Oct 2, 2022 Preaching | Bro. Matthew Dela Serna
Why Does God Allow Us To Go Through Trials?
Let’s be honest: no one wants to undergo trials. Getting
fired, the loss of a loved one, a serious disease – all of
these are painful to experience. None of these seem to
make any sense.
Yet undergoing trials is how God tests the authenticity of our faith (1 Peter 1:7). It’s how He conforms us into the image of His Son. It’s how He builds our character. And if our faith proves not to be worthless dross but worth its weight in gold, then it results “in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7).
We Suffer For Christ For A Future Glory
Christians, let’s take heart through our trials. What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. (Romans 8:18-19). In other words, just imagine that day when Christ’s glory is finally revealed to us! And He is so
incomprehensibly generous that He will even let us share in
His glory.
Do we need encouragement in the midst of our trials? Let’s
consider that in the end, we will receive an inheritance that
will never perish, spoil or fade (1 Peter 1:4). And through it
all, we are not left alone and defenceless because we are
being shielded by God’s power until the coming of our
salvation (1 Peter 1:5)
Best of all, on that glorious day, we will finally see God. He
whom we love and believe in even though we haven’t seen
Him yet; He who even now has already filled us with an
inexpressible and glorious joy; He who has already saved
our souls (1 Peter 1:8-9).
How To Face Trials
God doesn’t want us to act like hypocrites and pretend that
everything is fine while we are suffering. So first, we need to
be real. We need to acknowledge our grief. But after doing so, we are commanded to rejoice in our trials. In fact, we are supposed to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds (James 1:2) because it means that God is counting us worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus (Act 5:41).
What Joy Really Means
By “joy” we mean the spiritual kind; not the kind that is based on earthly success or comfortable circumstances. That shallow happiness quickly fades. By “joy” we mean the deep contentment in the knowledge that God, who alone can satisfy our hearts, is in us. This is the deep, deep gladness that never ends.
How To Find Joy Amidst Sorrow
We can rejoice in the knowledge that trials are temporary compared to our inheritance, which is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). The physical world, in which are the things our eyes can see, is temporary. But the spiritual world, which consists of things unseen, is eternal. Man lives an average of between 70 to 80 years. But that life span is not even a dot in the infinite span of eternity.
We can rejoice in the knowledge that our trials are not meaningless. They have a purpose (James 1:2-4; Psalms 119:71). God has a divine reason for allowing us to go through trials that seem to us extremely hard or even unfair. One of these reasons being that God wants to refine our faith so that it will be proven genuine (1 Peter 1:7).
In the same way that only fire can extract gold from dross, only trials can extract our true faith from all that is false. Consider that in Daniel 3:8-25, the collective faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego was literally tested by fire.
Another reason being, the testing of our faith produces perseverance (James 1:24). Perseverance, in turn, builds up our character and maturity. And the more we become spiritually mature, the more we become like Christ.
Lastly, we can rejoice in the knowledge that loving and trusting God in difficult situations, even though we do not see Him, brings unspeakable joy. (1 Peter 1:8-9; John 20:29)
Be Glad In Your Trials
Seen from the eyes of an unbeliever, it all looks crazy, doesn’t it? What? We’re supposed to rejoice? Be joyful? Be glad through our trials? On the face of it, who can blame him for thinking us mad? But as Christians, we see through the eyes of faith. And through this lens, we can see that even while we suffer we can still be GLAD by meditating on these
certainties:
God is in control of everything.
Love of God will carry us through our trials.
Accept that this is God’s way of testing our faith.
Dwell on the future glory that awaits us.
So whenever we’re undergoing trials, let’s always remember: Rejoice! God is with us. He is in us. And His love for us will carry us through.