Proverb 24:10 –
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength in small”
Let us consider the case of Daniel in the Bible. God has the power to prevent Daniel from being thrown into the lion’s den. While they were planning it, he was watching them. He could have asked them to fall down and die but He kept quite. When Daniel’s enemies went to report him to the king and when they arrested him, God saw them and did not say they should not arrest him. While they took him to the lions’ den. He was there. God was not sleeping when they were casting Daniel into the lion’s den. The question is, if you were the one thrown inside that lion’s den, would you come out alive like Daniel? Somebody tried it in Ibadan, the south west of Nigeria. He decided to jump into the den of lions at the zoological garden. It was said that when he jumped in, the lions first of all ran away and later came back and ate him up. Nobody could deliver him.
The People who threw Daniel of the Bible into that den forgot certain things they forgot that it was God who created the lions. They forgot that God has supreme power. They forgot that the Son of God himself is called the Lion of Judah. They forgot that Daniel was a son of that Lion of Judah and that therefore lion cannot eat lion, as he was the son of a greater lion. The God of Daniel did not come late and He will not come late for you.
What did Daniel do in the lion’s den? He prayed. Certain facts about Daniel were not clear to the enemy. That is why it is a good payer point when you say, “Let my life continually confuse my enemy, in the name of Jesus “The men who threw Daniel into the den ended up being eaten. So, the sword taken up against Daniel by his enemies turned against them. When they were planning to destroy Daniel, they did not know that they were planning for their own destruction. So, God permits our enemy to try us, so that they can know that He is great. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, so that none of them is broken. Therefore, it is very dangerous to give up your services to the Lord or to give up in the face of adversity. It is like taking three steps forward and four steps backwards. The Bible says that the hair on our head is numbered. If the Lord says that he knows the number of the hair on your head, how about your life as a person. Remember that the widow of Zarephats was at the end of the road when Elijah came to her rescue. So, there is no situation that you are going through now that is hopeless. I know that very soon, the people who are looking down on you will begin to look up to you.
Let us look at the Israelites at the Red sea. Why did God wait until the Egyptians were very close to them before He intervened? God comes when things look hopeless. When the doctors throw up their hands in despair and the lawyers say it is a hopeless case, it is then the Almighty starts working. So, we must learn the principle of stubborn prayers and the principle of shameless prayers. Perhaps, as you are reading this bulletin you are already having the symptoms of defeat and discouragement, do not give up. Ecclesiastes 7:14,
“ in the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider, God also hath set the one over against the other to the end that man should find nothing after him”
So, in the day of adversity, consider and know that God is still in control just as when you were joyful in prosperity. That is why they say that there is no education like adversity. The psalmist “Before l was afflicted, I have gone astray but now my eyes have found thy law” Watch a man or woman in the time of adversity and you can tell what kind of person he or she is. There are many students in the school of adversity.
WHO ARE THE FAILURES IN THE SCHOOL OF ADVERSITY?
1.They are people who get confused by adversity.
2. They are people who become bitter because of problems. Bitterness enters into their lives bitterness against parents against anybody.
A sister came for an interview but could not answer any of our questions. She looked confused. I tried to make her calm down. I said, “My sister, calm down. Think before you say you don’t know” Then l asked her a very simple question “What is your name? At least you know your name” instead of answering my question she said well, this is all the fault of my Stepmother. I did not want to study microbiology. My stepmother convinced my daddy to make me study microbiology. Now you can see” Anybody who has bitterness inside is a failure in the school of adversity, if you have bitterness and you are praying, sorry you are wasting your time.
Sometime ago, a sister went to the airport with a sharpened knife inside her bag. When l saw it, l asked her what she wanted to do with it and she said that she wanted to use it to kill a man who jilted her. By the grace of God, I was able to talk to her out of it and led her to Christ and she changed her mind. Now, she is married to somebody else and that man she wanted to marry is on his second marriage. If she had gone to the airport to kill that day and was caught, she would have been in jail. Put bitterness aside if you want to succeed in the school of adversity.
3. They are people who fall apart, who completely disintegrate.
4. They are those who fall apart, who completely disintegrate.
5. They are those who respond with anger and are filled with hatred.
6.They are those who give up, who abandon all the good things they come across.
7. They are those who backslide. They would say that they cried to Jesus, did deliverance, prayed for by pastors, prayer has finished in their mouth and yet God is not answering them. This is a strong way of solving problem.
8. They are those who make statements of failure by wrong speaking. What are the examples of wrong speaking? When somebody says, “Nobody cares about me, everybody seems to be against me, nobody cares whether l live or die, etc. such a person is saying that life is not worth the trouble. These are wrong statements. You may ask why God is so partial because you see some people in wealth and you have nothing? Will you feel the same way if the reverse is the case.
9. They are those who are discouraged. A certain man came to me for counseling. He had beautiful certificates, about six of them. I said, “ With these certificates, you are supposed to have a job. He said that anywhere he went for an interview he would come out first but he would not be employed. The panel would tell him that although he came first, something said to them that they should not take him. When he asked them what it was, they were never able to tell him. Before he left l gave him some money. He looked at it and prostrated and said that it was the first time in three years that somebody put money in his hands. But he kept coming and sitting at the front roll. One day, at the service as prayer was going on, the spirit of the Lord came down and gave a word of knowledge that someone had followed somebody and that the fire of the Holy Ghost was on that person. The brother did not know that it was for him. He went home only to see his mother shaking on the bed and complaining about fire burning her body, and apologizing to him, promising to restore all that she had stolen from him. If he had been discouraged and stopped coming to services, he would not have received that breakthrough. Many people give up at the edge of their breakthrough that is why discouragement is the worst thing that can happen to a person in the school of adversity.
