Tag: trials

A Difficult Season of Life

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

Walking Through Trials (YouVersion Daily Refresh, 5-14-25)

Let’s start by debunking a myth: Nowhere in Scripture does God promise us a perfect life, free from troubles. In fact, many times in the Bible, Christ-followers find themselves persecuted, under attack, or facing trouble of all kinds.

In a letter from James to first-century believers, James informs them about the various trials that they will experience in life:

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
James 1:12 NIV

When we see trials as a means of becoming more like Jesus, then we’ll be blessed by them.

Maybe you can think back to a difficult season of life. Looking back, you might be able to point out how God refined you coming out of it. God is often at work behind the scenes deepening our character and enlarging our capacity, even when we don’t see it.

Maybe you’re going through one of those difficult seasons right now. Take this passage to heart! You can stand firm and persevere—knowing there is a promised reward in heaven. While rewards on this side of heaven are not promised, looking towards our final destination with Jesus gives us hope to endure the trials in the present.

If you’re walking through a difficult season of life, spend some time meditating on the promises of God. He promises to never abandon you or leave you, but to walk alongside you through trials. And at the end of the trial, you’ll be more like Christ.

Take a moment to thank God for His faithfulness and love in your life.

My Thoughts

I will have to keep my thoughts brief today as we are getting ready to travel again, this time from PA to MD, on our way back to Virginia to attend the final college graduation of our oldest grandson. This has been a trial for me in that I don’t like traveling. But the reward has been in seeing the joy on the faces of our grandchildren as they receive that diploma that they have worked so hard for. So, there are some rewards on earth, just not the ultimate one that we are all looking forward to.

The part I put in bold from the devotional is what spoke to my heart today. Becoming more like Jesus should always be our goal. And enduring trials with that goal in mind makes them more palatable if not welcome. No one enjoys going through trials, but they are part of life here on earth and each trial can be considered a preparation for the greater things to come. I think of the things I have been through and realize that I am a different person because of them, a stronger person in my faith because each trial has taught me to lean more on God and less on myself. No matter what you are going through, remember God isn’t leaving you there; rather, He is walking beside you through it.

When Not If

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture3 Comments

God’s Word is clear that we will have troubles in this life. Jesus even says so:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.””
‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.16.33.NLT

God does not lie and he says that we will have trials and sorrows. That hardly seems right, does it? We turn our hearts over to God and we still face trials. Pondering on this fact got me to thinking and reading Scriptures about the trials we face.

As a student of languages, I notice things like conjunctions. In this verse, “when” is a conjunction, drawing all of the thoughts of the verse together. I noticed right away that this verse does not use the conjunction “if.” If would be more comforting for me, implying that I may or may not pass through rivers (troubles), and I may or may not walk through fire. But God’s prophet Isaiah used the word when and that says just what it means. We will indeed walk through rivers, be overwhelmed by them (like we’re drowning in a sea of troubles) and we will walk through fire. But in order to get comfort from this verse, one has to read the entire verse carefully. Yes, troubles will come, but God will be with us. The waters will not be able to overwhelm us although they will indeed try to do so. Finally, when we walk through the fire, we won’t be burned by it or consumed within its flames. God’s promise is that even though we will have troubles, He will be with us and take care of us.

Why, then, do we have troubles and trials if God is going to take care of us in them? Why doesn’t He just take them away?

Every time we face a new trial, a new overwhelming problem, if you will, that gives God the opportunity to do a new thing in our lives. His ultimate purpose is to help us to be more like Him. He is the one who shows us the new pathway to take and gives us water to drink in the desert. We may not like where we are or the trials that we face, but we can trust God to bring us through to the other side and that we will learn from them and be more like Him once we overcome. God’s plan is not to make life easy for us, but instead He plans to use life’s lessons to make us more like Him, bearing the fruits of the Spirit and able to climb the next mountain more easily.

I am still studying the Book of Job in my devotional every day and a quotation from Tina Wilson’s book STEP INTO SCRIPTURE resonated with me this morning and made me think deeply about its meaning and its application in my life.

This quotation is from Day 9 of Tina Wilson’s devotional, STEP INTO SCRIPTURE. Think about it. If Job had not been found faithful, Satan may have left him alone and he would not have lost all that he had. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Once again, we have the dilemma of trusting God through the troubles or turning away from Him in bitterness and anger.

God has a plan and it’s a good one. We just have to trust Him to carry us through all of the troubles that it takes to get to the end of His plan for us. Ultimately, His love wins and so do we, if we persevere and don’t give up!