“My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure”
(Jam.1:2-3 GNT) 

Beloved, in this concluding part, I would like to share with you what will keep you going so that you can please God in your days of trial or moments of weakness. The life of faith isn’t a journey filled with a bed of roses. It often comes with thorns. Anyone enlisted in the nation’s armed forces should willingly accept the strictness of training that is involved; and so, we have been rightly called the ‘Army of God’.
 
Who would ever go to a battle with untested weapons? It’s the same with our God. He will never use or enlist anyone into His army untested, hence, the need for our faith being subjected to satanic attacks. Satanic onslaughts come to reveal the quality of our character – superior or inferior, weak or strong. It may mean days of not knowing where your next meal will come from or waking up with no assurance of breakfast on your table. Days where fasting is the best option because food isn’t available; and to make matters worse, children out of school.  These and many more are some examples of what Satan throws at us, just to discourage our faith. Although the devil’s intention for this onslaught is to either break or kill God’s people BUT our God came to give us life and even life in abundance!
 
Do you know what? In all of these, we are more than conquerors. We are built never to collapse in adversity! We can sing and rejoice because we know there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
 
The beauty of trials is that in the midst of it, we learn to listen and hear God speak to us, then to obey accordingly. Jesus learnt obedience in the same way – by the things He suffered.
 
Please, did I hear the apostle James admonishing us to count it all as fortunate or joy when we are going through trials? Does this opening Scripture amuse you? It does me. I thought he should have said, ‘Count yourself as being fortunate when everything is going well with you’. Or ‘Count it as joy or fortunate when your breakthrough just arrived’.  And, ‘Count it as joy or fortunate for a sudden promotion in your place of work’. But no, he said: “Count it as joy/ fortunate when our faith is under attack!” You see, I had once perceived joy as a sole product of great happenings, but now I understand better. Joy, like faith, is a product of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. So, therefore, it is not a product of favourable outcomes. Wow! Faith can rejoice in the days of trial. Hallelujah!
 
The journey to the Promised Land is not without obstacles along the way. The journey is as enjoyable as the destination. We won’t be deterred by the threats or attacks along our way to fulfilling our destiny. We appreciate and welcome the obstacles and challenges as friends and as stepping stones to the next phase of our lives.
 
Jesus, our role model, despised all the shame because of the joy that was set before Him. So, count it all as joy when you fall into all kinds of temptation. Be joyful because the journey is good, and it’s as enjoyable as the destination.
 
Count it all joy because that’s where your strength lies to forge ahead. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Count it all joy because sadness will not help you in any way. Living a life of bitterness will cloud your sense of reasoning and hold you down. It’s high time you stirred yourself up and come out of that pitiable state. A man or woman like you should not consider quitting as an option. When you fail in the days of adversity, then your strength is small. No, you are too loaded with divine treasure than to look back.
 
Time and space fails me to talk about the trials of Job, David, the 12 Apostles and the apostle Paul in particular. What would you say is your reason for giving up on your faith? That God has forsaken you? No! That’s not true. Because according to His words, He promise not to fail nor forsake us.

“When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you”
(Isa. 43:2 GNT).

Lastly, don’t forget…
A few years turning into a few months.
A few months turning into a few weeks.
A few weeks turning into a few days.
A few days turning into a few hours.

Now, your hour is here! Therefore, your joy has come! 
Thanks, and God bless you richly. Anxiously waiting to share in what God is doing in your life.
 
Peace in Jesus name! 
Shalom, shalom!!

Elijah Samuel
August, 2023