"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
Learning From Hannah’s Painful Transition Process Part 2
“And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because theLordhad closed her womb.So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of theLord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.” (I Samuel 1:6-7)
What was Hannah’s issue? What was the big deal? Hannah wanted to have a baby; that was the reason for her misery. The misery of not having what we desire in terms of ministry, gets even more painful before we begin to see doors opening up. Perhaps you desire to minister to a particular nation; perhaps you desire to sing to the Lord, to write a book, to pastor, etc. Whatever the situation may be; in the process of going after our dreams, you will always find a season of great irritation.
God is always in the business of taking us from glory to glory, from level to level and from revelation to revelation. He is always in the business of preparing us for something greater, to take us higher and to take us deeper. But the reality is that if we are comfortable where we are at, it is human nature for us to want to stay in that same place.
Hannah had a rival whose job was to irritate her. We will never embrace change until we are fed up with our condition. What is irritating you right now? Whatever it is, thank God for it; it is the very thing He will use to move you higher in your transition process!
An independent thinker with a profound call to see the orthodoxy of the church and passion for Christ manifesting together. Angel was born in Brooklyn, New York in April of 1968, he was raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico where he earned his B.S. degree in Sociology with a minor in Education from the Inter American University in San Germán in 1991. That same year he moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After working construction jobs for a year and learning the English language, his first job working with foster-care children in the capacity of youth care worker was with Jacksonville Youth Sanctuary in September of 1992. With JYS he was promoted several times as group home supervisor, legal caseworker, and program director.
While in Jacksonville, Angel studied a couple of martial arts styles. After earning his black belt, he became the founder of Good Fight Ministries as he used martial arts as an instrument to preach the gospel. In 2004 Angel was selected Martial Arts Instructor of the Year for the State of Florida and in 2005 Angel was inducted in the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame where he also received the Christian Spirit Award. In July of 2005 Angel accepted his call to pastor a bilingual church in Winton, NC where he served for a couple of years. Five months later he lost his first wife to cancer in December of that same year. This initiated a deep valley of suffering in his life, a mountain of costly mistakes and the embracing of lifestyles of sin that are well documented through this blog.
In August of 2012 Angel moved to Fairbanks Alaska with his wife Rayette Casiano and six children who are now adults. In Alaska, Angel continued his social work-related career and his ministry of preaching, teaching and writing. Angel is the author of two books, Hope for the divorcee: Forgiving and Moving Forward and 7 Banderas de Esperanza: La Bendición de Yokdzonot. In January 8th of 2020 Angel and his wife moved to Arizona.
View all posts by angelcasiano
