THE COURT OF HEAVEN:WHY TRIAL BEFORE BREAKTHROUGH

The heavenly court

Today, let us talk about heaven. Let us discuss something that, depending on the season we are in, we often fail to understand. We are going to try to answer the question of why things happen the way they do in our relationship with God.What are we talking about? Well, have you ever noticed that bad things happen to good people right before they rise up and succeed? It is almost like a pattern—a recipe for success here on earth—if you look at it from a biblical perspective. Let us look at the examples.

Take Joseph first: he had to go through prison and betrayal for 13 years before he became Prime Minister. Daniel’s promotion passed through the lions' den before it came to him. Jesus had to die on the cross to overcome Satan, so that He could finally be lifted up and given all authority. As it is written, "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). If you ask those who have overcome and succeeded, they will tell you they had to go through not just similar situations, but the exact same pattern described above before they realized victory in their lives. I was wondering about this and asking myself, "Why?" Why can it not just be straightforward without experiencing challenges? Does God do this deliberately?

Well, a lot of preachers have preached about this, and I too have preached about it before. They have said things like, "God is training you, changing you so that you can be mature enough to handle His blessings when your time comes." There are verses in the Bible about this, and I want to tell you this is 100 percent true. As Romans 5:3-4 says, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."

However, there is another dimension to this that the Lord wants us to discuss today. This dimension is the Lord's legal system in heaven. If we understand it, I believe it will change our perspective on how we look at challenges and troubles before our appointed time of blessing. To explain it better, let us look at the story of what happened to Peter in the Bible. When Peter told Jesus that he was going to die with Him, Jesus said that was not going to happen. Instead, Peter would deny Him three times.

The next thing Jesus said is even mind-blowing. Jesus told Peter that Satan, in heaven's court, had asked specifically for all His disciples—including Peter—to sift them all as wheat. But Jesus prayed. Instead of praying for all His disciples, He only prayed for Peter's faith—that it would not fail during Satan's sifting period—so that when Peter's faith had returned, he would be able to strengthen his brothers (the disciples). "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31-32).

When the Holy Spirit brought this into my mind, I had questions. Where did Satan get the permission from? Why would God grant Satan that permission to sift the disciples like wheat? Why would Jesus pray for only Peter and not all the disciples? How did Jesus know what was happening in heaven—that Satan had given God a petition about His disciples—while He was still here on earth? Why did God grant Satan that permission? It is like the situation of Job repeating itself here.

In response, it came to my attention that Satan has a role to play in heaven too. He is our accuser. Just as he could enter the court of heaven to make petitions concerning Job, he did the same with the disciples of Jesus. "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the Lord, 'From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.'" (Job 1:6-7). And as Revelation 12:10 confirms, "For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down."

Jesus, being our Advocate—our Lawyer in heaven—made a petition for Peter for the sake of all the disciples, because Peter was the one meant to lead the church afterward. That is the reason our prayers are called petitions. The same thing that happened to Peter and Job continues for us today. Satan is making petitions concerning our lives every day, and Jesus is interceding for all of us as our Advocate. "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1).

Someone may ask, "How is this connected to the pattern of our struggles before success as a recipe for our breakthroughs?" Well, there are two things. First, God knows how important pain is to our lives. God uses pain to test your faith in Him for your spiritual growth. That is why sometimes He grants Satan his petitions, so that He can use it not against you, but for you. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Secondly, Satan would not be called an accuser if there were not God's laws and sin here on earth. We are all struggling with sin, and our struggles with sin are the basis of Satan's petitions to our Father in heaven. Remember, Satan is God's child too—just a disobedient one whose fate has already been decided. So, from time to time, he appears in the courts of heaven to make these petitions for you and me today, just like he did with Job and Peter. That is why you can never have a completely smooth life.

Every time God wants to shower you with blessings that you have addressed to Him in prayer in accordance with His word, Satan presents a counter-petition of how sinful and deserving of punishment you are. Then, Jesus intercedes for you. So that once Satan's petitions have been granted for your life, and the testing, challenging, and tormenting times have ended, you can now experience victory. This happens not only for your sake but for the sake of the Kingdom of God, for both heaven and earth. That is why we have these periods of testing and trials before experiencing our breakthroughs. It is Jesus Christ who, by His grace, makes it all possible for us to finally experience God's blessings as the children of God. "These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7).

You may ask, "But Job was a righteous person; he did not sin. Why did God allow challenges to happen to him?" Well, to be righteous is to live by faith in God's word. To be righteous is to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. As it is written, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3). This does not mean that you do not have sins that would give Satan grounds to submit his petitions to the Father. It only means that the sins that you have or commit are not for you to pay for anymore. They are technically for Jesus to pay for, and He already paid that price by His blood on the Cross so that we can have grace. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

That is why prayer and repentance are very important every single day of your life. Knowing this, Paul said, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And James puts it this way: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4).

God grants Satan's petitions not to destroy you, but in His love, to build you. Forget about the delays that it brings. He does this so that when you have been tested, the blessings of God can come to you without any legal denial in the heavenly courts, and God will be glorified in all of it.

May this resonate with your spirit and be cemented into your life as a tool that will make you not only endure during the trying times but also understand the whole process. Understand that when the time for your blessing comes, you can glorify God in Jesus' name.