Finding Peace and Deliverance in the Midst of Tribulations
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Most people have no trouble finding things to complain about: traffic is slow, gas is too expensive, the weather is bad, prices are too high. Yet in every single situation, that same person also has a lot to be thankful for: he can drive, has a car, has a shelter to be protected from the weather, and has the money to purchase necessary items.
Your circumstances may not be all that great, but wherever you are it is God’s will that you give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18). As a Christian, that is possible because no matter what your circumstances are, you can always thank God for deliverance through Christ (see 2 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 7:24-25).
Indeed, the Israelites knew that thanksgiving was so important that part of the official duty of the tribe of Levi was to thank God: They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord (1 Chronicles 23:30). They had heart of thankfulness and were instructed to be thankful regardless of what happened that day.
The psalmist wrote: Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name (Psalm 100:4). Notice that we can’t even enter God’s gates unless we’re thankful.
It certainly is possible to live giving thanks to God the Father for everything (Ephesians 5:20), because thankfulness depends on what is in your heart, not what is in your hand.
I once heard a story of a man who was desperately down to his wit end of troubles. In his desperation, he went into his room and loaded a gun. He was about to kill himself!
As he sat there with the loaded gun, he decided that he had to pray before committing this suicide. He prayed and asked God to intervene to show He’s really there, and if He does, then he would not kill himself.
After praying, the man waited to see what would happen. Lost in his suicidal thoughts, he was startled by the ringing of the telephone. He jumped and quickly looked to see who was disturbing his intended mission. To his surprise, he saw the name “Almighty God” on his caller ID!
Seeing this, he sat there scared and shaking. In a state of shock, he couldn’t even answer the caller on the other end of the line. After a few minutes had elapsed, he finally got the courage to investigate. As he pressed redial on the telephone, he waited nervously to see who would pick up. The phone rang for a while, and just as he was about to hang up, he heard the husky voice of a male on the other end of the line. “How may I help you?” he asked the caller. The caller replied and asked, “Where is this?” The other male replied, “Almighty God Tabernacle.”
The husky voice turned out to be that of a pastor, who was at his church that evening preparing his sermon for the next day. He had dialed his wife’s number to tell her that he was wrapping up for the evening, and would soon be home. Fortunately, he mistakenly dialed one of the digits, which happened to be the telephone number of the man about to commit suicide. The reason “Almighty God” came up on the suicidal man’s caller ID was because “Tabernacle” was too long to fit on the caller ID.
Well, to end this story, the man explained to the pastor what happened, and the pastor prayed and ministered to him. He was overcome with emotions, by seeing how God had intervened in his life when he was at his lowest point. Right there, the man accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. From that day on, his life has never been the same again. This man was telling his story from the pulpit while preaching a sermon one day. That’s how I came to know this story.
You see, when you are in your darkest moment, God is there with you. Jesus is the light that will guide you through the roughest time in your life (Psalms 119:105). It doesn’t matter how bad the situation appears, God is still in control. While there is life; there are hopes. Suicide is not an option, if you allow God to guide you. He can take whatever the situation is and turn it around for your good (Romans 8:28).
I have heard so many stories of people who were about to kill themselves for whatever reasons, but were prevented, and their lives have changed for the better.
I have a song that I love so much, and I sing this song when I am at my lowest. It might not be the song that you sing, but I will share the first few lines, along with the video with you:
Like a ship sailing out on a trip so rough and long
So far from shore, so far from home.
I SET OUT IN SEARCH OF A REASON TO GO ON
And I found it in the eye of the storm
No matter what storm clouds may rock this ship of mine
The light of my Savior will lead me safely through the night
Though my ship may be rocky and my sails may be torn
I shall rest in the eye of the storm.
Whatever you are going through today, it’s not time to roll over and play dead. It’s not over until God says it’s over. When your tribulations begin to get more and more extreme, that is when you know that you should keep running the race. The breakthrough that will follow your time of testing will be well worth the effort necessary to overcome. With this in mind, you should exert every last ounce of strength that you have left to make it to your last lap of the race.
Many times you wait for the Lord to respond in the midst of a terrible tribulation, and wonder why He doesn’t respond more quickly. This can be seen in the Biblical story in John 11, where Lazarus, one of Jesus’ friends, whom He loved dearly got sick. Mary and Martha who were also friends of Jesus, sent a message to Him to inform Him of Lazarus’ sickness. But when Jesus heard the news, He waited two more days before going to Lazarus’ hometown of Bethany.
When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead in the tomb for four days. When Martha discovered that Jesus was on His way, she went out to meet Him, and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” However, Martha thought He was talking about the final resurrection of the dead. Jesus then went to Lazarus’ grave with Mary, Martha, and the rest of mourners. There He instructed them to remove the stone that had covered the entrance to the tomb. Jesus looked up to Heaven and prayed to His father. He then cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus come forth!” When Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus instructed the people to remove his grave clothes.
