I have concluded that all battles we experience are
This is so because our current regular thought process cannot appreciate what God has prepared for us in the future. Therefore, God engineered our challenges to disrupt and dismiss our polluted thinking to prepare us for where we're going.
Unfortunately, we become so consumed by the agents or instruments of our battles that we overlook why this campaign has come about in the first place.
Case and point, Joseph the Dreamer was hated by his brothers. Sold into slavery, became the head of Potiphar's house, falsely accused of rape, sent to prison, eventually became in charge of the prison, then finally promoted to second in command of all of Egypt.
If we carefully study Joseph's story, there is nowhere in his report that he became caught up or distracted by the agents of his oppression. In fact, the lesson/abuse that he experienced prepared him for leadership. But, more importantly, conditioned his mind in such a way that after his trials, HE COULD NOT HATE HIS BROTHERS, WHO CAUSED HIM TO FACE SO MUCH OPPRESSION, BUT INSTEAD APPRECIATE THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT CONDITIONED HIM INTO THE LEADER GOD ORDAINED HIM TO BECOME.
His story reveals that after he had revealed himself to his brother in his elevated state, he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept. Moreover, he kissed all his brothers and cried with them, Genesis 45:14-15.
Question! How do you love someone that has done you wrong? How do you appreciate others after they have put you through so much hell?
My friend can only happen through the mind's conditioning, specifically by the lessons afforded us during our times of challenge. Nevertheless, we must see it from this perspective to appreciate it from this point of view.
Again, the key to this perplexing dilemma is you must focus on the fact that what is happening to you is for a reason to prepare you for your season. This way of thinking causes you to understand that the characters involved in your oppression have no idea of how much they're playing an essential part in your development for the greater. In fact, without them, the purpose of what you're going through cannot be complete.
Joseph's biblical account revealed that his brothers thought Joseph would exact revenge on them for what they had done to him after his father had died. However, look at what Joseph said to his fearful brothers, "And Joseph said unto his brothers, fear not for am I in place of God? Now fear not, for I will nourish you and your little ones. But you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass as it is this day to save many people alive. And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them Genesis 50:15-21.
I want to encourage someone today that it seems almost impossible to forgive someone who has set you back in life or hurt you so that it feels nearly impossible to forgive them. However, I promise you that your connection with this person, group, or place is not by accident and is far more significant than your pain. After his testing, Joseph understood the reason for his suffering, thus causing him not to hate his oppressors because those folks were a part of advancing him to where he was going.
If you are still in a position where you hate those who have done you wrong or are still bitter against them, this clearly indicates that you've missed the purpose behind your lesson. Even worse, whomever you were being conditioned to deliver or whatever position you were prepared to fulfill will now treat others like you were.
My words of wisdom to you are simply this. Embrace your challenges as they renew your mind because their purpose is to ultimately change your thinking. Do not focus on negative situations that will cause you to become negative or rehearse the hurt that was issued to you; instead, let the unfavorable circumstances symbolize what you should not be like. Your current hopeless thinking pattern is an enemy of your God's intended future.
Written By: Kevin L A Ewing
ewinglakevin@icloud.com
kevinlaewing.blogspot.com
