The Challenges and How to Overcome Them Schadrac Junior Ondongo Bongo   © Copyright 2020 by Schadrac Junior Ondongo Bongo

Photo by Michael Dam on Unsplash

Ordinary people often face all kinds of things that happen through their journey. And no one escapes because it's like a law drawn up by a Supreme Being who says: Everyone will have his time of joy and pain.

And unfortunately, I didn't escape to that.

Without having a high opinion of myself, I have still been a good child for my parents, a good pupil for my teachers and a good citizen for the society. But all of that wasn't sufficient for me always to have a carefree life.

One day, when I woke up, I tried to put my feet down but I couldn't. I did my best with all the energy I could muster, but I couldn't and I wondered what had happened.

I kept cool for a while, for this situation had stressed me and I was afraid of stressing out.

I cried out, and my nephew came into my bedroom and brought me to the hospital.

I had an X-ray done, and fortunately it showed nothing really serious. And months later I walked on my feet and could do any movement. Through our course on earth, it's evident that we'll meet many concerns into our life. But there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. I worried about my future because I had many concerns (physical, mental and financial).

However, my life was changed and I had no more worries when I discovered that man isn't only a physical body but is tripartite.

Through the trials of life or because of what I went through, l wondered:

What happens after death?

Where are we going after death?

These are the kind of questions I asked myself.

First and foremost, I learned that man is a being existing in three parts, or is “Tripartite.” In other words, the man that I am is constituted of a body, a soul and a spirit.

Genesis 2

7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

1 Thessalonians 5

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Chris

Hebrews 4

12 For the word of God is alive and active.

Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

And by looking in the Bible, I knew that the Old Testament consistently uses three primary words to describe the parts of man: basar (flesh), which refers to the external, material aspect of man (mostly in emphasizing human frailty); nephesh, which refers to the soul as well as the whole person or life; and ruach, which is used to refer to the human spirit.

I discovered that man is the creature who is the closest to God's image and likeness, for he is the only one that God created in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).

By reading that I knew I am God’s masterpiece, and that changed my mentality.

I tell myself I have a body (the body is the physical structure, including the bones, flesh, and organs, of a person or an animal.).

And it's important for me to keep that in good condition.

That's why I should eat, drink and do all things necessary to my survival, to have and keep my good health.

And I saw this verse:

Psalm 139

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.

As time went on, I regained the physical appearance that I had before. But inside of me (In my spirit—the non-physical part of a person regarded as their true self and as capable of surviving physical death or separation.), there was something wrong.

And because of them, I decided to take care of my spirit. They opened my eyes, and I knew that the spirit was the mirror of the body, the nucleus, the driving force of man's destiny. And I also learned that everything starts first in the spirit before being reflected in the physical. I was in need, so I accepted their tenet or creed without questioning it.

One of those evangelical Christians told me: To do something or reflect an image or give a point of view...It all comes first in man's mind before being reflected in the physical, because we think before we act. And he gave me some biblical references.

Here is the summary of what he told me about the spirit:

20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.

Proverbs 13

16 All who are prudent act with knowledge, but fools expose their folly.

He said, Jesus Christ was rejected because the Jews were blinded, so God's word came to the Gentiles. The question is, in what part were they blinded? In their spirits. Acts 13 shows us this.

12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise, they might turn and be forgiven!’”

And kept on by saying, the strong man, is he who has more consideration of his mind than his body. For your mind is the light of your body.

17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.

They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

Galatians 5

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious:

Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.

And he added: The Great Kings, great men of history had a part of spirituality in their success. They knew they weren't just organic matter but were also spiritual beings.

He told me to remember what the serpent said to Eve.

Genesis 3

5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

From one point of view, the devil wasn't wrong. Through a spiritual entity, Adam and Eve were reduced to the state of flesh “knowing good and evil.” And from another point of view, they were already like God because before this happened, they saw God as He is.

By taking more care of their spirits than their bodies, (that is, their spirits dominated their bodies) some men have announced and done things that the world continues to benefit from today.

He added: There are many examples in the Bible of those who lifted up their spirits rather than their bodies. And he cited the Lord Jesus Christ, St. Peter, St. Paul, Moses, Elijah, Daniel...

And he continued his thesis by saying, all of these men had their secret: they knew how to take advantage man's tripartite nature. In other words, they didn't keep on eating and drinking, but they exploited their trump card, their mind, by connecting that with the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ.

He said, Moses never was in the beginning when God created, but by God's revelation he described what had happened in the beginning. You should also know this revelation came because Moses had developed his spirit more than his body.

For there are two things:

Either faith exercised by the spirit trumps your body, or your body trumps your faith.

And he ended his preaching about the spirit by talking about John by saying, the Apostle John was the last surviving among the apostles and got a great revelation from God. Apart from being a man of flesh, he was also a spiritual being, and his spirit was also connected to an entity called the great Jehovah.

Upon hearing that I was stunned, but I wanted to know more about that because I thought it was my path to healing, not only for my body, but also for my spirit and my soul.

He also talked about the soul (The soul is the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being, regarded as immortal.)

He said, a wise man knows that after the life on earth, after the death of the human body, there is another life or another dimension to be experienced. And that dimension or life won't be lived in our flesh, but with our soul.

He gave me that verse which says.

Mark 8

36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

And he continued his preaching by saying, it all starts here on earth. He told me my life on earth can determine my future destination after death.

John 14

6 “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

It means except through him, there's no other way. And this man is the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords.

He told me, don't think that you'll live your life as you want and at the end, when you die, you'll enter into the heaven because of your works. You'll only enter because the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, poured out his blood. And by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior, you'll share in his glory.

I don't know if what he had told me was true or not, but what I know after applying it that I was changed and could overcome concerns I had. And today I have a new outlook about myself.