From calling to glory : The spiritual cycle of the predestined believer

In episode 5 of the Top Chrono podcast (Top Chrono website), our theme was: “Thanksgiving & Planning.” Ironically, three days later, I realized that it was Thanksgiving in Canada. I thought to myself, “Wow,” because although I was aware of this annual celebration, I had no idea when it was, so it was a bit of a coincidence, or rather, I should say divine timing, that this episode was released at the same time.

In Romans 8:29-30 (New Living Translation), we read:

" [29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstbornamong many brothers and sisters. 

[30] And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory."

Yesterday, as I felt in my spirit that God wanted us to rebroadcast episodes 5 and 6 of the Top Chrono podcast, I wondered why we were rebroadcasting not just one episode but two specific successive episodes.

In my little walk with God at this stage, I understood that everything He does has a purpose, including the things that seem most insignificant to us.

That's when I realized that God wants us to develop an attitude of constant thanksgiving and gratitude during this season, beyond all the challenges we may be facing and all the visible realities in our lives right now.

So why listen to The Mystery of Predestination – Episode #006 again?

In reality, it's all in the word predestination and in this passage from Romans 8:29-30; I have deliberately chosen to focus on the beginning and end of verse 30: “predestined, called, and glory,” with the other points being covered in subsequent episodes of Top Chrono, which you can follow on your streaming platform of choice.

To understand these points precisely, we will look at what I call “the spiritual cycle of the predestined believer.”

The entire life of the believer can be summarized in these seven stages.

At each stage of our lives, we face challenges of various kinds, and these challenges will take us through different stages, but the point I wanted to emphasize is stage 6: Giving thanks in suffering. In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult stages because giving thanks in the midst of adversity is sometimes impossible, not because we don't want to, but because we feel drained and exhausted. It is precisely at this moment that, through faith, beyond circumstances that seem to make no sense, we choose to give thanks to God, and certain spiritual forces are set in motion. Praise and thanksgiving in adversity release an inestimable power, far beyond that which is released in conditions of calm and absolute success.

Some challenges, unfortunately or fortunately, will require us to submit to this stage of thanksgiving, while in other cases, God will intervene because of His grace and goodness due to His sovereignty, even though our heart attitude may not have been the best.

It is this slight nuance that I wanted to point out because, although challenges follow one another, the path to fulfillment can vary from one to another.

Let us continue to persevere because this very difficult and perhaps even desperate situation will turn into a testimony.

As Dr. Raoul Wafo would say, “Faith never fails” and “If you haven't triumphed yet, it's because the story isn't over yet!”

You can listen to Isaac Bukasa's song “Actions de grâces” here.

We are together.

See you soon.

Sonia BEGUIDE