Why Trials?

Most of us would rather not talk about trials and tribulations, but when I went through the grief and struggles of a miscarriage about five years ago, I discovered that everyone is going through something.

I've found that trodding through trials tends to make us more gracious, more empathetic, more understanding and more loving.  It can make the Body of Christ a more beautiful thing because we get it; we understand.  We've been there.  The sad thing is that trials can also obliterate us.  We can allow ourselves to turn mean, cynical and bitter after a trial.

And why is it that trials rarely seem to come one at a time?  They stack.  They crowd.  They pile on!

The kind of trials that are not the results of evildoing, meddling or sins like murder or theft are a part of suffering with Christ.  (Consequences or results of bad or sinful decisions are not the trials I am chatting about today.)

These true trials are a part of living life as a Christian 
in a fallen world.  

When we find ourselves in these hard times, we tend to wrestle with that dreaded question, "Why?"  

Why am I in this?

Why isn't God doing anything?

Why aren't my prayers being answered?

Why do I have to go through this?

Why?

Reflecting on the book of Psalms, the psalmist asked some really tough questions, causing me to believe that it isn't wrong to ask God a tough question, provided it's asked with a respectful attitude.

He is still God, after all.

As Christians, it's good for us to go to the Word for some of the reasons we go through trials.

Romans 5:3 sheds some light on that question,

"...we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that our tribulation brings about perseverance..."
NASB

James 1:2-3 agrees,

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance..."  
NASB

Exulting or glorying in our trials is a tall order, as is considering a trial a joy.  In my trials, I read these verses and knew I couldn't do either of those things.  I went to the Rugged Mountain Man and said, "I can't do that yet.  I don't even know if I *want* to rejoice in these trials."  He comforted me and encouraged me not to give up, not to despair.

I eventually came to realize that that rejoicing is a work of the Spirit.

No one truly in the throes of a heart-wrenching, back-breaking trial rejoices,
in and of themselves.

But God can work that joy and glorying.  It's a spiritual thing, brought about by the Spirit.

Opening your eyes each morning to find yourself still in the midst of the hardest times of your life, is like hearing tragic news for the first time, over and over again.  The mornings are the worst times in grief or trials.

BUT, we can remind ourselves that we have a response to our question why?  We have an "in" on the lesson.

"Today I'm in this trial, so I learn to persevere."

We can tell ourselves, "I'm getting up right now, so I can endure,
so I can put one foot in front of the other today."

We could be thinking, "This trial doesn't have a point.  I don't feel like there is a lesson,
other than torture here."

But there is.

"Today, I am going to endure in His strength.  Today, I'm going to just keep going, by God's grace."

We'll get to the point of rejoicing over a trial.  It may be somewhere down the road that we can look back and "feel" a little happiness about what we learned in that trial.  It's okay that we don't right now.  It is a work of the Spirit, not a feeling of our flesh.  For now, we can see that there is a point to trials.  We see it by faith.

It's to endure.  

Dominique

All pics from our hike on a mine camp trail, in which there was a series of seven switchbacks on an old railroad grade.  

We all found it to be quite fascinating, as we imagined the manpower it took to build it.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Another Why?

It is normal for a teacher to encourage their students to be prepared for the material they will encounter on a test.  I do the same with the Blossoms.  We learn the concepts, practice them and then study to be ready for the test.

I've recently begun to wonder why we don't prepare for trials in a similar fashion?

"In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

1 Peter 1:6-7
NASB, my emphasis added

What if we were ready for trials?  What if in the midst of them we reminded ourselves that our faith is being tested?

Isn't it easier to pass a test if you know the material that is being covered?

I know it's hard wrestling with why we go through hard things here on Earth.  Those thoughts and conversations with God can be heart-wrenching.  

Why, why, why?

I believe that our Father, in His kindness has shown a little part of why we walk through these valleys, this suffering with Christ.  I have found that it seems a little easier to get up to face a day of trials, when I realize that my faith is being tested.  

Will I be found faithful?  Will I keep enduring in the hard times? 

It is a hard realization, but a true one, that our fidelity to Him 

is not tested on those mountain top days.  Our faith isn't tested in the green pastures of life.

Times of duress squeeze the sponge and expose what's inside.

Knowing our faith is being tested can help us know what to do ---

Keep believing.  Hold on tighter.  Fall to our knees again.  Cry out once more.

Are you feeling condemnation that you weren't prepared for this testing trial?  Throw off despair! 

These are encouraging words for you. This trial is to prove and test your faith.  Now we know that.  Now when we feel the doubts, when the despair is creeping stealthily in on the darkest days, we can realize that this isn't punishment.  We can reach out to the Father again.  

Remember, He is always faithful.  

May our faith be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus!

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

With Your Words

I remember losing a baby a few years back.  It was, by far, the hardest time of my life.  But, when I'd open up and talk about what we were going through, I realized, just how much other people are struggling with their own very real trials.  One friend was having some heavy-duty parent-child struggles.  Another family member couldn't conceive.  Another friend was having breadwinner job troubles.  You don't realize the struggles, because most folks look fine on the outside. My own struggles made me look with a new compassion on the people around me.

 

It reminded me of the power of our words.  So many times our words bite and devour each other.  Why don't we realize the power of our words in the opposite direction?  Powerful words can build up a sister in the Lord.  Encouraging conversations can help the people around us have the strength for the next hour.  Uplifting and timely words can be the very answer that our friends need in their darkest hours.

Our words have the power to destroy a soul as delicate as a rosebud, or cause it to blossom and grow and keep standing tall in the storm.  The Sun will indeed shine again.