How come it can’t all be smooth sailing? Because faith is a muscle and muscles don’t get stronger without exercise. Smooth sailing doesn’t “exercise” our faith, only trials and tribulations do.
God Allows
God allows trials and tribulations to come into our lives for several reasons. God uses trials to show us where we are in our walk with Him and to grow us in faith and spiritual maturity. Trials teach us to lean totally and completely on God. And when our trials are over, or the problem solved we see how great God is. We also see His glory shining for others to see as well.
Trials and tribulations also prepare us for service because there can be no testimony without trials. People don’t listen to someone who hasn’t gone through what they have tell them they can conquer their problem or that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Whose Benefit
Sometimes our trails aren’t for our benefit, but for nonbelievers. Nonbelievers don’t see God and seek after Him by watching Christians who are doing great and are on top of the mountain. They watch Christians who are going through trials and tribulations especially if they are going through or have gone through the same thing. Nonbelievers take notice when they see Christians walking through trials and not getting all stressed out, falling apart or taking it out on other people; but walking through the trial at peace and with a quiet strength. They want to know how we do it. How can we have such peace going through it? Where do we get our strength from?
Our actions have just opened the door to a conversation about God and His son, Jesus Christ. My husband always says, “Preach the gospel and whenever possible use words.” It’s our actions during our times of trial and tribulation that allow us to use words to preach the gospel. Always remember there are always people watching us, some nonbelievers. Let’s use our actions to plant seeds for God and His son, Jesus Christ.
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