Streams Of Joy Daily Devotional - It's A Training

IT'S A TRAINING

"And they came to Jericho: as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging." (Mark 10:46)

That is the Focal Scripture of Streams of Joy Devotional today.

In our Focal Scripture, blind Bartimaeus sat by the wayside begging. Because of his blindness, he spent his days begging. If one hundred people walked past him, he probably had to beg them all. It seemed that his profession was to beg men. He probably learnt how to scream loud enough in the course of begging men. He cut his teeth in the business of begging on the highway.

When Jesus was passing by, Bartimaeus screamed at the top of his voice and asked Jesus for mercy. He learnt to beg men for money, and he was able to beg Jesus for mercy. His beggarly experience positioned him for a divine repositioning. What looked like a downside of his life became the platform for his next level. Begging was his training for his next level.

Friend, like blind Bartimaeus, you may at that level where you are 'begging', but God says, it is a training for your next level. You may be working under someone who stresses you out and makes you go extra mile to do your work; God says, it's not a punishment- it's a training for the big stage. You may have been in difficult circumstances, and God says, what you learnt therein will help you to rise to the next level.

Your setbacks, disappointments, difficult moments, pains, tough times, etc are preparations for your next level. When men think they are shortchanging you, they have no idea that they are making you wiser than you are at the moment. When men think they have caused you losses, they have no idea that they just might have fired you up for prayers and prophetic confessions.

God can use beauty to arise out the ashes of your life; even your negative experiences are not a waste of time if you dare to take some positivity out of them. Ask God to open your eyes to the training in your tough times; it may indeed be tough, but it's a training.

Pray with me: Lord, may every tough moment of my life prepare me for my next level, in Jesus' name!

Follow on Twitter @jerrystreams