YOUR PAIN IS HEALING SOMEONE

" And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went." Act 8:1,4 

Your pain is healing someone. Now, that sounds like a paradox, right? But that is the hidden truth. When Peter preached the Gospel on the day of Pentecost, three thousand men commit their lives to Christ. From there, another five thousand, and the account from that time records not numbers but multitudes which is a prove that many people committed their lives to the faith that they can not be numbered. The persecution of the apostles by the high priest and the Sanhedrin ( court of Jerusalem ) turned out to be the nutrient that nurtured the early church to grow up a fruitful vine. If you read extra biblical literatures on the rise of Christianity, you will discover that the early church only grew in the times of persecution. Anytime the persecution is over, the Church turns out  to be something else. All the useless doctrine and doctrinal differences we are experiencing today were all product of those leisure times of the faith. But throughout history, anytime the Church face opposition and persecutions, it turns out to strengthen the church and out of that the Church grows and does great and mighty exploits. After the apostles had their doze of persecution, it is time for the church also and the rapture began with a man named Steven. Scripture said he was full of grace and powers and did many mighty miracles. His controversial message of Jesus being resurrected from the dead made great impact and controversy is about to revolt violence and the first martyr of Christendom is about to be laid low to his resting place. Scripture said, devout men carry Steven, mourning greatly for him, not knowing to the Church in Jerusalem, that will kindle a great fire of persecution against the church. At the center of the havoc is a middle age man, a Jew with Roman citizenship, a doctor of the Jewish laws. Scripture said, he wreck havoc against the church going from house to house, arresting men and committing them to prison causing the church in Jerusalem to scatter throughout the whole Judea and Samaria. And the report was that, anywhere the believers went, they preached the Gospel. The world right now is in the midst of a great pandemic and thousands have transit this world as a result. The covid-19, as the report revealed has made backsliding Christians preachers, and those who have long forgotten where they left their Bibles, apostles. It is in the midst of this great terror that many people all over the globe are returning to Jesus. When the persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, all the believers left preaching the Gospel wherever they went, healing all manner of diseases. Philip was reported to had done mighty works in Samaria, healing the sick, men been saved from hell. The pedestal moment in Philip's ministry in Samaria comes with his encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch. In the midst of their great persecution, trouble and pain, they were restoring men to Christ, healing all manner of diseases and sickness. Their pain brought healing to others. Brother Paul was a of the same experience, he wrote, "through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine; as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything." 2Cor 6:6-10 BSB. 

Trails and pain shapes us for the purposeful future. I don't know what pain you are experiencing right now, but it is meant for your good. Today, I was thanking God for all the hard and difficult times I had been through because, those times made me who I'm today. Have I not been through those hard and difficult moments, I don't know what will come of me today. The rejections, the pains, the sufferings, been Hungary often, the emotional tortures; today, when I remember all that I'm more than grateful. Believe me folks, I'm more than grateful. I'm now a very strong personality type that can not be easily broken. Situations doesn't shake me. I'm a product of affliction. Arise and clean your tears, a time of refreshing is coming from the Lord. Arise, I said, arise.

What then?

Brother Paul made it clear that, we can only comfort others with the same comfort we have received from the Lord. You see, earlier I was comforting you with the comfort I received from the Lord. If the Lord is going to use you, he will first get rid of some things in you. The furnace of affliction is the tool God uses to refine you a pure and well purging vessels of honour unto the Lord to be used for good works. Don't pray and ask God to remove the affliction, no, you will be cutting short your future glory. Pray for the strength to go through it. Right now I pray for you in the name of Jesus that the Lord will grant you strength and ability to endure to the end, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

Lord, grant me strength and ability to endure my time of preparation that I might come out fully purged for good works, in the name of Jesus. Amen