WHEN PEOPLE GET DISCOURAGED
1. They pray the wrong prayer. In Numbers11 and 1kings 19, Moses and Elijah prayed to die because of discouragement.
2. They say the wrong things. Look at the wrong things that Job said in job chapter 3.
3. They begin to think of the wrong things.
4. They do the wrong things. In Numbers 20, Moses smote the rock because of discouragement. In kings 19, Elijah ran away from the Jezebel because of discouragement.
5. They begin to see the wrong things.
6. They end up in the wrong place.
7. They get into the wrong spirit.
Discouragement in the school of adversity is a very dangerous thing. Unfortunately, many people down-graded themselves continually. That is why when you are in the school of adversity you should encourage yourself in the Lord. Discouraged people don’t hear from and cannot communicate with God. Devil knows this. He knows that encouragement brings hope but discouragement brings hopelessness and despair. He knows that when people are encouraged they stand on their feet, but when they are discouraged they start fainting. So, whenever there is adversity the first thing the devil brings along is discouragement. A lot of people die because of discouragement.
Sometimes, some people say, “ Well, why don’t you allow me to die? This is discouragement. Discouragement has killed many people. But when your heart is encouraged you will receive good things from the Lord. Discouragement is a hard thing in the school of adversity.
During the World War 11, all the children who were rescued from the camp of the enemy were suffering from malnutrition and hunger. Most of them were kwashiorkor patient. When they were brought into another camp and were looked after and given the best food, they still could not sleep at night. The people looking after them were amazed. Every night they were very restless. The doctors looked at them, but did not know what was wrong with them. Not until somebody came and advised that they should be given a slice of bread each to hold on their hands as they go to bed. They did and that night each one of them slept. What was the problem with those children? They were used to worrying where the next meal would come from and that made them restless and unable to sleep. But with the bread in their hands they could sleep. Discouragement is a personal decision. You need to make a conscious effort not to be discouraged. Nobody can discourage you, it is a personal decision. If you want to encourage yourself, it is a personal decision. So you have to know that in the school of adversity, if you get discouraged, you will fail.
You should always be ready for battle. You don’t have to wait for the devil to strike before you get ready. What Proverbs 24:10 means is that the day of adversity is coming. You have to be strong before it comes. You have to be prepared at all times. If you do not prepare, you will not be able to face it.
HOW TO DEFEAT ADVERSITY
1. In time of peace, prepare for war
Put on the whole Armour of God as His word says. After putting it on, you will not remain standing If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. If thou faint not in the day of adversity, thy strength is nothing.
2. Don’t be distracted. There are many distracted people around. They take their minds away from the most important things. That is why as a believer you should be careful when other people are praising you, otherwise your head will be swollen and you will get carried away and some arrows will come in. You have to avoid distracters. Distracters make you to forget yourself and then arrows come in. Watch those who are trying to flatter you. Don’t pay attention to them. Also don’t pay attention to those who are busy abusing you or critizing you so that you can focus on the main thing. Remember the story of that young king, who abused an old king and the king said, “I will kill you. I will give you a test, if you pass, l will not execute you. “The test was this, he was to carry a glass full of water to the top from the palace to the market place. The king arranged two rows of people by the two sides of the street. The people on one side were praising him while the ones on the second side were critizing and abusing him. He carried the water, moved on and successfully took it to the market. When he was asked the secret of his success ? He said, “ I just concentrated on the water because I knew my life depended on it. He did not care about the praises or the abuses.
The end of the age has come and we have a lot of fake Christians in the house of the Lord. Some claim to be born again but they are born against. They have not seen salvation at all. So avoid distraction. If you do not understand the spiritual condition of a thing, do not get involved with it. Many people employ demonic house helps to take care of their children. There was a case where the neighbour of a certain woman noticed that everyday the kids were always crying immediately the woman left for work. They reported their observations to her. One day, she pretended to have left for work and after some minutes, she came back and saw the door locked and looked through the keyhole to know what was happening inside. The two kids were sitting on the floor while the house help had become a serpent and was playing in-between them and the kids were screaming. She knocked on the door and the serpent turned into the house help again. The woman had to send her away. All those who put on demonic jewelry and claim to have prayed on them are distracted.
3. Be cautious about comfort. Comfort can make a person to be spiritually lazy. The Lord does not want us to be a failure in the school of adversity. Therefore, I encourage you to pray the following prayer points aggressively.
PRAYER POINTS
1.Holy Ghost fire, pull down every barrier blocking my progress in Jesus name.
2.I refuse to participate in every failure of my family, in the name of Jesus.
3.I bury my failure today, in the name of Jesus
4.Every rat and rag of poverty be roasted in the name of Jesus.
5.Any power that says l will not enjoy my life, what are you waiting for?, die, in Jesus name.
6.Every cage of household witchcraft working against my destiny, break in the name of Jesus.
7.My God shall arise and my enemies shall scatter in the name of Jesus.
8.You the strongman behind my problem, what are you waiting for die, in the name of Jesus.
9.Every witchcraft operating at the edge of my breakthrough, Die, in the name of Jesus
10.O wealth of the Gentiles rearrange yourself and locate me, in the name of Jesus.
