Trials, hardships, detours etc. 😫💔 are all part of God’s way of refining 🔥 His children so that we can bring even more glory to His name. If we respond as we ought, we will receive the guaranteed blessings on the other side of our trials. 🕺🏾💃🏾 If we don’t, we risk losing the blessing and/or extending the length of our trials, just like the Israelites and their 40-yr journey in the wilderness which should have taken less than a year. 👀
Specifically in Isaiah 48:10-11, it says that it is in the furnace of affliction that God tests and chooses His true children (e.g. Joseph in prison, Jesus in the wilderness, Israelites in wilderness, Moses in the wilderness when He wrote the book of Genesis and before going to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, David for 15yrs before becoming a king, John in Patmos prison receiving the Revelations, Paul in prison writing all those letters etc.). 🙌🏾
As seen in the story of Job, God doesn’t author trials but permits them by removing His hedge, allowing the resulting circumstances to build us for a while, ultimately glorifying Him. Trials reveal what is really in our hearts (Deut 8:2-5; 1 Peter 4:12). Also for God’s own sake, He will not let our trials consume us! Besides, how could He allow His name to be defiled in the mouth of unbelievers? In the life of His children, He promises that we will ALWAYS emerge triumphant from our trials as they will lead us to testify of God’s goodness and glory! Sometimes it may not be in this life but we should be confident in knowing that everything works together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). 😁
Hebrews 12:5-11 and James 1:2-4 expatiate on this:
- Hebrews tells us that every child of God is tested and if we don’t go through trials we really need to ask if we are truly walking with God (v. 8). 🤔 During our trials, we also need to ask God to show us the lessons He wants us to learn and what He’s trying to do in our lives. No chastening appears joyful in the moment, but painful; nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (v. 11).
- James says that we should count it all joy when we go through various trials as these come to test our faith. This testing (refining us like pure gold) 🔥 through patience, will have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and complete in faith, spiritual maturity and inner peace. 😇
Conclusion: Psalms 34:19 – the righteous person may have many troubles and perplexing circumstances but the Lord delivers him from them ALL! #dropsMic 🙅🏾♂️💪🏾😎
Isn’t it so beautiful to be a Christian? 🙏🏾
“Our sorrows are all, like ourselves, mortal. There are no immortal sorrows for immortal souls. They come, but blessed be God, they also go. Like birds of the air, they fly over our heads. But they cannot make their abode in our souls. We suffer today, but we shall rejoice tomorrow.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
The Langford Files 