Overcoming Tough Times – by Apostle Paul Oduneye

Power to Overcome the Tough Times
It is the power of the Almighty to release the power for victory to those who trust in Him. It’s the same God who shall fill you with the mighty power over every battle of this life, in the name of Jesus.
The last chapter of Job reveals the end of the man called Job who went through so much beatings in life, “So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.” – Job 42
The Old Testament mentioned many things about Job and one most notable is that he lived long. He had beautiful children, a good home and aside from those, he received incredible restorations of good things that Satan took away from him.
God brought them (those that the enemy killed, stole and destroyed) all back in multiple folds.
Like in the life of Job, whatever you have lost in your journey in life that caused you great sorrow, there is good news for you – God will restore them in much greater degree. As the Bible says there is time for everything, including the time to encounter tough moments. It is inevitable to experience time of crying or smiling amidst challenges. You undergo them not because you have done poorly, or you have been very bad, even the holy or the anointed ones tread on bumpy, rocky roads. They are tough times allowed by God in order to shape you or sharpen you and for you to have a testimony in the end.
God never allows tough times if there are no reasons. Challenges and trials appear like a wind or outburst of problems. They also come like giants left and right, surfacing from different angles like in the trying times of Job. If you remember, the servant came just to announce to Job that something happened, that all his animals died. And before Job could respond, another problem came, this time, his children perished.
Job started receiving challenges, one bad news after another. If you have experienced the same, you could have attributed it to sin, like the sin of your family. When tough time arrives, sometimes they just jump over one another. The house rent overdue. Money owed unsettled with threat of being reported to the police. Electric bills. Family problems and personal problems. All came not in trickles but at the same time. When all these troubles are happening, it doesn’t mean God is no longer seated on the throne. Neither does it mean that He is no longer on our side.
Either tough times came because you deserve it or you didn’t. Bottom line is, God will never allow them to destroy you.
He is a good God!
When He allows such experience, God has a reason or purpose. He knows He can bring something good of it. In the case of Job, God allowed such ordeals so the generation of this world can know the finality of his experience pointing how good God is in his life, in restoring back greater things than what was lost. The Bible says, all of these are written for all of us who are in the end of days. Some of the accounts in the Bible regarding tough or turbulent times are meant to prepare us, help us gather strength and brace us when they happen to us.
Your tough times can be the teying moments in your family setting, marriage or business. Contemplating on your experiences, you may begin to ask, why me? Or just why just me? There is good news for you, tough times never last, only tough people do. This means that in the time of battle or facing challenges, you need to stand tall. When you are up against the odds, remember they never meant to destroy you but to make you tough. If you have a tough and a strong stand in the Lord, you’re going to have a testimony soon and it will be great.
God loves you!
In all that you are going through, He’s with you, He’s on your side. Never let the devil convince you or lie to you that God was never there.
He is a good God! Hallelujah! Amen.!
It is through tough times that your faith is going to be under fire to bring out your testimony and your shaping up to manifest. God allows the situations and He’s doing something monumental about you. In the meantime, you may have become tired of the routine and you want riddance from it. The lockdown seems forever, poverty seems to be your portion forever. No!
God has a greater plan for you, better than what is happening to you now.
Always believe that God is at work in mysterious ways, in ways you cannot even imagine He would do. He is working behind the scene, and when the time comes, as time rotates and changes, so will your situation. You might be facing a tough one today, it’s going to be the time for you to laugh tomorrow.
If this time seems tough, that is not the end of you. If this time seems odd, it is not the end of you either. There’s another time coming to pass that God will amaze you. When that occurs, people will witness how great the God you serve is! Tough times never last, it has a limited life span. It has an expiration date. When that day of expiry comes, the devil can no longer bring it back.
Some of you here now, I see God is going to end your affliction in the name of Jesus. I see that sickness come to an end. I see that trouble expiring in the name of Jesus. The storm, the challenges by the authority in the name of Jesus, they’re all coming to an end. Every demon that you have been in conflict with, killing your business, stealing your finances and destroying your joy, the Lord God Almighty will stop them now, in the precious name of Jesus!
As you experience troublesome periods in life, you will be able to recognize three different kinds of people, the importance of which is for us not to be surprised with their responses.
Let’s get acquainted with them:
1.It is during this time that you will be able to remember people who put you in trouble.
In this world, there are many kinds of human beings the devil uses to put somebody into trouble. I am reminding you that it isn’t your responsibility to look for ways to blame them why they do such a thing. Simply because getting you in trouble is their assignment. Remember Joseph, who experienced long battle with tough times. He was helplessly put in a dry well, was even sold for slavery then he was detained in prison.
With that, Joseph had every reason to blame people. But, according to the Bible, when his brothers appeared to him, he himself told them not to blame themselves for what became of him. He told them that God just used them (his brethren) to preserve his destiny.
Stop looking for people to blame your situation. They may be used to rescue your destiny in the future.
Judas, if he didn’t betray Jesus, the work of salvation will not have been accomplished. I’m not sure who you are blaming for your situation at the moment, but when Jesus looked at Judas and told him on the day of the crucifixion, “What you want to do, do it quickly now!” He knew what he was talking about.
It may seem tough but somebody like Judas or the brethren might be used against you, for you to experience tough times. Never blame them, something must end well, just trust God.

