I'm sure all of us went through some sort of struggle or hardship this year. Regardless of the area of testing, the Bible tells us that we should be rejoicing at the testing that we face because they will help us and prepare us for victorious living!
"My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith develops patience. But let patience perfect its work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." – James 1:2-4
Today's Defeat, Tomorrow's Victory
Friends, God desires that we get up from where we fall. Our failures are meant to make us see the areas we need to submit to His grace, and discover the things we must not allow in our lives. Proverbs 24:16 tells us,
"The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again."
Our failures this year should not be dead ends for us. Rather, they should teach us things that we need to learn. When they do, we become wiser and receive first-hand knowledge regarding the situations where we failed. This way we would learn how to overcome them when they reappear later in our lives.
Look back to the times when you failed or struggled. Evaluate yourself. What was the struggle about and how did it came to be? What was your response and why did you respond that way? We have to evaluate ourselves and learn to find nuggets of wisdom needed for growth.
Dependent on God's Grace
Our failures and struggles should also make us see how incapable we are of living the Christian life apart from God. Through them, we should be able to declare what David said in Psalm 16:1-2, saying:
"Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.'"
We must realise that we can't live a powerful Christian life in our own strength. We are powerless on our own. It's only through Christ that we can live a victorious life.
Get Ready for Victory
By now we should've realised that we can't live righteously without God's enabling. We will always fall short when we rely on our strengths and personal wisdom. We cannot fulfill our God-given call to be like Christ in our own capacity.
We can, however, live a victorious life if we rely on God. In fact, we can expect to live victorious life in Christ always! Philippians 4:13 says that we "can do all things because of Christ who strengthens" us. 1 John 4:4 also assures us,
"You are of God, little children, and have overcome [the enemy], because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."
Believe that next year is your year if you're in Christ. No more failures. Onward to victory!
