There’s a lot going on in the world. We’re facing hardships and suffering on a global scale. It’s enough to make us wonder if God has forsaken us. He hasn’t. That’s not who He is. It’s time to realize that Faith is calling.
Scripture reminds us again and again that through suffering faith is strengthened. Suffering humbles us and opens our hearts to God’s word. God’s word is truth. The only truth that matters.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze,” Isaiah | 43:2.
We are assured that God is with us in our trials. He provides everything we need to overcome the world and it’s tribulations. In times of suffering faith is calling us to believe.
God does not forsake His children.
God’s grace is sufficient. His love for us is steadfast. His promises are renewed with every dawn.
Scripture provides counsel that the world cannot. The Bible tells us that we will suffer. Even Christ suffered during His earthy life. Should we be so arrogant as to believe we are above it?
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast,” 1 Peter | 5:10.
Suffering precedes glory in the life of a believer. Just as darkness precedes light and sadness precedes joy. Christ’s death and resurrection assures us that although suffering is inevitable, through faith in Him we shall overcome.
The goal of this life is not earthy gain, it is eternal life.
God uses suffering to teach us and to guide us back to Him.
As believers, we know with an innate sense right from wrong. We know when we are walking the path of righteousness. Just as we know when we are yielding to earthly desire.
Choosing right is not always easy. In fact, it almost never is. We have to choose it anyway.
Faith is calling us to trust and to stand firm in our conviction that God is the author of life. To believe the promise of eternity and to remain obedient to God’s word no matter what’s going on around us.
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it,” Luke | 11:28.
We obey God not out of fear, but out of love.
Faith is calling us to be the loving children God created us to be.
Just as parents lovingly guide and discipline their children, God guides and disciplines us. It takes a firm hand to rear children in the way they should go.
As parents, we raise our children to lead happy productive lives. In order to do this, we must teach them right from wrong. We must show them, through our own actions, the way they should live. That means setting boundaries for them and enforcing rules they must abide by.
God is no different.
He gave us commandments we must live by. He demonstrated His love for us by sending His son to show us the way. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. All we need to know is revealed through His life, suffering, and death.
God sent His Son to teach us, yes, but also to deliver us from the end result of this life. Christ’s resurrection means that death is conquered once and for all. We are redeemed through Christ’s suffering and granted eternal life through His resurrection.
“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive,” 1 Corinthians | 15: 21-22.
The hardships we face in this life are temporary, just as this life is temporary. The blessing of a life lived for Christ is an eternity spent with Him.
That’s why through suffering faith is calling us to remain focused on the prize above all prizes, the gift of eternal life. There is no greater glory. Nor, any greater joy.
A cry in the wilderness,
of hope and of faith.
Filled with His mercy,
wrapped in His grace.
Though mountains may crumble,
falling into the sea,
His overwhelming love,
fortifies me.
No darkness can withstand,
the light of His face.
No evil can overcome,
the depths of His grace.
As dawn breaks upon me,
the light of the Son,
fills and sustains me,
till the battle is won.
JN Fenwick (© 2023) | mothjournal14