A lot of us don’t want to consider the concept of God’s will in our lives. We now pray commanding prayers telling God exactly what we want. We don’t stop to ask ourselves if that is God’s will for us. We have quickly forgotten the part of our Lord’s prayer that says “ “Let thy will be done”“.
While I was in secondary school. I traveled with my Dad. A day after we arrived at our destination, I fell ill. As if that was not enough distraction for my Dad with all the plans he had for traveling. The car developed faults that took the whole day to resolve throughout the trip plus flat tyres.
Every morning one or two tyres will go flat. At some point, we wondered if someone was responsible. A journey that ought to have lasted a few days lasted over 8 days.
One morning my Dad decided to purchase four new tyres to replace any of the tyres that go flat. By the next morning, the flat tyres were replaced as my Dad was determined to return home.
So we set off on our journey back home. We hadn’t even covered much ground when we heard a sound coming from the bonnet of the car and smoke began to come out.
We stopped and my Dad asked me to come out as he opened the bonnet to see if it was something he could resolve. Lo and behold the engine of the car had knocked.
So there we were in the middle of nowhere, with no means of communication because there were no mobile phones then, no trees to act as shelter in case of sun or rain, and no car to continue our journey back home. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
However, we noticed that no vehicles were coming or going and we wondered why. The car developed that fault by 9 AM, it was by 3 PM that a police vehicle drove past and stopped when they saw us. They looked at us so strangely and asked us what we were doing there.
My Dad explained and they told us how lucky we were and how God loves us. We still didn’t understand until they told us that for over 8 days armed robbery had taken over that route. How it started a day after we arrived at our destination and had continued till that day we forcefully decided to return home.
God was protecting us with those car faults and flat tyres but we never understood. Have you ever stopped to wonder what God is trying to tell you through the trial he permits in your life? Some ask God why me? What have I done? There’s no TESTIMONY without TRIAL.
Some of us can’t understand how God plans to change our situations through trials, in fact, it makes no sense. Trials either make us or break us depending on our response.
Some of us are unemployed, unmarried, married for years without children. Some of us have several challenges too numerous to mention and wonder when our story would change. In times of trials, God always makes a way of escape.
God uses trials to direct us. He helps to change our direction, to change our course, and point us in the right direction.
Imagine Jonah who tried to change God’s will. He ended up in the belly of the whale and after three days when he emerged, he had a clearer sense of direction. That’s how it is for us when we emerge from our trials. We have a clearer understanding of what route to take.
Trials bring us to life. After a trial, we find out what we are capable of. We find out what we are good at because we have to dig deep to emerge from that trial.
Trials correct our impression of life. We learn lessons that change our perception of reality. You learn the value of something after it’s lost. We learn lessons through our pain.
Trials protect us like the story above. God through those car faults and flat tyres was protecting us from harm but we couldn’t see it. Trials are blessings in disguise.
Trials perfect us. When we respond correctly to trials we emerge better versions of ourselves.
Trials will either make or break us, depending on our responses. Giving up will mean we have been defeated. When we fail to see God’s plans we give up. If we wait the benefits we will reap will be outstanding. God is at work in our lives even when we fail to recognize it. It’ll be easier and more profitable if we cooperate with him.
