Romans 3:10 (ESV)
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one.

 

Three types of trials:

  1. Some hardships are a result of this fallen, upside-down world.
  2. Some challenges are tests from God.
  3. Some trials, however, are a result of our own bad decisions or our fallen, sinful nature.

 

“The backslider in heart will always judge God by what He didn’t do. But those who run with tenderness for who He is will always define Him by what He has said, by what He has promised, by what He’s done. And to be as honest as I know how to be, I have seen too much of His kindness to think anything other than that He is absolutely good, always good.”- Beni Johnson

 

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

 

  • Real faith does not deny the existence of a problem. Instead, real faith denies the problem a place of influence.
  • We undermine hope when we focus on what God isn’t doing. We should feed our souls on what God is doing; then we’ll find strength.

 

Psalm 31:24 (MEV)
Be strong, and He will strengthen your heart, all you who wait for the LORD.

 

Psalm 33:22 (MEV)
Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be on us, just as we hope in You.

 

Psalm 62:5-6 (MEV)
My soul, wait silently for God, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my refuge; I will not be moved.

 

Psalm 69: 1-13 (ESV)
1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. 3 I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. 4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore? 5 O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. 7 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons 9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. 10 When I wept and humbled[b] my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. 11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. 12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. 13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord . . .

 

James 1:2–4 (ESV)
2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

James 1:12 (ESV)
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

 

God allows suffering in our world so it can be used to further his purposes in many ways:

  1. In our lives, to teach us and to increase our dependence on him when we start to think we are in control.
  2. In the lives of those around us.
  3. In the lives of those we may never know.

 

How do we survive the trials?

  1. Giving our life to God.
  2. Trusting God.
  3. Prayer.

 

 

Questions:

  1. What did you hear from the Holy Spirit?
  2. What will you do because of it?
  3. How can we pray for you?

 

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