When a problem arises and we find ourselves in a trial we become frantic. We want instant deliverance and when it doesn’t come right away we become frustrated and often hopeless. We even go as far as to say, God doesn’t love me and if He does He sure has a poor way of showing it. I have been there and done that. However, I have learned some amazing things about God through the trials I have walked through. And let me tell you, I wouldn’t trade what I have learned for a million dollars. Now, I will admit that I wouldn’t go back through those trials again by choice, but I still wouldn’t trade what I have learned for any amount of money.

Jesus never left me stranded in a trial and He’ll never leave you stranded in one. No matter what is going on around you God is in control. You’re going to come out of your situation victorious.

Nothing can quite compare to experiencing the power of God for yourself. Once you have experienced it, no devil out of hell will ever be able to convince you otherwise. So, if you’re in a trial right now, hang on and do not despair. Simply wait on the power of God to deliver you. And, don’t give place to the devil while you’re waiting on your deliverance. He’ll tell you that you’re never going to come out of this trial. That God doesn’t love you and that He’s forsaken you—but that’s just not true. God does love you and no matter what type of situation you’re in God is going to bring you out.

He knows how to deliver you and He will deliver you. As a matter of fact, I believe your deliverance is on its way right now! If you’re in a storm and you’re being tossed to and fro Jesus is going to come to you walking on the water. Just give Him time to get there.

Let’s look at your situation from God’s point of view. Have you ever stop to think that maybe you’re going through this trial for a reason? Maybe your faith is being tried and tested because God has a special task for you to perform. Maybe He’s called you to preach His Word or lay hands on the sick. Maybe He wants you to perform a special miracle of some kind. Have you ever thought about that? (The Gift of Miracles is one of the nine spiritual gifts)

If God has called you to be on His special task force you’ll need special training. And when you’re a soldier in God’s army nothing less than the best will do. You’ll never be able to perform a miracle without some training and a little experience to go along with it. Do you want to perform miracles? Then don’t get discouraged if God allows you to go through some things.

As these scriptures point out, when you’re called of God, your faith is going to be tried at some point in your Christian walk. Whether you are a new convert or a not so new convert its going to happen. You may not like it, but as verse 6 states, it is needful. Needful in what way you may ask? Well, first and foremost, it’s needful that you learn how to use your faith effectively so you can overcome the enemy. If the devil jumped on you right now would you know what to do? Well, would you?

It’s one thing to have faith but its another thing to know how to operate it. Faith is a defensive weapon that you can use to shield yourself from the devil. But if you don’t know how to use it properly it won’t do you much good.

If you are on active duty in the army of the Lord, at some point in battle, the enemy will confront you. You must be ready to fight at all times. If you’re not ready to fight, maybe that is why you’re in this trial right now. Trials provide training. God is training you now so you can overcome the enemy in future battles. Once you have been taught the Word of God and trained on how to use it, you’ll always come out a winner!

God is looking for winners to serve in His army! Are you a winner? Sure you are. The bible says in Romans 8:37 that we are more than conquerors through Him (Jesus Christ) who loved us. Philippians 4:13 says, we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us.

Remember the old saying, when the dust settles whoever is left standing is the winner. Well, if you’re still standing then you’re still winning. You’re a soldier in the army of the Lord. Keep on fighting!

Allow me to share a testimony with you. Years ago I was having anxiety attacks. It was one of the worst trails I was ever in. I wanted God to deliver me and when He didn’t do so in a timely fashion I felt frustrated. However, one day when I was getting ready to go somewhere I heard the Lord say, "Are you going to keep allowing the devil to torment you or are you going to do something about it? Every time he walks by and yells boo it scares you." Wow! In an instant God had given me a revelation! Although I was waiting on Him to deliver me, He wasn’t going to come back down from Heaven and do that. No, I had to learn how to stand up to the devil and fight him for myself. It wasn’t about what God was going to do for me it was about what God had already done for me through His Son Jesus.

