Double for Your Trouble

Isaiah 61:7 (MSG) Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever.

Have you ever gone through a season when you are being attacked left and right, from the front and the back and you feel like maybe God has completely forgotten about you? I have a secret to share… just as God was with Joseph in jail, with Jonah in the belly of the whale and with Jesus on the cross, so is He with you during your trials. Even when you feel like all hell has broken lose and everyone you know has left you or abandoned you, God is still there!

The enemy will not attack someone who is not a threat. This is why James tells us to rejoice when we are having struggles from all sides because this is building our character and helping us grow. If we cannot handle the fire during the small stuff we won't succeed when we are being promoted to the bigger stuff. For every new level you are elevated to, be prepared to fight a new devil. You must go through these tests in order to make it in the next level. Just like a video game - the first level or two seem easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. Then you encounter a new enemy on the third level and realize you don't have all of the power and weapons needed to destroy him yet. You should have been collecting these items in the first 2 levels. Good news - God allows you to take the test over and over and over until you get it right. There is no failing with God, just learning many ways how not to do something. You will keep going until it is right.

So now you start over on level 1 and take advantage of all the help available, the extra coins and tools are just waiting for you to reach out and take them. Now when you arrive to that 3rd level, you can easily defeat your enemy because you have prepared for battle! Whatever you have lost in your past due to trouble from the enemy, you will receive double in return and you will overflow with joy because you know God is on your side and has always been with you! Wherever you are right now, KEEP GOING! God will not leave you desolate in a time of need. He is right there waiting for you to take all He has given you. It's time to get up and GO!

James 1:2-4 (MSG) Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.