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Transcript:
Hello, this is Walking in Step with God and I am Steve McDonald.
When we are in the middle of trials and tribulations, it is perfectly reasonable to find ourselves in the midst of sorrow, pain, and even despair. Depending on the circumstances at hand, we may find ourselves dealing with loss, adversity, or challenges, the likes of which we have never experienced.
In any of these situations, what can we do as we consider our relationship and walk with God? Is there a posture we should aim to achieve when dealing with trials and tribulation in the world? After all, It is only human to find ourselves anxious in times of trouble, or wrapped in feelings of hopelessness in times of confusion and loss.
Celebrate in Your Trials
In today’s message, we explore what it means to celebrate in the midst of our trials. Why on earth would we be celebrating in times of trials? Let’s discuss how our faith in God and our walk with God can provide us with an opportunity to celebrate our trials and even rejoice when experiencing challenges in our lives. Let us explore 3 reasons to celebrate in our trials.
3 reasons to Celebrate in your trials
#1 God is with you. Oftentimes, when we are dealing with a challenging time in our life, we can feel alone as we endure the weight and pressure of our situation. Even in circumstances where we have family and friends at our side, we still have times when we are alone–both in the physical sense and in our minds.
The good news is that in our walk with God, He has never left our side. God is always with us–when times are good and when times are bad. When we are experiencing trials in our lives, we must do our best to remember that God is with us and fully aware of every moment of our difficulty. We can turn to Him for strength. We can turn to Him for guidance. We can turn to Him for wisdom. God is there when we turn to Him. We may have moments of loneliness, even as we forget that God is with us, but let us celebrate in trials knowing that God is with us 24/7 in a way that no other human on earth can be.
#2 Justice will be done. There are times when trials are the result of another’s actions–or inactions. When someone has introduced chaos into our lives or is bent on bringing discord into our world, we can be tempted to think and act as the world does. One of the most tempting thoughts we can have in these circumstances is to seek vengeance on those who have brought us harm.
We must remember that, in our walk with God, we must not act as the world acts. The world openly glorifies and encourages vengeance and retribution, however, as children of God we need not resort to such actions. For one, vengeance for wrongdoing done to us belongs to God and God alone. God knows the circumstances more than we can possibly understand and knows what the individuals that have caused harm deserve. We can know that if there are others who have introduced trials into our lives, God will bring justice to them in a way that is thorough and complete. Even if the form of justice is not fully known to us, we can know it will be done.
When someone has inflicted harm on you or those you love, the most powerful thing you can do is to ask God for justice to be done. We can celebrate in our trials that God will bring justice to those who have introduced trials into our lives.
#3 God is preparing you. When we are dealing with trials, sometimes it can be difficult to understand the answer to the question ‘Why?’. In particular, when there are trials that seem to be fully due to circumstances outside of our control, let us consider that God may be preparing us at the moment for things unseen and unknown. God is helping us to build endurance for future moments in life that only He knows. God may allow trials that in turn bring us closer to Him, relying on Him for strength and guidance.
I can personally attest that there have been times in my life where I experienced pain and loss and in the moment I didn’t understand what I had done wrong or why I was experiencing such adversity. When I look back on it now, I can see crystal clear that God has tested me to see if I would trust Him. He has tested me to see when I would decide to trust His ways over my own ways. I even realized that He has allowed me to experience adversity so that I can, in turn, share testimony with all of you on how I overcame that adversity. Imagine, that in the moment, I thought that all was lost. Little would I know that just a few years later, my triumph over adversity could be shared with thousands of strangers all over the world!
So, let us celebrate when dealing with trials for the simple fact that God may be preparing you for a future testimony that will transform the lives of others and give Him all of the glory in the process.
Wrap Up
In today’s message, we have explored 3 reasons to celebrate when we are experiencing trials in our lives. Let us remember that when we are seeking to walk in step with God, we are never alone. Let us remember that justice will be served to those who have introduced pain and suffering into our lives and we never need to seek out vengeance. Vengeance is God’s and God’s alone. Let us also remember that times of trials and adversity may very well be part of a plan to grow us closer to God, strengthen our resolve, and equip us for a future where we learn to lean on God in every area of our lives.
Let us learn to celebrate and even rejoice in times of trial and adversity as long as we posture ourselves to lean on God amidst the storms and challenges we will all face in life.
Let us know that God is with us at every step and every moment.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Celebrate In Your Trials
