Hey guys, I hope you have enjoyed the travail series.
Do you feel confident enough to handle your travail season?
Please let us know in the comment section.
In the meantime, here is the assurance:
Isaiah 66:7 (NIV)
“Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son.”
Delivery is assured. Travail is never in vain. It may be uncomfortable. It may be painful. But when the results come, the labor pain pales in comparison.
There is a peculiar grace for prayer that the Lord has already availed.
There is a window opened for you to enjoy this particular grace.
So, as you pray, as you travail, do it from a point of victory, knowing that delivery is assured.
Now that grace is availed and victory assured, allow me to share a couple of things with you, okay?
How Champions Are Made
Champions are champions because they trim/reduce their lives to the very necessary
1 Cor 9:24-27 (NIV) 
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Paul told Corinthians, everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. As you enter a season of travail, you might find God asking you to remove some things from your life, either for good or just for a time. God might ask you to let go of some things, not necessarily because they are bad or sinful, but because they are not beneficial for the season you are in, or the relationship you are desiring to have with Him.
Champions have to undergo strict training, and they go through it willingly, knowing that the pain of the training cannot be compared with the glory that comes with winning. When a champion is asked to stay away from things like soft drinks, alcohol, and white bread, they understand that while these foods and drinks are not bad, they are not beneficial during training and the actual races. They also know that such foods may do more harm to their training, which is why they obey without question.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 (a) (NKJV)
22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of [a]witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
There are some benefits that you cannot reap from your travail season if you’re not willing to obey…to separate yourself from some of these things.
Psalm 24:6 (NKJV)
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face.
We all know the story of Jacob’s encounter with the Lord. We Know of the encounter that led him to his name being changed to Israel. However, this encounter only took place because Jacob was willing to separate himself from his family and his property to interact with Jesus.
The grace for prayer is already availed…delivery is assured. The question now remains, are you willing to obey? To trust whatever the Lord asks of you, like a champion under training?
Strengthen Weak Areas
2 Chronicles 15:12-15 (NKJV)
Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.
Every time you encounter God, you experience a certain fulfillment that cannot be experienced anywhere else.
Encountering God brings joy. It brings rest…lifting like never before.
A season of travail will open doors for you. It will bring elevation with it. However, as this elevation comes; are you ready to handle it?
This is a time for you to reflect, identify your areas of weakness, and take time to deal with them.
Have you ever noticed how shameful it is when someone, ‘a big person’ is caught in a scandal that brings them down and all they have worked for for years? All this can be avoided.
But how?
If you know that you have a weakness or a problem in a certain area, you need to learn to balance your prayer and seeking strength for that particular area.
Dealing with your areas of weakness will help ensure that when the prayer opens incredible doors for you, these areas won’t embarrass you.
Ecclesiastes 10:1a. (AMP)
Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give off a foul odor.
It would be such a waste to travail and go through the discomfort and the pain, only for these weaknesses to become the dead flies that give your elevation a foul odor.
The good Lord desires to see you through this travail season victoriously. He also desires to see you enjoy the fruits of this season without them being turned sour by dead flies. Stay with Him, child of God. Let Him strengthen these areas. Let Him help you to build your character.
Stay with Him child of God
Stay on Him
Until you are transformed
Until you become more like Him
Child of God travail!