘living water’ to the Samaritan woman on the well to make her a giver of life to others. A well is active when whatever amount is drawn out, more flows in to replenish. We are also required to be the channel of blessings for others by sharing what the Lord gives us. Prophet Malachi passed the message of God to thus ‘test Him’ by giving the due portion as tithe. The truth is that whatever we do not share due to greed, is lost through other ways, for God balances the account. We have the choice to live abundantly or lose what we have!
