The place of victory over pestering challenges
The challenges that surround you can be overcome. They are not as powerful as they seem. Under the grace given for ministry and the power to do ministry, these challenges are made insignificant.
Jesus has made it possible for you to live bigger and greater than any pestering challenge. He has packaged your victory in the grace and power for ministry. Engaging in ministry activates this grace and power, positioning you for total victory.
Consider Paul’s experience with the messenger of Satan, who tormented him so severely that he prayed three times for it to be removed. Jesus responded by pointing him to the sufficiency of His grace in the midst of trouble and the manifestation of His power in weakness. Jesus essentially told Paul that the grace of doing ministry would overcome the challenge, and God’s power would be evident in his weakness. This is a profound truth that many servants of God have not fully realized. Some minister, unaware of this goodness, releasing grace and power yet failing to rely on it for themselves. Others neglect their service or approach ministry halfheartedly, lacking the faith to trigger this divine provision.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
When this truth takes hold of you, it transforms how you perceive and speak about your challenges. Paul found joy in his distresses, needs, reproaches, and infirmities, understanding that what seemed like weakness allowed Christ’s power to manifest.
Romans 8:35-39:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake, we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Understand today that the grace and power for ministry are your shield against pestering challenges. Let this revelation motivate you to steadfastly abound in the work of the Lord. Let it change how you see yourself in the midst of trouble. When you boast in the Lord, you trigger the sufficiency of His grace and drive away the challenges that once seemed overwhelming.
Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you,” using the Greek word arkeó, which means “to raise a barrier, to ward off, to suffice, or to be content.” The grace and power of God for ministry act as a barrier against all pestering challenges. This reality is a prophecy for you to declare over your life, bringing victory.
Isaiah 59:19:
“So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”
The phrase “lift up a standard” comes from the Hebrew word nus, meaning “to make something flee or vanish away.” The Spirit of God lifts up a standard when the enemy comes in like a flood, and that standard is the grace and power of God within you, which causes troubles to flee.
Serve the will and purpose of God with zeal and diligence. Your service is your strength against all forms of weakness. It will grant you dominion over pestering challenges and open the way of escape from them.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (AMP):
“For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation, He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.”
Today, I speak peace to every storm that rages against you. I declare rest on every side. Whatever you are in need of, that the earth can offer, that is within your reach, receive it speedily.
I call you blessed.