Power & Victory For the Rest of Your Life // Your Road to Spiritual Victory, Part 4

<p>Suffering isn’t a subject most of us like to talk about, or even think about, but suffering is a reality in life. And right in the middle of that not-so-pleasant reality, I have some good news for you today. Your God wants you to have victory, right in the middle of your suffering.</p> <h3><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>VICTORY IN SUFFERING</strong></span></h3> <p>People pay a lot of money for wilderness eco tours these days, and yet as Christians, God seems to take us on wilderness tours free of charge on a regular basis. Why does He do that? I mean, can’t our lives just go along on a nice, even keel for ever and ever amen?</p> <p>Funny thing, but when Jesus was baptised, as He come out of the water, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove and a voice spoke from heaven saying, “<em>This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased</em>”.</p> <p>Did that happen at your baptism? No, me neither. Let’s take a look. Mark chapter 1, verses 9 to 13:</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>Just as he was coming out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’. And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan.</em></p> <p>A booming voice from heaven – “<em>This is my beloved Son in You I am well pleased</em>” … and yet, the very next thing that God did with His precious Son was to drive Him out (literally the word means ‘throw Him out’) into the wilderness to starve and to be tempted by the devil for forty days and forty nights. God didn’t even spare His own Son, but when He was finished, Jesus came out of the wilderness we are told ‘<em>filled with the Holy Spirit</em>’.</p> <p>It’s just how God does things, get used to it. Suffering is part of God’s plan for our lives. None of us enjoys suffering. I don’t and I’m pretty sure you don’t either. But suffering is a normal part of life. And God tells us that whe