Challenges are not fun as they slow up one’s progress and scatter plans that have been put in place. Then we wonder where we should start from. That position is not a good place to be. Challenges of life will stop us from seeing what God wants us to see and reaching the potentials He has placed in us. The feeling of helplessness that a parent feels when his child is terribly sick dealing with cancer and there is nothing he can do to remove that pain from the child. Or a businessman that has financial issues leading to bankruptcy and he ran to bank for help but there is nothing the bank could do because he has no mortgage that can be used as collateral.
The Normal Reaction to Challenges
Challenges bring hopelessness and might lead to depression. The feeling of loneliness and having no defense is a terrible thing. The spirit of fear and desperation set in which might lead to wrong decision making because you will be looking for solutions anywhere and everywhere. Obstacles appear in different forms like barrenness, stagnation, poverty, marital setbacks and troubles, satanic oppression and affliction, etc. You can have money and good health can be a problem. Unfortunately, your money cannot remove the challenges you are facing.
Are you free from challenges as a Christian?
The fact that you are a Christian does not automatically make you obstacles-free. Jesus, while on earth, faced challenges even though he lived blameless and without sin. As long as we are in this world, challenges will definitely come. Jesus knew what we are going to face in this world as stated in John 16:33.
A student has to take tests and exams to get promotion to the next level. When he gets to the next class, he will take lessons, then the cycle of tests and exams comes again. At the end of the assigned period for his study, he graduates. That is what tribulations and challenges are meant to do in Christian life: to shape us and prepare us for the next level and the next level after that. James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 2:18.
As wealthy and successful as Job was, he did not leave God. He kept praying and offering sacrifices to God on behalf of his family too. But was he exempted from challenges? No, he was not. His faith was tested but eventually, he pulled through and overcame the challenges. The good part is that he even recovered double of what he lost in the beginning. Job 1:1-22, Job 42:12-17.
One thing is sure: you are an overcomer already. What is the assurance? John 16:33. There is only one way to face and overcome the challenges: God.
How to overcome the challenges
1. Accept the supremacy of God:
God is the Almighty, all-knowing, and The Powerful One. Knowing this well brings reassurance that you have God that can handle everything. You have to let go and let God. Remove yourself from the problems and stop worrying. Worrying over what you cannot change will only bring more fear and make you feel more desperate. Jehoshaphat was faced with battles from 3 great nations. Naturally, he feared but he knew the right step to take. He sought God’s face and declared fast across the land of Judah. 2 Chronicles 20:1-7. Jehoshaphat reminded God of all the wonders He has done among them and how he knew God can do more. Why do you worry when you can just pray to your Father in heaven? The popular hymn says “oh what needless pain we bear because we do not carry everything to God.”
2. Take directions from God:
In 1 Samuel 30:1-8, when David and his men came back home, they met the whole city desolate. Their wives and children have been taken captive and their properties burnt. David cried and was down but he picked himself up just in time and moved forward. He asked God what to do next and God told him to pursue the Amalekites because he will overtake them and recover all he has lost. How can you hear from God? How do you discern His voice? The first thing is to have a personal relationship with God. Meditate on God’s word and be filled with the Holy Spirit, Joshua 1:8. Remember that God has a plan for your life, Jeremiah 1:4-5 His word will never contradict the plan He has for your life. Go to God in prayers, ask for the next step to take, and always be aligned with God’s plan, Proverbs 3: 5-7.
3. Use your faith:
Faith is believing what you have not seen. Faith will conquer the feeling of fear and make you see clearly what God has for you and ways of fulfilling the potentials placed in you. God is our present help in trouble, Psalm 46:1. Hebrews 11 talks about faith extensively, and it mentioned in verse 6 that no one can please God without faith. The walls of Jericho fell down with the faith of the Israelites. God told them specifically what to do which does not involve fighting or physical struggle to pull down the walls. They believed God’s word and followed it through, Hebrews 11:30, Joshua 6:1-20. The woman with the issue of blood got her healing with faith. She believed that she only had to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and she did just that, Luke 8:43-48. Faith can do wonders, use it.
4. Rejoice in the Lord:
There should never be a time that your countenance will be sad because of life’s challenges. Pick yourself up. Remember how Paul and Silas sang and clapped in the prison. Prison doors broke and this brought more people to repentance, Acts 16:25-35. Rejoice in all situations, Philippians 4:4, 6, Nehemiah 8:10. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength. God has your back.
Do you think life has been unfair to you? You think the world is against you because of what you are passing through. God has never failed and His record is perfect, so He surely will show up for you just in time.
God’s got this! Get up and get going!
For counseling and help with your hardships or if you know someone struggling at the moment who could benefit from Biblical Counseling, then CLICK HERE to get started
By: Angelo Shamoon
Updated on April 2021
.