Treasures in the Darkness

By Jewel Ewoade

Here are two facts about pain:

Pain is inevitable in this life.

Pain is currency.

Yes, pain is currency. In every dark experience you have, there is the opportunity to trade your pain for some treasure. You see God never wastes the pain of His children, and if He permits you to go through a dark season, then know that there is some treasure in that darkness. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that not everyone emerges enriched after a dark experience.

In this book you will find out the one thing that distinguishes those who emerge better after difficult experiences from those who do not. It also explores some of the ways in which the challenges in life could end up working for our good, and how to position ourselves so that we gather as much treasure as possible in the dark valleys of life.

If pain is inevitable, why not let yours count for something? Why not let God help you plunder it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jewel Ewoade
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215010761

Jewel Ewoade

Jewel Enyonam Ewoade is an associate pastor with the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministry, Accra Ghana. From her own experience of pain and loss, she is passionate about sharing the hope and comfort a Christian has in God when faced with pain in life. She is a happy mother of two boys, Kekeli and Sedinam, and loves to read Christian fiction.

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to

The THRIVE Network

May we rise as testaments of God’s great faithfulness in the dark places of life.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am eternally grateful to my God, who walks with me through the maze of this life. I am thankful for His great patience in teaching me and for entrusting me with the awesome responsibility of sharing what He teaches me. My prayer is that He will find me faithful.

I am also grateful for my wonderful family. God knows we are not perfect, but I am grateful for the love for God that binds us all together. My dear parents, my beloved brothers and our MP, thank you for all you have done and continue to do. My Kekeli and Sedinam, you give me reason to carry on with a smile.

I am also thankful to Rev. and Rev. Mrs. Steve Mensah of the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministry (CEM). I am blessed to be part of this great church. I am also thankful beyond words to Rev. Charles and Rev. Mrs. Grace Akrofi, as well as the pastoral and leadership teams of the CEM youth service for their encouragement and support in this endeavour.

My editor, Mrs. Abigail Buckner, it is always a pleasure working with you. My dear sister Marie, thanks for your love and help with this.

And to all who have helped in diverse ways to birth this book, I say thank you so much!

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE

An Uncommon Perspective

PART TWO: TREASURES IN THE DARKNESS

Eternal Rewards

Spiritual Growth and Maturity

Greater Purpose and Fruitfulness

Ministers of Hope and Comfort

A Witness to the World

Preparation for Future Assignments

Humility

Creativity

Resilience

PART THREE: THE POSTURE OF THE PLUNDERER

The Conviction that God is with You

The Posture of Surrender

The Posture of Gratitude

The Posture of Worship

The Posture of Forgiveness

The Posture of a Student

The Posture of Prayer

The Posture of Service

And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness— secret riches.

Isaiah 45:3a

INTRODUCTION

I do not enjoy trying times, and I am pretty sure you don’t either.

But they remain an unavoidable part of life, and every single one of us will have some hard times as we go through life. Unfortunately, salvation does not immunize Christians against all the dark experiences of life. Yes, sometimes, God delivers his people from certain battles, but there are others He permits us to face. Jesus promised his disciples that we would have trials and tribulations in this life. Therefore, so long as we remain here, there will be experiences that will keep us from feeling completely comfortable in this world.

That God allows us to go through difficult times does not mean that He doesn't  love us. It also does not mean that He is not able to save us from these challenges. While we may never understand all the reasons why God allows us to go through certain unpleasant experiences, there is one comforting thing we can be assured of – in every darkness, there is treasure (Isaiah 45:3).

God does not waste the pain of His children, and as we will find out, there are several ways in which He desires to enrich the lives of His children even while they go through painful experiences. We will find that He can work in amazing ways to transform what the enemy intends for our hurt and harm into experiences that yield great good and great glory.

However, we do not come by these riches automatically. Our posture during hard times determines the extent to which we will receive these treasures hidden in darkness. You see, everyone will go through dark seasons, but not everyone will emerge enriched by the experience. Therefore, another focus of this book will be to explore how to position ourselves in trying times so our pain is never wasted.

My prayer is that as we walk with God through the trying phases of life, we will position ourselves to receive every treasure there is in those dark seasons. I pray that none of our painful experiences will be wasted. And I also pray that looking back we will one day be able to say with Joseph ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Gen. 50:20).

PART ONE: AN UNCOMMON PERSPECTIVE

¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now;