Encouragement

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https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/879500

Preface

There are treasures in man’s ordeal

You have to melt their snows

And search their hails

Within, are gold

Named greatness

Floods of fortune

Often survive

The melted packed

Snows of ordeal


A renowned writer C.S. Lewis in one of his works wrote that,

“The most beautiful people are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have appreciation, sensitivity, and understanding of life that fill them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

“ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

Sometimes ago, I was alone, in a sad state. I chanted repeatedly, songs of “why me.” I did ask many questions that my lifetime cannot exhaust the answers if God were to respond to them. I prayed all kinds of prayers, some launched by ignorance. A few other supervised by indifference and some motivated by anger, impatience and pride. Although, few were right on target, needed for necessary advancement. Irrespective of their sources and features, I learnt a great deal from them all. We know little about life and do the best help for our lives when we have right mindset to learn in all these pains. He would speak as a father and teach what I needed to understand about life. This formed the wisdom shared in this book. The loving and caring father of peace in my troubles and challenges proved to be great blessing. My pains, lessons, comfort, trust, hope, help and progress summarised the goodness and enduring mercies of God. I can join to sing the song by a wonderful singer, William Gather.

“Through it all,

I have learnt to trust in Jesus,

Have learnt to depend upon his words”

We may now be experiencing temporary predicaments or long-standing pains, yet there is no mistake in our existence! Negative circumstances stand the chance of becoming sources of promising and blissful future. This however depends on our responses. No matter how terrible and frustrating life seems, we’ll need to make choices out of this. No matter how difficult, a better alternative always exist.

Creating scale to measure whose pain is the greatest or who suffers the most is not a rewarding venture. Praying for grace to survive these pains and challenges with testimonies is most rewarding. We can, if we do not think these troubles and challenges are independent of God or greater than Him. When God is allowed, irrespective of their sizes, He will decorate all with wonders. Pains may come in diverse forms: Hunger, lack, rejection, sickness, failure, injustice, disappointment, disgrace, famine, abandonment, hatred, abuse and the like in different degrees in many peoples’ experiences. Life is filled with people who survived these with great testimonies while others succumb to their crushing fist. If only we could understand the mind of God and concede to His wisdom, we will harvest great comfort and confidence.

We need God in our world. His absence would have been the greatest accident. He carefully schemed all with purpose and our problems cannot erase His existence and power. I owe Him all the praises for showing Himself mighty in my own pains, disappointment, scarcity, lack, troubles, challenges, responsibilities, victory, successes and advancement. This is similar to many testimonies of many people.

Gold and precious stones glories need be revealed by furnace. Also, the beauty of a man’s life and testimony is shady without the necessary trials. I do not delight or solicit for a man made affliction, but I speak of necessary challenges that come in natural courses of life. And, even when men’s activities have produced these pains, we still have great hope in God’s mercy.

Our scriptural understanding will be realistic and reasonable with the lessons picked up from various challenges, when God is involved. It could be deliverance from theoretical theology. It could be a good way for God to direct, guide, protect, teach, train and promote us. There are varieties of good and great things the Lord can do with categories of pains. This work and many others are living proofs.

According to the testimony of Apostle Paul , “Who comforts us in all our trouble, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 2 Corinthians 1:4-6.

The circumstances that led to the writing of this book occurred some years ago in my second year in the University. Just as the common saying. “A path without obstacles does not lead to a important place”. I failed two courses that year and it bothered me much. It was contrary to the promises I had received before then and my assessed preparation for the examination. This failure, coupled with lack of some need and harsh conditions, before, during and after the incidence, inspired some of the wisdom shared in this work. According to word of Ben Carson in his book Gifted Hands “Success is determined not by whether or not you face obstacles, but by your reaction to them. And if you look at these obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next.” The response!

The whole of my third year were filled with depression from divers challenges, but I had resolved that this will not bother my relationship with God come what may. I was not deprived of the timely comfort that made up most of this book. The Holy Spirit was and is still my major comfort. He used the scripture to combat my previous and presents troubles, confrontation, disappointments and temptation. And from them, grows great grace and help that I will ever be grateful to God for. Just like the Psalmist put it, “You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” (Psalms 17:3).

Trying to explain sources of my problems, pains, troubles and challenges before, during and after that moment is not enough an inspiration. But the lessons gleaned in those circumstances were more relevant solutions and hope centred than trying to describe how I felt then. Those define the focus of this work. More so, our reaction to similar situations may differ. Some may magnify the effect while to some; it does mean little or nothing. But staying through with God will give you the perfect perspective of the challenges.

Just like birth and death, pains and disappointments are common terms to every human being. They may be produced and encouraged from our or someone else’s carelessness or mistakes. Sometimes, they are planted by injustice, corruptions, wickedness, greed and ignorance. Identifying the sources of these pains is important, but very weak, if our responses are negative and would not encourage solutions.

Since “God is not a man that He should lie neither the son of man that he should repent” He cannot fail His words and our lives cannot fault His words either. In my fourth year, the Lord brought a turn around in my academics and since then, He has filled my mouth with testimonies that were too obvious for secrecy. “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: ..” (Haggai 2:9). “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning…” (Job 42:12).A few of these wisdom are shared in a book “God’s Intervention”

In summary, this book presents the true picture of God in our pains. He has comforting, living and wonderful plans despite these pains. These must be discovered. The plans are without doubt good and promising, irrespective of the present size of pains! Also, there are many opportunities in our pains. These also need be understood. There is the tendency to assume each of these painful moment is the end of all things; waiting for the last stroke of death. The truth is, they can as well be the springboard for stability, strength and success. I am not in doubt of the blessing God will use the book to channel into your life. I trust God that while you read this book, you have courage reproduced within your mind and lighted with renewed hope and redeeming actions afterwards.

It is my prayer that the Spirit of God will dwell in these letters and bless every reader’s understanding beyond imagination in Jesus name. Amen.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/879500

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