Whoever Said It Would Be Easy?

I’m sure when a lot of people receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour they probably think that life should be great all the time and that bad things should avoid them. After all they have put their faith and Jesus and are committed to doing the will of God. They might tell everyone they know about Jesus and their life is totally transformed, but then what happens? Life.

Life comes with lots of trials and tribulations and setbacks and tears and illnesses and is this the person I really married kind of stuff. And not only that we come across verses that say we’re supposed to rejoice in our problems. “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:2-5

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth that gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

I take from these verses and there are others in the Bible that God doesn’t want to waste a hurt in our trials. He expects us to grow in them and to glorify Him thru them. The verse in Romans shows that it’s a process that we going thru. And where does it lead? It leads to hope and Godly hope is not the same as earthly hope. The Greek word for hope in this verse in elpis and it means an expectation of something good. I think we often confuse hope with wishes and dreams. I read recently a great acrostic for hope- Holding On with Patient Expectation.

And what we can expect from God is that he will be there with us thru the problems and trials. He won’t leave us or forsake us. He will give us the strength and the courage and He will put people in our path to walk along side us. He wants to hear from us thru our prayers.

My wife and I have had a year of some great stress in our life. We have struggled, bickered, wept, prayed, but through it all we have tried to grow thru the experience. We both know that if we fail the test God will likely give us a do-over and we both don’t want that. We have also witnessed many of our friends go thru some tough medical problems recently and have been amazed at the way they have faced the situation.

The thing I have found to be the common thread is they all have desired to give glory to God during the process and to the end that only God knows. I often find myself wondering if I could be as strong as these persons that have battled breast cancer, numerous brain operations and painful and uncomfortable treatments. I do know that God has a special reward when we face our trial with our head looking up.

“Blessed is the man (or woman) who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those love him.” James 1:12
My prayer is that you are all accumulating many crowns with the victories you have achieved thru your faith in our Lord. May the Lord bless you all and that you feel and know the Lord’s presence in whatever trial you may be facing.

Take Away
1. Are you facing a trial in your life and do you see it as an opportunity for growth?
2. Is it a trial you have faced before and maybe failed and now you’re getting a do-over?
3. Are you going thru it alone or are you seeking God and others to help you thru?