First of all, I truly sympathize with you in your trials. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says this of those who are members of the body of Christ, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.” We are also told in Romans 12:15 to “weep with them that weep,” so I feel for you as you suffer through these various adversities. I am not a stranger to trials and at times I have thought, “Lord, I can’t take this anymore.” But I am always reminded of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which reads, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” The word “temptation” includes the thought of “testing.” This verse has taught me that no matter how bad things may get, God is faithful and will not allow the trial to be too severe or too long, beyond what we can handle. Of course we can only claim this promise if we are looking to Him in faith and asking Him to give us the grace to endure the time of testing. The verse before this states, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” If we are facing a trial in our own strength, we will surely fall and not experience the deliverance that verse 13 holds out to us.

We saw above that the trials we go through are “common to man,” which simply means that other people go through the same things we are going through. We are NOT alone when it comes to suffering. When I’m suffering I often think of what Job went through. He lost all his possessions, his children and his health and yet he was able to endure the time of testing. James 5:11 says this of Job, “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” At one point in his trial Job said this in Job 13:15, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” This is one of the most profound declarations of faith in the Bible and it teaches us that even in the middle of a trial that seems unbearable, we can trust in the Lord, the One Who is faithful! And is it not precious to see from our verse in James 5 “the end of the Lord; that He is very pitiful, and of tender mercy?” He saw Job through this trial and in the end He blessed Job with more blessings than he had before the trial began. I would encourage you to read of this in Job 42:10-16. This is “something positive” for you to meditate on; for I have no doubt that every trial that the Lord allows us to go through is for our blessing, both for time and for all eternity. Let us never forget the Lord’s promise to us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.”

The scriptures also teach us that every trial that God allows is because HE LOVES US. Hebrews 12:6 declares, “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” Satan would have you believe that your negative circumstances prove that God doesn’t love you, but the opposite is true. They are PROOF of God’s love.

I will close with 1 Peter 1:6-7, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” I know that you are “in heaviness through manifold temptations,” but God wants you to know that the “trial of your faith” is indeed precious. He assures us that it is only “for a season, if need be,” meaning it won’t last forever and it’s necessary to prove the reality of our faith. And after this life is over and our blessed Savior is revealed, the Lord will praise us and reward us for enduring the trials of faith, and our Lord Himself will receive the praise and honor that He deserves for giving us the grace to endure them. Now that is “something positive” to think on! (162.3) (DO)