Suffering and Trials

NOTE: This is a written version of the message I delivered on 14 January 2025.

When things are going well, life feels like it's going well. However, what happens when things aren't going well, when life does not feel like it is going well -- suffering and trials? What happens when you are pleading, even wrestling with God, and the circumstance remains? What happens when you are not praying for a new Ferrari, but are praying for something that is clearly in God's will, such as the salvation of another person? And yet, the circumstances seem unchanging and life remains hard.

Trust God. His ways are not our ways. Consider Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB):

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts. ..."

And His ways are good. Consider Romans 8:28 (NASB):

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

It's worth noting that it is for His purpose, not ours. We may think we know what is best, but in our finite and flawed thinking, we don't. That's all the more reason to trust Him.

You may think, "But it's taking so long!" There's a reason for that. God is patient, faithful and longsuffering. Consider 2 Peter 3:9 (NASB):

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

God may be using the "slowness" to draw someone to Himself. That may be you. He certainly is molding you through it. Stay faithful.

Keeping all this in mind is why Paul could write the following in Philippians 4:11 (NASB):

... I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

Sometimes, we pray, and we leave it at that. God asks us to participate. That doesn't mean we go out and "fix" something in our own strength, but we are not called to be detached and disengaged. God asks us to participate. If you are His ambassador, you cannot be so without engaging. Maybe you are having difficulty with someone. Maybe you are praying for them to have a change of heart. Have you talked to God about your heart? Are you trusting in the Holy Spirit's daily sanctification work in your life in molding you to be more like Christ? Sometimes it's painful. Often it is. We want things our way, but the best thing is to submit to His way. You don't have to look for hardship. Life will throw it your way. Jesus said in John 16:33 (NASB):

... In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

And in Luke 9:23 (NASB), Jesus says the following:

If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Taking up a cross doesn't sound easy. And despite how horrific the cross was, think about how God used it for the ultimate good! That is why we can trust Him. We can take up our cross in His strength. Jesus has won the battle. Our suffering and hardship reminds us of our dependency on Him and that this world is not our home. In Him, we can carry the daily cross. Consider Matthew 10:28-29 (NASB):

Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Walking through trials can be done restfully in Him. And suffering, after all, plays a role in our spiritual walk. James 1:2-4 (NASB) says the following:

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

And while trials mold you, it is good to remember it's not all about you! Ultimately, it's about Jesus. And ministering to others is part of the package, too. Consider 2 Corinthians 1:3-7:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are partners in our sufferings, so also you are in our comfort.

Your trial may become an opportuntity to comfort someone who goes through a similar trial in the future. And notice how God comforts us in our trials. Yet, that means, relying on Him, not something else. And remember that for however many trials there are, there are also His comforts. 1 Peter 1:6 mentions being distressed by "various trials", but 1 Peter 4:10 mentions the "multifaceted grace of God" and it is worth noting that in both cases, the word various and the word multifaceted are of the same Greek word -- poikilos ποικίλος. God offers His multifaceted grace for the various trials you face. His grace is enough. Paul was tormented and wrote of it in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, but consider verses 8-9 (NASB) in particular:

Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

See how suffering plays a role? It makes us dependent on Christ and His grace. That molds us. It opens opportunity to minister to those who may suffer likewise. It gives opportunity to glorify God (like the song, "I'll praise you in the storm"). It showcases His manifold grace.

Finally, consider Romans 5:3-5 (NASB) in how trials shape us:

And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Hope. That is my word for the year. Hope and nothing else. Hope in Christ. I face trials. You face trials, or if you don't, you will. Trust in Christ. It doesn't feel easy, but consider all that He can bring out of suffering. Look to Him and have hope. After all, Paul writes in Philippians 1:6 (NASB):

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.

God is at work amid suffering. Lean on Him with confidence, con -- with -- fidelis -- faith. Lean on Him with faith in your trials and suffering. And trust His work.

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