Divine Advancement: How Suffering Launches You Forward

Beloved, are you suffering right now? Are you facing some enemies named “tests and trials,” or “sinning people,” or “financial lack,” or any other type of enemy or trouble in your life?

If so, this last chapter of our series 9 Keys to Divine Advancement is going to minister to you, because we are talking about how suffering launches you forward–and about how you need some enemies if you want to sit at the fullness of the table God has prepared for you.

First, let’s talk about having enemies.

The Bible tells us over and over that we will experience difficulty in this life, and that we will have enemies and conflicts. We know that people are not our enemy, even when it feels like they are:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV).

But hard things still happen, and we still have enemies sometimes–even the ones that look like people. 🙂

Nevertheless, God works it out for our good.

One of those passages shows us how God works out our having enemies for good is Psalm 23:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:1-6 NKJV).

I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but there’s a key phrase in Psalm 23 that we often overlook.

That key phrase is that God prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies.

And that truth doesn’t often get its rightful place in modern, feel-good theology.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with feeling good.

God is a God of joy. He gives peace that passes all understanding. He does bless you coming in and going out when you diligently obey His voice and are watchful to do all that He has commanded you. (See Deuteronomy 28 for more about that.)

But, the truth is also that living in this sinful, fallen world produces tribulation. Although the perfection of the Garden of Eden was God’s original plan for us, we as mankind fell away from that when Adam and Eve sinned.

Now, therefore, we live in a world where bad things happen sometimes, and where tests and trials occur through no fault of your own (and, sometimes, even because of our own bad decisions, it’s true). As Jesus said:

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NKJV).

So God is a God of peace and rest and joy and good things, but we do face enemies of various kinds in this life.

For example:

• Sometimes people can set themselves up to be your enemy, even though we know that it’s actually the enemy (the devil) working through them and that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against demonic principalities and powers and rulers of this present darkness.
• Sometimes problems can feel like your enemy, like a financial need, or your need for a job, or having to replace a broken appliance in your house, or not knowing what to do when your vehicle breaks down.
• And sometimes our own mindsets can be enemies to us, such as depression or discouragement or strongholds of rejection and abandonment.
• Sometimes our past experiences can feel like enemies, such as when you have deep inner pain from unhealed father wounds, and all the signs and symptoms still hound your life, and you just want to be healed and whole.

Having enemies is not fun. Nobody likes being hated; nobody enjoys being persecuted; nobody just loves going through hard times. Even Jesus begged the Father, in the Garden of Gethsemane, to let Him avoid the crucifixion if it was His will.

(And we thank God that it wasn’t the Father’s will to deliver Jesus from that, and that Jesus was willing to submit to whatever the Father’s will was, or we would not be saved today–and there would be no hope for our futures. Hallelujah!)

But even though nobody likes to suffer, suffering is often the rocket launcher that God uses to propel you forward.

Think again about Jesus. Jesus had to get to the cross somehow. So, He purposely picked Judas, a man that He knew was the “son of perdition,” to be one of His disciples. He purposely drew someone that He knew would be His betrayer into His inner circle, walking with Judas and talking with him and teaching and loving him.

All the while, He knew that Judas would be the one to betray Him. He knew that Judas would be the catalyst to send Him to the cross.

How hard that must have been for Jesus, to love and walk with Judas all that time!

Yet, Jesus did it on purpose. He did it because the Father did it, and Judas was a key to Jesus’ destiny.

Now friend, I’m not saying here that you should go out and recruit every back-stabber in town to be your best friend. I’m not telling you to purposely inflict pain and agony and emotional trauma on yourself, just so you can get some enemies and move on with God.

Enough enemies will come through your life naturally, bless God; you don’t have to seek any more of them out. 🙂

But the truth is that the Lord prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies, and that He can’t do that until you have some enemies.

And enemies tend to accompany trouble.

Whether the trouble comes first or the enemy comes first, or whether the trouble is the enemy, they do tend to go together. But, you know what? The promise of God still remains; He will work all things out for your good.

As we read in Romans 8:28:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NKJV).

God will work ALL THINGS together for your good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Do you meet those qualifications?

If you have given your life to Jesus, making Him your Lord and Savior, then you do. And if you have done that, you are God’s child now, and everything that happens to you He will work out for your good.

Yes, He will work absolutely everything out for your good if you love Him and are called according to His purpose. And that DOES describe every believer in Christ, according to Romans 8:29-30:

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30 NKJV).

So, there’s no getting around it. If you have made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, then you DO love Him and you ARE called according to His purpose.

This means you have a 100% guarantee that Christ will work ALL things out for your good.

