I must tell you, there will be trials and suffering throughout your life, but take courage, for God is with you! Life includes pain and disappointment, so we must learn to bear with and endure suffering with expectancy and patience. Much suffering will come through no fault of your own, and it must be endured, not fought off as if it were unjust in its consequences. You can bear it with peace. To bear it bitterly and unwillingly only increases its weight. To think yourself undeserving during suffering is to resist the purpose of the trial. If you recognize the opportunity to submit to the will of God, the trial mercifully lightens as its purpose and profit are revealed to you.
Living a good life does not depend on continuous health and happiness but on understanding that what God has in store for you in time to come far exceeds any suffering you might endure today. Trials will remind you of your dependence on God. They are not designed to confound and discourage you, but to reveal your faith and will to you. God will make use of trials for your own good, to teach or show you something he knows will be to your ultimate benefit. We cannot see the extent of our future trials but be assured God supplies you with the strength and grace necessary to endure all trials. Even though your body or mind may waste away or be threatened with death, your spiritual strength will be constantly renewed if you depend on God and trust in what is unseen and yet to come.
You will also experience suffering simply because you are a believer in Christ. You will experience unpopularity, persecution, ridicule, sacrifice, and the toil of the Christian life. You could understandably think God’s plan for you is always going to be a “good” plan, one with the intent of making your life overflow with joy and abundance. Yet, that is not true, for the Lord disciplines those he loves. Please understand his plans are not just to benefit you alone. He very likely intends to use you to teach or bless those around you.
God has a hopeful end in mind for you, if only you would wholeheartedly submit to him and wait patiently for it. In all conditions of life, it is our duty to live peaceful lives, patiently leaving it to God to work deliverance for us in due time. He will give us not the expectations of our fears but the expectations of our faith. What we receive, he has promised, will be what is best for us.
Always be prepared to give an answer when asked to explain the hope that you have during trials and suffering. Even if you should suffer for doing or saying what is right, you are blessed. If it is God’s will, a harvest of righteousness and peace is your reward for not becoming weary of doing what is right. Evil will try to undo good works, but boldly facing evil strengthens what is good. Give in to your trials, and you begin to turn away from God. But remain faithful and pray to the Lord, and your appeals will be heard. You and your faith will be strengthened as a result of your trials and suffering. Remember, the Christian life has a certain blessedness that runs through it, ultimately concluding in your immeasurable joy. May you hold on to see this day! Amen.
