God wants to grow us through trials.
He wants to deepen our faith…he wants to strengthen our trust…he wants to make us more like Jesus…as we go through the struggles and adversities of life.
There are things we can only learn through trials.
But that doesn’t make going through times of trials any easier. Knowing that God wants to grow us is one thing; embracing trials as a good thing is another.
Anyway, our small group met this week and we spent some time talking about things that can help us persevere through times of trials. And we would love to share what we came up as a way of encouraging us all.
So, in no particular order…
How can we persevere through times of trial?
1) Remembering
Remembering God’s goodness and faithfulness to us is a powerful thing. Looking back and recalling how we have known God’s presence with us through difficult times spurs us on in the present. That was the whole point of those piles of stones we sometimes reads about in the OT – stones of remembrance (Or as the hymn Come Thou Fount calls them, an Ebenezer) – God acted in a certain way on behalf of his people and then would sometimes tell them to erect a pile of stones. In the future, they would see these stones and REMEMBER how God had acted in the past. The act of remembering the past can help us in the present.
2) Perspective
James 1:12 reminds us of the eternal perspective of trials – that besides the blessing of growth in the here and now, God has a FUTURE blessing for us. And Paul writes in Romans 8:18, that “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” He looks forward to that day when he, and all believers will be brought into “the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (v21) Being reminded of this eternal PERSPECTIVE can help us endure trials.
3) Recalling God’s words and promises
Scripture is soaked through with God’s words and promises and feasting on them can re-orientate us towards Him in times of trials.
For instance: “Never will leave you, never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5); “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 118:7); “Cast all your anxieties on Him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7); “God is faithful; he won’t let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). And one more for good measure…..how about this one…”For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-29).
You get the idea. We can drink deeply of the truths contained in God’s Word, and as we do, our souls are refreshed and strengthened to endure through trials.
4) Lament
We lament when we turn to God and pour out our heart. When we are honest with him as to our pain, our despair, our struggle. We lament when through tears and cries of anguish, we voice our feelings to God. “God, I’m tired of this.” “God, how much longer?” “God, this is so unfair!” “God, I’m hurting…I’m not sure how much more I can take.” Lament doesn’t pretend to have answers….but in our confusion and distress, we look to God. Lament is a gift…it is the way we are to process our trials. It is the way we include God in the process. In fact, almost 1/3 of the Psalms are songs of lament, and the entire book of Lamentations (the clue is in the name!).
LAMENT orientates us towards God as we go through trials.
5) Each other
I purposefully kept this one for last as it can run through all the others.
Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together…but let us encourage one another…” – a benefit of the body of believers is that we can strengthen each other.
And Galatians 6:2 says, “carry each other’s burdens.”
As we go through times of trial, we need each other. We can help the one being tested REMEMBER; we can gently realign their PERSPECTIVE; we can RECALL God’s words together; and we can LAMENT with them.
Anyway, I’m sure this isn’t exhaustive. But we offer it from our small group to you.
We pray it helps.