God did not promise that you would never know pain and sickness, never face persecution or suffer hardships. On the contrary, we know that:
-Paul wrote Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12 and said ,"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
-Jesus said in John 16:33, “In the world ye shall have tribulation…”
We know that our faith will be tested, but God has promised victory in every circumstance.
-Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9 NAS:
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
The Apostle Paul faced circumstances that were beyond his strength to endure in the natural, even to the point of despairing for his own life. He told the believers at Corinth:
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 NIV "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us."
Paul did not moan, groan, or complain about the hardships he suffered. He did not question why these things happened to him because he knew God was in control of his circumstances. Paul was not fearful of what might happen to him next. He never said, “Satan just about got me that time. I barely escaped. I am afraid of what is next!"
He did not say these things because deep within his spirit, he knew that God had provided:
(1) Victory for him in the past: "He has delivered us."
(2) He had victory in the present: "He will deliver us.”
(3) He also knew that regardless of what he might face, God had already provided victory for him in the future. Paul declared, “...on Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us.”
It was knowing that God had provided victory in the past, present, and future that enabled Paul to face death victoriously without fear in 2 Timothy 4:6:
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” He wasn’t afraid of the circumstances he would face in death. He boldly declared, “I am ready.”
You do not have to experience defeat as Israel did at Ai. You can overcome impending defeat in the power of the Lord. God has provided victory for you in the past, He gives you victory in the present, and He will provide victory in the future.
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