It doesn’t matter what type of suffering you are experiencing, or how long it has gone on, or whose fault it is or isn’t. Of course Christ has compassion for you; He is always near to the brokenhearted:

“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NKJV).

But His promise doesn’t change for anyone. Christ is faithful, and He cannot deny Himself:

“This is a faithful saying:

For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:11-13 NKJV).

And therefore, my beloved, we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

And part of “working out our own salvation” is to stop getting angry with God for our troubles …

… and to acknowledge the truth of His Word:

• that in this world we will have tribulations;
• that Jesus has already overcome all those tribulations for us and on our behalf;
• that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world;
• that all things work together for your good, for you DO love God and ARE called according to His purpose; and
• that you had to have some enemies first in order for Jesus to prepare that table for you in the presence of your enemies.

Beloved, God only allows you to go out to battle when He has a giant for you to kill.

David showed up on a battlefield in Israel one day, not by chance, but by divine Providence–because God had a giant for him to kill. And killing that giant became the launching pad for David to step into his destiny.

And just like God had a victory planned for David, beloved, He has a victory planned for YOU too.

Not only that, but He doesn’t leave it up to happenstance. He does insist that we obey Him before He promotes us; He is a good, good Father, and He will not bless our disobedience. For that reason:

• we have to count it all joy when we go through various trials;
• we have to give thanks in everything;
• we have to learn to keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; and
• we have to hold fast the confession of our faith, knowing that He Who promised is faithful.

God is still faithful, no matter how we feel. And faith is a choice. During hardships and struggles, we have to choose to believe Him and His Word, and we have to keep on choosing to believe Him every single day.

And as you make that choice, beloved, Jesus will move on your behalf.

HE is the One that assures the victory. Jesus purchased your victory for you with His Own precious blood, and He is the One Who gives that victory to you.

However, He does use your enemies to bring you into that victory.

Your enemies are the launching pad God uses to work things out for your good. You have to have something that needs to be worked out for your good in order to go higher. And your suffering is what God uses to work His resurrection power in you, bringing it from the inside to the outside.

Look at Philippians 3:7-11 with me:

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish,

that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11 NKJV).

O my friend. It’s time to begin thanking God for our enemies.

Always be grateful for the people who hated you, hurt you, and even tried to kill you or destroy your life. Always be grateful for your troubles, no matter how painful–knowing that God will work it out for your good, and that He is working it out for your good even now.

I have had so many enemies and troubles in this life, both before and after I met Jesus. I am no stranger to suffering. Nevertheless, the Lord is teaching me to stand on faith by choice and thank Him for every storm.

Because of that, I have become very grateful for the troubles I have experienced.

It certainly didn’t happen all at once. However, over time, the Lord has worked in me a great gratitude to Him for the trouble I have been through, and even for the people who have hurt me the most in the past.

Yes: even though those people tried to kill me and destroy my life, I learned so much about the Lord during those times. And He taught me how to heal from those things.

Now, because of what I learned during those seasons, I am able to teach God’s Word about healing and freedom and walking in the truth around the world, seeing thousands of people set free and healed from the same things that were inflicted on me.

I would not have been able to help those people had I not been through what I have been through.

I would not be where I am today if the Lord had not allowed me to suffer. He didn’t cause that suffering; He doesn’t tempt people to sin or hurt others. In fact, He hates sin and all the effects of sin–including hating the hurt and sin that people inflicted on you.

Nevertheless, the Lord works it all out for our good. And in my case, I know that all the people I have seen get set free under the power of God’s Word would not have been set free in that moment if I had not suffered myself and walked through it into victory in Jesus.

Yes: suffering was absolutely required on my part in order for me to understand what they were dealing with, know how to reach them, and know what to teach them.

O my beloved. Enemies and suffering are part of this life, but God uses them to launch you into your destiny.

I’m sorry for the pain you’ve been through, and also for any pain you are currently experiencing, even in this very moment. I’d fix it for you if I could, but I can’t. Nevertheless, I want to comfort you with God’s Word today:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18 NKJV).

You may be going through a lot, but your suffering is only a launching point for God to work it out for your good.

You’re going UP because of this situation. You’re going to bloom, not drown, if you’ll keep your eyes on Jesus. You don’t have to know what or when or how or why. All you have to know is Him, the Author and Finisher of your faith:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV).

… and He will work it out for your good.

Always remember that Judas was an essential part of Jesus’ destiny, and that the plans of God are far superior to anything the enemy could ever throw at you. And “… in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV).

Did you need to hear this word today? Is the Lord speaking to your heart about this? If so, leave a comment below!