2. The people who will leave you in the tough times.
Everybody is your friend when the sailing is smooth, when there are no tough times or when you have no problems. You will see a lot of friends when you have lots of money and when you spend lavishly for them. They will even become proud of you being their friend.
Let the problem appear and they will drop you. There remain only you and God.
I will never know who betrayed you and left you for dead during tough times, but one thing is certain, God will never let you down. Don’t look for ways to blame these pretentious people, God is teaching you how to trust Him.

3.People who will help you in the difficult times. In the most trying times, God will use some individuals like a human angel. There are not so many of them, there’s very few of them. It’s a matter of having one or two out of twenty.
But they are there! Whenever tough times happen, God will raise church to play their part. Remember, whatever situation you are in, that destiny helper will be of great help. That person, God will make him to locate you. From among these people who were present during your ups and downs, there is someone that God will send as a human angel for you.

How can you overcome the tough times?

When problems come and go, I have good news for you. God sent me a message to reveal to you, how you can overcome difficult situations.

Have a winner mindset.
The place of the battle in life is the mind. If the devil cannot conquer your mind, he can never conquer you. Any battle lost in the mind, we lose physically. But any battle you won in the mind, can never overcome you. You have to proclaim that victory through your mind in order to win it whatever you are going through. Prepare your mind.
When Goliath appeared, the man Saul and the entire army of Israel considered him unbeatable. They thought they cannot win against him. They were encaged by this loser’s mentality. Yet, a certain young man who didn’t look man enough to fight but possessed a winner mindset didn’t think of how big Goliath was. Je thought that giants can also fall. David was determined to pull him down and cut his head off. Goliath considered it a challenge but to him, David couldn’t make it. In fine, they waged war against each other, David ran towards him. This gives is a picture that you don’t have to look at how big your challenge is but having a mindset of being more than a conqueror is enough. Romans 8:37 says, “Nay, In all these things we are more than a conquerors through him that loved us.” I may not know how many problems you are facing, how deep you troubles are, but one thing is sure, I have good news that, in all your challenges, you are more than a conqueror. You have victory even before the battle started. As long as your mind accepts that, in all challenges, you are a winner. Declare, “I will overcome the problem, it will not overcome me.” And so shall you become a winner. God is on your side, you will never lose the battle. You’re rising triumphantly over the challenges that you are facing and be declared as a winner, not a loser. In the precious name of Jesus!

See the big God not the big problem.
The God you are serving is great. He is mighty. But there is a danger in facing problems and that is looking at a problem greater than the God who is in you and His ability. If you doubt that God can solve the problem, that is short of committing suicide because the problem blinded them. They got overwhelmed by what they are confronted with. They think they have loaned big and cannot pay back, they think their betrayer is done with them, they think there are no more good things coming up. The more you set your eyes on the problem, you will never be able to see God in action. When you want to see God in action, everytime you look down on your problem, all you see is Satan and his demons. They will be there to present things to feed you of defeat. But, when you remove you eyes from the situation, when you focus on how big God is, you will discover how small the enemy is. 1John 4:4 says, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Let me paraphrase that. Greater is God that dwelleth in you, than the sickness that is in your body, than the problem you are passing though now. So you need to see God, look unto Him, trust Him. He can get you out of that situation.
You can overcome the tough times, if you see Him greater than your problems. If you can see God, that He’s able to do it, He will manifest Himself to you soon. When Satan was manipulating Job and God was watching, it didn’t mean that God didn’t care. God gave Satan a warning that he can do only so much but not permitted to touch Job’s life. Remember, concerning your life, concerning your situation, God has set a warning, a limit for Satan.
The enemy is not allowed to kill you, he isn’t even allowed to conquer you. He has a limit. And when the time is ripe, the devil will stop to work immediately and he has no choice the moment God says stop. Satan will be halted and God immediately starts changing your lofe, like He changed the life of Job. Believe with me, I can see God Almighty stopping every work of the devil in your life, in the precious name of Jesus. Soon and very soon, you will never see affliction again.

