WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

Hope & Faith

Dear sibling in Christ,

Hope you are doing well.

I've recently been feeling tired of trials and tribulations. Not a take a 30-minute rest and you'll be fine type of tired but a can I just have a year off then continue type of tired.

You know the struggle is real when even fasting feels like a waste of time 🥲.

Yet the Holy Spirit reminds me that I need to consider it all joy since the testing of my faith produces perseverance. And in letting perseverance finish its work, I am made mature and lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).

I can't imagine Paul's state of mind as he was going through his portion of trials and tribulations... I would crash out 😭😭😭. But he still confesses that he rejoices in his sufferings for the church (Colossians 1:24). Peter also tells us to be joyful in the terrible things happening to us that are meant for our testing, since we are partaking in Christ's suffering. He adds that we should even continue to do good (1 Peter 4:12-19).

It's giving Hagar being told to go back to Sarai's house after everything she had faced 🥲. Personally, whenever I read Hagar's story, I am left conflicted. I thought GOD would help her get to her country of milk and honey and finally give this slave girl a chance for freedom, but what does the angel of the LORD tell her, "Go back to the woman who owns you. Obey her" 😭.

I would start crying, but what does Hagar do? She gives THE PERFECT LOVER a name: "You are the GOD who sees me."

GOD saw the suffering of this slave girl who probably believed in other gods but was in need of a Saviour, and there in the midst of what seemed like a rock and a hard place, the King of Kings, the One whose Son would be the price paid for all those slaves to sin, meets her.

And here we see a facet of The One who Is who we need Him to be — our El Roi (Genesis 16).

Now I know I haven't landed yet, but please stay with me, I'm almost there, my wheels are out 😭. GOD didn't give Hagar the answer we were all hoping for. It wasn't the go and sin no more type of miracle (John 8:11), nor a dream of Abram and Sarai (their names weren't changed at the time), bowing down to her (this could have been a real plot twist 😂).

But it was hope. Hope that whoever she was carrying would survive, and he would be someone unlike her (although I don't think any mother would want everyone to be against their children 😭 maybe it was a flex in those days though 😭😭😭).

Here, the Holy Spirit reveals to me a part of the famous Romans 5:3-5 that I've always read superficially and never allowed to marinate in my heart and spirit.

Something our beloved sister in Christ Hagar grasped at the time of her miracle — hope never puts us to shame ✨.

Hope is all we have as Christians — that He is truly for us and not against us (Jeremiah 29:11).

That we have already conquered what we are facing in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37).

And that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

His word gives us hope every waking day.

A living testament of how good He is. And all we need is the faith to tap into this because at the end of the day, it is impossible to please GOD without faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Many a time, that's where the enemy wants to get us.

Truth is, we've experienced and continually experience His love and have the living hope — His word — so what he tries his level best to do is to attack our level of faith during our times of trials and tribulations.

So take heart, my brother or sister in Christ, your season has an end, and it will be in the land of the living.

Don't let the enemy lie to you or trick you, this fire is purifying you to the image of Christ — it won't consume you.

If you feel like the furnace is becoming unbearable, He's the fourth man in the fire 💪.

If the devil tries to cross his boundaries, remind him whose you are and call on your Father who sees you — the Lion of Judah.

If the accuser of brethren starts reminding you of who you were before Christ, remind him of His precious blood.

Don't fight battles that were already won.

There's no time to waste on haters like the devil — be for your Father’s business 😌.

Also, life would honestly be so boring if we didn't have trials and tribulations.

Imagine a movie with no drama or conflicts. I would walk out of the theater 😭.

Even Barbie had opps 😭😭😭.

So stay calm and know that He is GOD 😌.

With GOD'S unfailing love,

Your sister in Christ,

Living for the Audience of One,

NancyNengai.