Facing Trials

None of us like the idea of facing hard times, but unfortunately hard times come to all of us eventually.  We suffer various trials as we walk with the Lord here on the earth.  The world is a mess and things seem to get darker everyday so it seems.  The good news is that even though the world feels hopeless we have hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The Lord promises to be with us wherever we go.  He promises never to leave us nor forsake us.  The Lord will be with us during any of life's trials that we will face.

The trials we face may vary from the easy to handle to the very scary hanging in there by a thread I wonder if I will survive this type of trial.  The Lord will use these trials to help us grow in our faith in Him.  We have a choice whether the trials we face will make us bitter or better in our relationship with the Lord.  We can either draw nearer to the Lord our God during these trials of life or we can harden our hearts against the Lord and drift farther away.

The Lord wants us to draw nearer to Him of course.  He has our best interest in mind.  The Lord loves us with an awesome everlasting love.   The Lord will allow things into our lives to test our faith.  

James 1:2-4 says,

" 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

References for James 1:2

• Cross References
• Footnotes

• 6 1:2 - ver 12; S Matthew 5:12 ; Hebrews 10:34 ; Hebrews 12:11 ; 1 Peter 1:6

• a 1:2 - The Greek word for "brothers and sisters" ("adelphoi" ) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.

3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

References for James 1:3

• Cross References

• 7 1:3 - 1 Peter 1:7
• 8 1:3 - S Hebrews 10:36

4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."      

When we are trusting in the Lord Jesus as our Lord and Savior we can have joy and peace in our hearts even though we are going through a very difficult trial and situation.  There will be times when the rug will feel like it has been pulled out from beneath our feet, but the Lord will see us through if we just cling to Him in faith.  We may not always sense His presence in our lives, but we know from the Scriptures that He is very near to us and He resides in us through the Holy Spirit when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

God demonstrated His great love for each of us by sending Jesus Christ into this world.  Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life.  He went to the Cross and shed His blood for our sins.  Jesus rose from the dead on the third day to show that He is indeed God incarnate.  Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Jesus paid it all for us and He will be with us during life's most difficult moments.  We can persevere by keeping our eyes upon the Lord Jesus.  We must anchor our faith in the One who doesn't move.  We may move and drift spiritually, but the Lord doesn't move.  The Lord is our Rock and our solid Foundation.  The Lord is our Strong Tower and we run into it to be saved.  We are saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  

Let us cling to the Lord Jesus and strengthen our faith in Him by persevering through our trials while keeping our focus on Him.

Lord,

We are facing many trials, but we know You are always with us through them.

Thank You for Your love and patience 

Help us to persevere and keep our faith in You Lord.

Lead us and guise us by Your Holy Spirit

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen.