20 Minutes

Some of the topics below have no narrative to go along with the quoted scripture. Those scriptures explain the topic best on their own.

1. Trials are to be expected.

2. God limits our trials for His purposes.

3. Eternal View

   1.   Suffering through trials creates a groaning to be with Christ.

   2.   An eternal view of trials results in peace.

   3.   Peace in trials comes from trusting in the power of Jesus.

4.   Trials reveal a false foundation in self-confidence.

   1.   Trials remind us that we are not in control of life.

   2.   Trials take away our self-confidence.

5.   Trials are for our good.

   1. God is involved in disciplining us.

   2.   Trials are meant to get us to a better place.

   3.   God uses our suffering for our good.

6.   No Trial separates us from the love of Christ.

7.   Results of suffering when right

   1.   Suffering when we are right helps us know God.

   2.   Suffering when we are doing right results in rewards.

   3.   Persevering through trials results in eternal rewards.

8.   Trials prove our faith is genuine.

9.   The way we handle trials is a witness of God's work.

10.   We must keep the purpose of trials foremost in our minds.

   God often uses the consequences from the fall, (sin and corruption), which results in our hardship to discipline us, to teach us about Him.

Many people enjoy stages in their lives where trials are minor and almost unnoticed. For example, young people seldom have physical pain. Most of the time those who give effort into taking care of their bodies, finances, and relationships have fewer trials than others.

   It is easy for the lack of significant trials to lull people into a false sense of security.

They can believe that the reason for their lack of trials is because of the way they live their lives. There is some truth in that. On average, people who take care of their bodies live healthier and longer lives. The key words here are, "on the average." If we were able to affect our outcome by our actions all the time, we, in that manner, would be like God.

   If we believe we can affect our outcomes, we are believing that we have the power of God,

and that a particular part of our world is in our control. But that is not how the corrupted world works and it is not the view God wants us to have. It is a lie. Consider that avoiding trials is similar to achieving success when you read the following passage. 

    So, it is boastful to think that we can avoid trials by living wisely.

We are in a corrupt world. God wants us to know that He, not us, is in charge.

   When life seems without trials, use this time to discipline yourself.

Take the energy that you would have used to work through trials to dig deeper into scripture, to serve others, to deny yourself as you save money and take care of your health.

   Choose to do that which is difficult in this world that pleases God.

You will always be aware that life can be hard because you are making it hard on yourself by being unselfish to serve others, and by giving up pleasure now to hopefully reap a future benefit. When difficulty comes, you will be trained in it and not see the difficulty as out of the ordinary, 

It is clear in the following narrative about Job that God, so to speak, stands between Satan and the world. Satan, although he is the god of the world (2 Cor 4:4 Luke 4:6), does not have free reign. Jesus while in the garden of Gethsemane said angels could protect him (Matt 26:53), and before Pilate, Jesus made clear that Pilate's power to do evil was given from above. (John 18:10-11) We cannot imagine the extent of evil that would be in the world if it were not for God holding Satan back. So

   when we face evil of any sort, we can have full confidence that it is what is allowed by God for our ultimate good,

and not something that is out of control. We also need to understand that our "ultimate good" as God plans it, may be in stark contrast to what is our earthly good.

 It is simple but sometimes we need to experience difficulty to wake us up to the realization that much of the time we are putting our faith in sand. We may have falsely counted on our bodies, our savings, our government, or even friends and family members not to have let us down. When they do, we realize that the foundation we thought was firm, was not firm at all. Many people view events, personal encounters, or world events and proclaim something like, "That is just not right." God has put eternity in the hearts of men (Eccl 3:11). He has given believers a partial view of what a perfect world, that is perfection, looks like. (I Cor 13:12, I John 3:2) As you read the following passage consider how your dissatisfaction with life is a groaning to be with Christ.

If it was difficult for you to see, to feel a bit of what it will be like to be with Jesus in Heaven, consider how much of your day you are putting the following passage into practice.

   If a person spends most of their day thinking about earthly things, it is difficult when a trial comes about to quickly have a Heavenly perspective.

Paul discusses the temporal and the eternal. It is one thing to read the bible and get a glimpse into Paul's perspective and life. It is entirely another thing to grasp what it means for our daily lives. It is so easy to get caught up with what is right in front of us. On this earth, we are schooling, working, and playing most of the time. At the moment, it seems to be all that life is about. When any of those goes "wrong" in our eyes, we can easily lose heart.

   We lose sight of the fact that we were made so that our temporary mortal lives will be swallowed up by life; that life is Jesus.

(John 14:6).

Read through the following passages slowly visualizing these words describing what your view of life should be.

As the world gives us difficulties, Jesus is trying to get us to understand that the only peace in the midst of the difficulty is found in Him. We are in this world that has been made subject to corruption and is flawed on every level. Scripture says "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" I Cor 10:12. Many times we need to experience that corruption when our expectation of how life is supposed to be is unmet. That wakes us up from trusting in our misplaced faith and redirects us back to the only solid foundation which is Jesus, the rock, the beginning, and the end.

   That which will last forever has already overcome that which cannot last.

    A purpose of trials is to let us see that we are beyond our ability.

After the fall, even though mankind may think they have control or victory over aspects of life, that control is an illusion created by a lie of Satan. The intent of the lie is to get us to build confidence in ourselves, others, and the earth, rather than confidence in God. At the fall, death entered into mankind. It does not matter how much care we take to protect ourselves and to take care of our bodies, there is not only no guarantee of success, but there are actually guarantees that we will fail, that we will die and we cannot control when. For example, even though up to ⅔ of cancer deaths can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle, the rest succumb to it despite the most valiant efforts to stay healthy throughout their lives. Some viruses kill the healthy at the same rate as the unhealthy. When we consider the corruption of the physical earth, there are hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes as well as other natural disasters that can take our lives or the quality of our lives away in an instant. A sinful man can take out someone's life by drunk driving, murder, or war. So, again,

   it is an illusion that we are ever in control.

That said, our bodies and our finances are a gift from God. They are not our own (I Cor 6:15), and on average, we bring additional trials on ourselves when we do not take care of them. 

Paul went through many levels of suffering and gives the reason for it in the passage below.  

The other roadblock to living as

   if it is all about Jesus is that we, our flesh, and our earthly desires must diminish.

We naturally fight against anything that means less of us. John the Baptist saw this truth. (John 3:30) God's power is most evident and we are most used by Him when our flesh, including our earthly confidence, is out of the way. Trials can wake us up and help us to see what is and is not important, in other words, what lasts and what does not.

Many times, God's discipline, redirecting our lives to be Christlike, is done by allowing the consequences of sin in the world to touch our lives. This discipline is meant for our good, resulting in growth and maturity. 

People struggle to varying degrees with not letting their habits rule their lives.

   We, so to speak, take charge of our lives in two ways, self-control and discipline.

Eating is a good example for most people. Self-control means saying no to more food than is needed for our health and saying no to food that is unhealthy. Discipline is eating healthy, for instance, eating plenty of vegetables and drinking enough water. Exercise requires discipline. Good money management requires both self-control and discipline. Too many of us fail at doing a good job at one or both of these.

Spiritual self-control and discipline are not unlike the parallels of earthly ones.

   Say "no" to sin and "yes" to righteousness.

Whereas most people do not struggle with understanding what is sin and what it looks like to say no to it, many do not see what self-discipline in a righteous life looks like. We are told to set our hearts and minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Col 3:1-2) This, like exercising or drinking enough water, takes purposeful thinking and actions. It takes discipline. What do most Christians do more of when they see things going wrong in their lives? They pray! They read their Bibles! Their focus becomes less earthly and more eternal.

   God's purpose for discipline in our lives goes far beyond getting us to read our Bibles and pray more. God wants our hearts and minds to be on Him; on who He is.

He wants to get us to know Him better and to keep knowing Him better throughout our lives. He is a God of love, Agape love, and sacrifices himself for the good of humanity. He disciplines both the weak and mature to grow in Him.

   Even when we do not want the best for ourselves, He wants the best for us.

Even when we are unwilling to go through what it takes for us to become what is best for us, He allows things to happen in our lives in order to redirect us. At times it requires significant hardship for us to become refocused. 

Think of it this way: People involved in sports do not hesitate to complete very hard workouts because they are focused on what they gain. We must both understand and keep that parallel in mind when we face hardship. Winning the biggest sporting event ever, our eternity with God is ahead. It is eternity with God that we need to be focused on. Jesus, being fully man, had to suffer in every way that we suffer. Just as Jesus focused on the joy beyond the cross while He endured its pain, while we are suffering,

   we need to focus on the incredible Heaven that awaits us.

 (I Cor 2:9)

We need to trust that God is the perfect coach, able to train us in the manner in which we need training. We need to be focused on the goal, not the pain it takes to reach the goal. 

When we suffer for what is right, we are suffering in the same manner as Jesus did, which is as an innocent person. It is a special badge of honor as we are privileged to, so to speak, suffer alongside Jesus. God's primary purpose in our lives is that we get to know Him.

   When we suffer for what is right, we can more deeply understand the ever-loving heart of God.

At times when we stand against the world, standing for truth, and standing for Jesus, we will suffer. God promises that we will be rewarded. Persecution not only happened to the prophets who came before us but also to Jesus after he said the words in the scripture below. Remember, when we suffer, we understand His suffering more and we get to know Him better.

We do not know how strong anything is until it has been tested. In the physical realm, if we did not recognize them, we would not know the difference between a football or basketball star and a person of similar size who had never played the game. It would take a test to know the quality of their talent. The same holds true in relationships. If you have a relationship with someone and you do not know them to have gone through difficulties with others and they have not had difficulty with you, then you do not know if your relationship will last if difficulty happens. It is not only others that we are unsure about, but ourselves. And

   it really is not about how strong we are, rather it is about who we are putting our faith in.

When we are trusting in God, in His power, and His love, we have peace during trials.  

The position we have given God is proven genuine when we endure trials while resting in God's peace. Jesus is proven genuine in and through us. 

   God's work in our lives through trials reveals Jesus in us.

The attitude of a Christian compared to an unbeliever, when there are earthly losses, bears witness that we see a greater purpose than what this earth offers. The power of Jesus is manifested in our lives. Many people have never heard of, or given sufficient thought to the Foundation Principle, "It's not about you. It is about God." It is about Jesus! Living and thinking often about this truth results in so much falling into place rather than seemingly falling apart.

   When we see that the ultimate goal God has for us is for the life of Jesus to be revealed in us, then what we used to see as senseless, makes sense.

It takes focus to remember the purpose of trials. The tempter, Satan, will do everything in his power to make you lose sight of the reality that trials will take place.