God has the answer! He hasn't abandoned you. He is right there, wanting to help you, direct you, and sustain you. He is with you in your trial right now and through it, He can use it to accomplish great things.
I started off my journey as a Christian at a very young age of 15. Since the time I've accepted Jesus, I've often found that my life was never the same as before. In fact, at times, I realized that after becoming a Christian, I've encountered many more hardships. But this is just a perception I had for many years as a young Christian. Looking back and reflecting now, with all the difficulties and hardships in life I had encountered, I have witnessed the reality of God in all the impossible situations I went through. Having cancer for 7 years was only the beginning of knowing my God personally. After I received a great miracle of healing from cancer, I thought life would be much easier and more enjoyable for me. But that wasn't true at all!
Having given the strength to endure, being part of a community of believers to experience the amazing God's love, enjoying the grace of God that is sufficient for me at anytime of my life, receiving blessing after blessing for each step of faith in obedience towards the word of God, and on and on the list goes. These are some of the things I can brag about in my every experience of pain, of suffering, of every trial and testing I had to go through in the past.
There were ongoing battles in my financial dependency, my relationships with people, my every day job, and church activities. But in every hard and impossible situation I encountered, it allowed me to cry to God and be completely dependent on Him. And the best part of it, I can truly say, after 17 years of being a Christian and sailing through storms, never once did I feel abandon nor did I see my prayers go unanswered! There was a lot of pain to endure, but it was only to make me be more sensitive towards others. There was a lot of battles in life, but it was only to make me be more compassionate to those around me. There were walls and walls surrounding me, that seemed impossible to break through, tear down, or even get over, but it was only so that I could share GREAT testimonies of how real God can be!
"And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.' It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" - Hebrews 12:5-7, ESV
Find God's purpose in your pain and don't let bitterness, unbelief, or discouragement rob you of the treasure God is refining in you.
When life is hard, it’s for a purpose. Trials and difficult times in the life of a Christian are an opportunity to find out how big God is. A trial can be small and irritating or huge and shattering. One can take you by storm, fast and furiously, altering life forever. Or it may be a hardship that stretches over months, years, or even decades. Your conduct is what you do; your character is who you are. Trials are about what God wants to adjust in the actions you choose, and what He is working in your character to help you choose those actions. And if you’re one of God’s children, you are likely going through a trial right now. Whether physical, relational, economic, emotional, or circumstantial, it’s the most difficult aspect of your life.
Hebrews 12:5-7 speaks to God’s involvement in that difficult thing. Here is His instruction: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord” (v.5b).
When God moves toward you to make changes in your conduct and character, don’t regard it lightly. Go ahead and do some heavy thinking. Don’t be casual or indifferent about His approach: "I’m getting kind of weary of this. I don’t think God really knows my limits." No matter what painful hardship is yours right now, do not despise or regard lightly how the Lord is working. He is teaching you. And He knows what He’s doing.
When God is allowing something that makes your life hard, remember: “the Lord disciplines the one He loves” (v.6a). It’s like parental instruction. A child’s desires are no guide for healthy growth, but a loving and wise parent knows their child will benefit from certain discomforts and, at times, even a measured amount of pain.
God’s role is that of your heavenly Father: “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (v.7). God loves you. And when He saved you, He started a process He will continue until the day you meet Him in heaven (Philippians 1:6). Salvation was just the beginning. Today He is working in you through your trials—for your good and for His glory.
- Pastor Anand
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