In this amazing miracle, Many people put their faith in Jesus. Sometimes through the darkest moment of your trials and tribulations, you think that you can’t make it through to your last lap of the race. You then begin to think that God is not on time; however, you have to remember that even though He’s two days late, He’s still on time. Jesus deliberately waited two more days to go to Bethany, because He knew that He would do a great miracle for God’s glory. Therefore, He was in no hurry to get there.
Often times, God allows your tribulations to get from bad to worst, because He’s planning to do something great and victorious in your life. This is so, because He has a wonderful purpose for you that will bring even greater glory to God. Therefore, it’s time to be resurrected. Don’t roll over and play dead!
Excerpt: Enough Tribulations “Finding Peace in the Midst of Tribulations.”
“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25) NKJV.
The idea of being successful in this world today is to acquire power and position, which comes with financial gains. Everyone is competing for the next big break to win a crown. Notwithstanding, there’s nothing wrong with trying to achieve success. What is wrong is when people become overly greedy and zealous in putting all their emphasis in the material things of this world. These things are temperate, meaning that they are not lasting. The crown that one will win is a perishable crown. For people who are committed to their faith, know that they run a race for an imperishable crown. This crown will take you beyond life on this earth.
Our culture glorifies celebrities, power, position, money and material things; however, these people and things are not lasting. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) NKJV
On this earth, one has to strike a balance. You can aim for the sky, but understand that at the end of your journey on this earth, you have a report and accountability for how you spend your life while here. What will your report be? Have you fulfilled your God-given purpose? Or were you more caught up in the perishable crown phenomenon?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
But those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Sometimes life seems to be taking us down a huge detour and everything looks like it’s not going our way. In those situations, our life and our story seems to be a disaster.
This is exactly what happened to Joseph, whose story is found in Genesis 37-50. Joseph’s brothers jealously hated him and sold him into slavery. Joseph was wrongfully put in prison for raping Potifer’s wife, when really he refused to compromise his integrity by sleeping with her. Then, Joseph helped get the chief cupbearer out of jail; however, when the cupbearer had an opportunity to return the favor and get Joseph out of jail, the man forgot about Joseph. Joseph ended up spending thirteen years in jail for something he didn’t do.
At this point Joseph’s story was going haywire, but God’s story was right on track. That’s because God had an amazing plan for Joseph’s life; God was going to use Joseph to save Egypt and the surrounding lands for seven years of devastating famine. What looked to Joseph like a huge detour was really a great plan of God to provide food for countless people, including the very brothers that had sold Joseph into slavery.
At the end of this, Joseph realized that God had a bigger plan for his life, and after his brothers come to him for food, he tells them: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).
All along, God’s story was right on track.
This same principle is also true in the life of Jesus. To the disciples, it looked as those Jesus would be a great king who would rule Israel and return the nation to greatness. They hailed him as a great leader. So, when Jesus was being crucified, the story they saw looked like a major train wreck—this great leader whom they had followed for the past three years was suddenly dead. However, God’s story was at its peak—God was in the process of connecting humanity to himself.
There’s what you see and what God sees.
When your life seems to be a major disaster; know that God has bigger plans to use your life for great things. The story you see may not reflect the long-term story God has planned. Therefore, trust God, knowing that he works for good in all circumstances (Romans 8:28).
Most people have no trouble finding things to complain about: traffic is slow, gas is too expensive, the weather is bad, prices are too high. Yet in every single situation, that same person also has a lot to be thankful for: he can drive, has a car, has a shelter to be protected from the weather, and has the money to purchase necessary items.
Your circumstances may not be all that great, but wherever you are it is God’s will that you give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18). As a Christian, that is possible because no matter what your circumstances are, you can always thank God for deliverance through Christ (see 2 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 7:24-25).
Indeed, the Israelites knew that thanksgiving was so important that part of the official duty of the tribe of Levi was to thank God: They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord (1 Chronicles 23:30). They had heart of thankfulness and were instructed to be thankful regardless of what happened that day.
The psalmist wrote: Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name (Psalm 100:4). Notice that we can’t even enter God’s gates unless we’re thankful.
It certainly is possible to live giving thanks to God the Father for everything (Ephesians 5:20), because thankfulness depends on what is in your heart, not what is in your hand.
Trust me, I've been there, I've looked, I've searched and I know now, that there are no answers to be found in the bottom of a bottle or on the edge of a blade! Fighting Hard, Recovering, Rebuilding, REBORN. Moving on from addiction to a new life.
Executive Chef Robbie Joseph brings more than 35 years of culinary experience to his Montego Bay, Jamaica based restaurants and bars: THE SEAHORSE GRILL and ROBBIES KITCHEN. Specializing in fresh seafood, steaks, pastas, local Jamaican favourites and world class, gobal cuisine with a twist of west indian flare. Combine this simply great food with the casual elegant ambiance of both restaurants and you have an experience you won't soon forget!!!
Enough Tribulations Peace & Deliverance Ministries 
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