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Are you facing a difficult decision? A painful situation? Whether we like it or not, trials and tribulation are part of our everyday lives. II Corinthians 2:10 speaks of five types of trials that we will likely face in this world: weakness, insults, hardships, persecution for the sake of Christ, and difficulties.
As you fall into and face your various trials—also known as bumps, roadblocks, and dead ends!—let these truths or steps guide you down God’s path:
Step 1:Be sure what you are encountering is not the result of some sin, shortcoming, or wrong choice on your part. Be quick to confess any acts of disobedience to God if that is the case and then move on.
Step 2: Look to God for His joy and enablement as you walk on His path through your trials. “You can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13). That includes facing your trials with faith and making it through them.
Step 3: Realize that God suffered. Jesus was beaten, buffeted, betrayed, humiliated, and murdered. Yet “for the joy that was set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus knew the great joy that comes from accomplishing His Father’s will. You too will know joy when you follow God without flinching and wavering, which pleases Him.
Step 4: Look to the end results. Trials are not meant to defeat you. They are meant to be defeated. And trials are not meant to weaken you, but to make you stronger. When you have successfully navigated your way down God’s path through each predicament, you will be stronger, more patient, and better able to cope with life and its demands. Joy will be yours as you walk with God on His path toward greater wisdom, faith, and usefulness.
God tells us how this happens in James 1:3, “The testing of your faith produces patience.” In other words, God uses trials to produce perseverance in you. Trials work good things, godly things, into your character. They lead to steadfastness and develop endurance.
Step 5:Know that good can come out of your problems. Successfully enduring trials tests your faith and strengthens and matures you, causing you to be “perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).
Step 6:Don’t forget to pray. You must pray, pray, pray about everything, at every moment, all the time—for your day and the unknown events that will come your way.
In all of our trials and challenges there is a joy set before us. There is the joy that we are fellow suffers with Christ, that we are becoming more like Him, and that ultimately one day good will come out of our worldly problems!
A Prayer to Pray:
Lord, the trials in my life can seem all consuming. I pray that your joy may consume me instead. I praise you for the end result of your suffering – my salvation and hope in life and in each detail of it.
You will find the book Quiet Confidence for a Woman’s Heart by Elizabeth George a great companion for your season of trials and challenges. This resource will help you live a life filled with faith, hope, and confidence built on the unshakable foundation of Jesus Christ.
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Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
One of my favorite words in the English language is “bittersweet.” It’s sort of like the well-known announcement, “I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” This picturesque term always reminds me that many occurrences in life fall simultaneously into the glad/sad category, bringing forth both emotions at once.