Jesus had already given me the power to tell the devil to buzz off all I needed to do is put that power into action. So, that is what I did! Each time the devil came at me with something to scare me I’d resist him. Finally one day when he tried to hit me with depression and anxiety it wasn’t like it was before. I felt something different in the spiritual realm. I ‘m telling you the devil shrank right before my spiritual eyes. All of a sudden he didn’t seem so big anymore. When I felt him pull back in the spiritual realm (yes you can feel those things) I knew I had gained ground. The devil turned and ran that day because I quoted a simple, but powerful scripture. Praise God! (I’ll have to share with you sometime what scripture I used and why)

God could have delivered me out of my trial immediately. In fact, like I said before, that is what I wanted Him to do. However, it was better that God allowed me to fight in the battle myself. God wanted me to learn I had power over the devil so that the next time he came around and yelled boo, my faith would be strong enough to resist him. It’s like beating up the school bully. Once you’ve whipped him its not likely he’ll mess with you again. But hey, if he does, you know that you can always beat him up again.

If you’re in a trial right now stand up and fight. In your weakest moment you are stronger than the devil? God has given you power over all the power of the enemy. (Read Luke 10:19)

The devil may have power but we have power over him. Hallelujah! All it takes is a little faith to enforce his defeat. So exercise your faith. The more you exercise it the stronger it will become.

Resist means to ‘remain firm against.’ When the devil comes at you hold your shield of faith up and remain firm against him. If he pushes you, push him back. Slap the Word of God in his face and say, here devil, read it and weep! Tell him, "Devil, I take authority over you. I bind you and I cast you out and down, treading upon you in the name of Jesus. I have power over you and I am enforcing it! You are under my feet!" Then stomp your feet and say; "Be gone devil!"

After you have done that a few times then just ignore him. The devil craves attention and the more you give it to him the more he’ll want it. So at some point you’ll have to just stand on what you’ve said and walk away. If he follows you just kick him to the curb and ignore him.

God’s Word is powerful. It works! It worked for me and it will work for you. Activate the power. The Word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (Psalms 119:105) But faith is the switch that turns on the power!

Although God may allow you to go through some things that doesn’t mean He wants you to stay in tribulation. I know Christians who are always in a trial of some kind. But that’s only because they allow the devil to talk them into it. Don’t allow the devil to talk you into anything. Remember what happened to Adam and Eve. The devil talked Eve into eating an apple, and then Eve talked Adam into eating one, and we’ve all been paying for it ever since.

Okay, enough about apples. Let’s get back to what we were talking about. God doesn’t put His children through unnecessary pain and heartache. Trials are for those rare times when God wants you to learn something or He wants to reveal Himself to you. Like I said at the beginning of this article, I may have learned a lot by going through some things but I don’t think for a second that God intends for me to stay in trials and tribulation all my life.

Also, allow me to point out that God doesn’t allow trials into your life to destroy you.

When God allows a trial into your life it is for your own good, as I shared in my testimony above. This scripture says it best.

The bottom line is this, God wants you to whip the devil and put him under your feet. Once you have the enemy under your feet, and you’ve learned how to keep him there, your trial will be over.

How long will it take you to get the devil under your feet? Ever how long it takes you to learn the Word of God and put it in action. You can start by studying the Word of God and quoting it everyday. You can quote it out loud or you can quote it quietly to yourself. Just quote it.

When I started quoting scriptures to the devil it didn’t take him very long to leave. He won’t hang around if you’re quoting scriptures and praising God!

(I recommend a booklet by Charles Capps that helped me and I still use it to this day. It’s called ‘God’s Creative Power Will Work For You’ (This booklet is only $2.00) http://www.CharlesCapps.Com

If you’re not saved and you’re trying to overcome an addiction or some other kind of demonic thing, the first thing you need to do is give your heart to Jesus Christ! Once you receive salvation Jesus will help you overcome whatever it is that is troubling you. You may be hooked on drugs and alcohol. Or, it may be something so bad you can’t even talk about it. Whatever it is God will deliver you and make you complete again. Trust him today.

Copyright 2007 by Darlene Osborne