ICS Daily Devotions
Don’t Struggle Alone
Proverbs 27:17 (NKJV) As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
When we are going through an adversity in life, we will often wonder whether it is a trial, tribulation or persecution? However, only we ourselves know the answer. Every Christian is supposed to live a consecrated and sanctified life, but nobody knows whether we are or not except ourselves and God.
A consecrated life is lived out when we choose to walk out God’s will and calling for us. We will not change jobs, start a business or relocate unless we have heard from the Lord because we are yoked with the Lord. There will be tribulation and persecution for this kind of lifestyle because the devil doesn’t want us to make a difference for Jesus. The devil is a thief, and he is against the body of Christ. He will place obstacles and challenges along our paths to hinder us from having success or victory. Therefore, it is during such onslaughts of the devil that we need faith-filled friends to lift up the shield of faith with us, to believe God and overcome our challenges.
A sanctified life is lived through holiness and righteousness in our lifestyle. We practise these values and principles in our daily dealings in business and in our personal lives. God will deal with us on this aspect of our lives by allowing trials to come and mould us. If we take David while he was running away from King Saul as an example, he said in Psalm 34:19 (NKJV), “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all”. He chose not to touch God’s anointed by killing King Saul, but to flee from him instead of retaliating. God might allow a difficult and ungodly boss to mould our character. It is a trial, and in it is a lesson we need to learn.
Persecution will come when we are living out a consecrated and sanctified life because we are different from the world. Jesus has assured us that the world will persecute us if they have persecuted Him (John 15:20). Nonetheless, remember not to struggle alone, but find a group of faith-filled friends to stand in faith with you because you will need their encouragement, and you in turn will be a blessing to them during their time of need. We are made for each other in the family of believers. It is much easier to stand in faith when all of us are on the same page regarding the definition of faith. Don’t be discouraged if we stumble and fall while we practise walking out the lifestyle of faith. It will get easier the more we practise especially with a family of believers.
Sermon Series: Friends (Part 2) – Facing Test, Trials and Tribulation with Our Friends
