Galatians 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Oftentimes, we pray to be more like Christ and to manifest His glory. We ask God to break and make us to become more like Christ. However, we fail to realize that the answer to this prayer is something that stands opposed to what the flesh want. The dealings of God that brings out the beauty of the Christ life in a believer is not a roller coaster neither is it a walk in the park. God has designed His own method of dealings for individual who desire the life of Christ to manifest in them. Philippians 2:13 says, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
How does God work in us to work out Christlike attributes through us? What tool does God use to shape us and mould us into the image of Christ? I'll love to share the thoughts of Paul Rapoza on this: "It is on the mountain top that we meet Christ but it is in the valleys and struggles of life on earth itself that He is formed in us. Those who boast of the mountain top yet avoid the overcoming required in the valleys make shallow believers "having a form of godliness but denying the power to overcome the world." It's in the valleys that the testimony of Christ is lived out and declared.Trials in our lives are like the crucible that the Spirit of God uses to form Christ in us. Those are the times when the Spirit of God seems far away yet He is doing His greatest work in us during those times."
The trials and tests of life is the tool God uses to form Christ in us. When we go through challenges, God is using it to work out something glorious in us. Paul says: "For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!" 2 Cor 4:17. You cannot develop a virtue like patience if you haven't experienced delay, you cannot tell if you have self control until something tries to push you off the limit. Your attitude to life's challenges must change henceforth. Apostle James said, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow", James 1:2-3 NLT. This is the path to perfection. I love the next verse: "So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing", James 1:4 NLT.
CONFESSION: Father I thank you because trouble days won't last long. I know you're working out something great in me and through me. I will not skip lessons and classes till I become like Christ in Jesus name.
N:B You can get our free tracts for evangelism at Bible Wonderland Bookshop( opposite pedestrian bridge) at Ketu bus stop, Ikorodu road, Lagos.