Be conscious of hope.
Job 14:7 says “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.” Even when the tree has been cut down, there is still hope. As long as the tree has its root down, you root is in Christ Jesus. It doesn’t matter you have been cut down, there is hope for you. Be conscious of hope even though you have been disappointed by people. Hope is lost in your relationship, in the things you do, but God has greater blessings for you than what you have lost. Keep hoping even if the doctor’s report is discouraging. Remember the Word of God saying, there is hope. Hope is your power to cross it over. As long as your hope is in God, you will never be a loser, in the precious name of Jesus. That’s the main target of the devil: to remove hope from you and your life. He will say you have come of age, you cannot make it anymore. Always remember there is hope. No matter you situation, keep the hope alive.
“(14) If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.”
God is going to change your life for good, meaning there’s a change coming soon. One of the purposes of undergoing tough times is to understand hope and the strengthening by hope.

Understand that you are not the only one. This is true for others, not just you. Not only you experiences tough situations. Many have even before you did. The thinking that the experience is unique, that the problem is too much, you have done and tried many things, thinking that you have the biggest problem in the world, 1Peter 5:9 says otherwise. “Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” Challenges are a twin to the Christian life. Jesus even said that in the world you can have challenges. He said to be cheerful that He has overcome the world. That means you are not the only one. Many went though it and overcame. If they conquered it, you can conquer it. If God gave them the victorious end, yours is possible. Just have that in mind. Some even experience worst. You need to be grateful. Put your trust in God and don’t let Satan convince you of how big your problem is. Do not let Satan convince you that you have the highest problem. The Bible says, He allows you to have it because you can bear it. He will never allow if you cannot beat it. God packaged your life and He knows what’s going on. Meaning He has the grace for you to overcome. So don’t think that your problem is bigger than anybody else’s. He allows things that you can overcome, so you can be an overcomer, in the precious name of Jesus.

Pray for strength and grace. Tough time is not the time to weep, not the time to solicit advice and gain audience. The people, your audience, may not be of help when you explain yourself. Tough time is not the time to worry. But, tough time has come to make you spiritually tough, to make you strong, if not steonger. That is why God allows it. During trials, you need to rise up in prayer, releasing the giant in you.

David looked at the giant, and Goliath looked at David as a small boy. But David didn’t see himself as a small boy. David saw a giant in him which is greater than the giant Goliath. The same with you, this is the time that you would be a giant in prayer. Luke 22:41-43. On the day before the crucifixion, our Lord Jesus was weary and groaning. He saw the torment, the crucifixion, the flogging, that carrying of the cross, the falling and the spitting. He has seen all those, He was weary BUT He made a step, He moved to the Garden of Gethsemane and started praying seriously. “(41) And he saw withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, (42) Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (43) And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.”
In the tough times, prayer will give you strength from above. It will open doors for divine grace to flow through you. Apostle Paul experienced affliction saying, there was a thorn in the flesh, beating him, he prayed and God answered him saying, “My grace is sufficient for you.” So in the tough times, you get the grace through prayer. The Bible says, we must come to the throne of grace in order to receive mercy and divine help in times of trouble. The place of grace is the place of prayer. Move to the throne of grace whenever you face challenges. Never let the fire of prayer fade in your life.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Enter your room and pray whenever you feel forsaken and call upon God. Never give up on prayer, the strength will come, the grace will increase, and that is your power to overcome.
Never allow the enemy to discourage you. You can conquer that giant. Shake off every chain the enemy has. You can be a great overcomer when you follow those steps.
Rise up!
Have a winner mindset. See your big God. Remember, it’s just for a while, it’s just a matter or time. You can cross it over, never let anything take away your hope. Build up yourself in prayer!