THE BLESSING OF ADVERSITY (ePub)

After reflecting on some of my own personal experiences over the years, and after observing some of the situations happening to others around me, I have come to believe and see the role the enemies and adversities play in my life as well as in the life of others. I believe it is very important to take another look at the role of our enemies in the plan of the Almighty God to bless us. Too many of us have been conditioned by our training and our one dimensional look at our seemingly negative experiences to conclude that there can never be anything good about our enemies. For too long we have approached the presence and actions of enemies or unwanted situations in our lives with aggressive prayers of destruction and obliteration of those situations, and the 'enemies' behind them, without making the proper enquiries as to God's purpose for those situations in our lives. It is customary for many believers and unbelievers alike to blame everything on the devil and 'cast' him out at the slightest problem or provocation without praying or seeking to know why they were made to go through such a negative experience in the first place. However, it is a spiritual fact the enemy cannot have power over us or torment us except by the permission of our Creator. It is either our God is Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent, or He is not. If God is all three, then it stands to reason that God is very much aware of everything that happens to us, and He has, in His own infinite wisdom, permitted and empowered the devil or enemy to act against us. If ALL power belongs to and comes from God, then we cannot deny that whatever power the enemy displays must have come from God. The book of Job2 makes this reality very clear to us. Also, Jesus made the same case when he reminded Pontius Pilate that "You would have no power over me, if it were not given to you from above."3 In other words, Jesus was confirming the principle that the devil could have no power over us or our circumstances except that which he has been granted to him by the heavenly father. Now, it stands to reason that if God allows the enemy to afflict us, it must be for a reason and if God sent the enemy for a reason, the reason must be a good one because God's purposes are always good ("I know the plans I have for you, they are plans of good, not 2 See Job 1: evil...4). Therefore, if God sent or allowed an enemy to afflict us for a good reason, we will certainly be very foolish to just curse and bind the enemy without first finding out the reason for his presence. It is therefore time to approach our engagement of the enemy from a new perspective! The more I look at my own personal experiences, and of those around me, the more I am convinced that often times we fail to see the blessings in the seemingly negative occurrences or situations in our lives. Too many times, we have missed opportunities that are disguised as challenges. The bottom line here is that I have come to appreciate the fact that the enemy sometimes brings blessing rather than curses. I am persuaded that there are blessings in the adversities we face in life and in the actions of the enemies in our lives and we need to understand that reality if we are ever to receive all the blessings that God intended for us. That is why I wrote this book.