View Everything from the Lens of LOVE, Even Your Trouble: Love always provides and makes a way through

God’s love has been the foundation of everything since creation: He created the heavens and earth and everything in it; He has provided for people even after the betrayal by Adam and Eve and the frequent turning away from Him of mankind; in love, He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior.

• God has proved His love for us “by giving us his greatest treasure, the gift of his Son” (Romans 8:32 TPT).

• “And since God freely offered him up as the sacrifice for us all, he certainly won’t withhold from us anything else he has to give” (Romans 8:32 TPT).

• God’s great love has given us the privilege of being in union with Jesus, the moment we believe in Him. This union has resulted in a miracle: we are God’s children (Ephesians 1:5 TPT)! He confirms that we belong to Him (Ephesians 1:11 TPT)!

• The same love God has for Jesus, He has for us (Ephesians 1:6 TPT).

• Nothing in all the universe has the power to diminish God’s love toward us, not even sin. “Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love” (Romans 8:35 TPT). No situation in life has the power to defeat us!

• Love Himself has made us more than conquerors (Romans 8:37 TPT). Jesus won the battle to capture us out of the hands of the devil, and we didn’t need to lift a finger, so to speak! We share in and experience the victory that Jesus won for us by grace, by the merciful favor of God, and not by any effort on our part!

  
  

There are times in life, however, when we may question God’s love during difficult circumstances. However, Paul confirms that understanding God’s love results in revelation, which provides insight for victorious living (Philippians 1:9,10 TPT). In other words, understanding God’s love provides a firm foundation that causes us to be well-balanced when the problems of life are trying to shake us. We may be thinking, trouble does make us feel like we are crumbling. But God says something very different, a lesson that we can learn from Paul.

First, let us reflect on the sufferings and problems of Paul (2 Corinthians 11:23-28; Acts 27; Acts 28:3; Acts 14:19):

• Five times he received 39 lashes from the authorities, three times he was beaten with rods, and once he was stoned.

• Paul was shipwrecked, spent a night and day drifting about the sea, faced danger from rivers, robbers, and his own countrymen, as well as unbelievers.

• He suffered imprisonment, was chained, hungry, thirsty, and cold. He endured hard labor.

• He was pressed on all sides with emotional upset and concern for the churches.

 Paul himself reflected on his troubles and, in doing so, explained what revelation he received from the Lord. Paul states that God told him that during times of trial, God’s grace was more than enough for him, and that God’s power found “its full expression through” his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9 TPT). Paul concluded that when he was weak, he sensed “more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in” him (2 Corinthians 12:9 TPT). Therefore, Paul was able to say, “I’m not defeated by my weakness but delighted! For when I feel weakness and endure mistreatment—when I’m surrounded with troubles on every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ—I am made yet stronger. For my weakness becomes a portal to God’s power” (2 Corinthians 12:10 TPT). In our weakness in times of trouble, we also have the opportunity to experience God’s strength. In Him we may be triumphant just like Paul! Weakness or the feeling that our problems are overcoming us does not need to have the final say because of the mighty power of God that is greater than any problem.

Paul also confirms by revelation that it is normal for every human being to experience times of testing (1 Corinthians 10:13 TPT). Then Paul confirms, “But God will be faithful to you” (1 Corinthians 10:13 TPT). “God’s faithfulness and grace will limit the severity of every test and prevent you from being tested beyond your ability to cope. Unlimited grace is available for every believer who faces hardship, temptations, and seasons of difficulty” (1 Corinthians 10:13 TPT). Paul states, “…each test is an opportunity to trust him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously” (1 Corinthians 1:13 TPT). And Paul, who faced many hardships, knew by experience the truth of God’s word. It was his experience of God’s faithfulness by which we are encouraged today.

We may be weak in our containers of human flesh, but we also are containers of the mighty power of God because we are in union with Jesus (Ephesians 1:19). This is why God tells us that we are created to be overcomers (1 John 5:4,5; 1 John 4:4). The Bible describes us as clay jars. Clay jars are not fancy, but ordinary containers. We may be ordinary human beings, but we carry an extraordinary treasure, the immeasurable power of God, which brings attention to Him and not to ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:7 TPT); God’s power works through our humanity! “Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out” (2 Corinthians 4:8,9 TPT). The power of God is always available to us and through us. The word of God says it well: “In this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world” (John 16:33 TPT)!

Our ability to endure, persevere, and continue until we experience the victory that Jesus won and established for us is only possible when we understand God’s love; then we triumph to victory! Remember Jesus’ words to Mary and Martha during an impossible situation: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God” (John 11:40)? We are being reminded of the same thing: believe! We are to believe in Jesus Christ; then we can do God’s work (John 6:28,29 TPT); that is, then we can experience the manifestation of His promises of strength and victory just like Paul did. We are overcomers!