“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
In a previous post I wrote about all of us coming into this world not by accident but that we were lovingly created with a purpose by our Father and Almighty God. However, our daily challenges and trials of this life, make it hard sometimes to comprehend this fact. Today I would like to give my understanding of why our lives can sometimes be so hard.
I would like to begin by saying that no one, regardless of their apparent success in life in terms of career progress, fame, wealth or beauty, are free from life’s struggles. Even the Apostle Paul experienced many struggles. He wrote, “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. (2 Corinthians 7:5).
The root of our struggles I believe is captured in these verses:
- Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. (Genesis 3:17)
- For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:1)
Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we are born into bodies of flesh. This flesh is prone to sin, including pride, jealousy, anger, sexual sin, greed, slothfulness and gluttony. Because of our fleshly nature we find it hard to follow the commandments of our God and Creator. This situation puts us at enmity with God and as such we fall short of the Glory of God and His protection. (Please read Deuteronomy 28 to understand the promises of God to those who keep His commandments and the consequences when we don’t.)
The second root cause of our trials is the fact that we are birthed into the kingdom of satan who gained dominion over this earthly kingdom as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. Satan. With his legion of unseen fallen angels and demons, satan controls the kingdoms upon earth. We read in Matthew 4 that satan offered Jesus control over all the kingdoms of the earth at the time when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Satan’s kingdom is rooted in lies, deceit and falsehood; set up to further separate us from God with the aim of bringing about our demise. Our physical, emotional and spiritual health is under constant attacked from all sides - through the defilement of our food and water, medication, education, religion, media, entertainment and more. Because of systematic lies and deception we live in a matrix that gives us the illusion that kingdom is real and that all is well, when in fact everything is false and a lie. The Bible teaches us that we are sojourners, travellers, spiritual beings that are merely passing through this earthly experience that we call life.
Here are three verses that remind us not to become too comfortable in this world which belongs satan.
- “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1John 5:19).
- “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1John 2:15-17)
- “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil.3:20-21) In my next post I am going to write about how to step out of satan’s world and into the Kingdom of God.
My Prayer
Father AhaYah, thank you that You love us so much that you sent Jesus to die for us on the cross in payment for the penalty of our sin. Father, we desire to take up our citizenship in heaven. Please lead us and guide us away from satan’s kingdom of evil, sin and darkness into Your Kingdom of Light. Thank you Holy YahshaYah, Jesus Chris of Nazareth, that You are the Light of the world and that You opened the door for us to eternal life. Aman.