Mission Venture Ministries

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive. (Genesis 50:20) 

The Bible clearly teaches that God loves those who are His children, “and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Therefore, for the believer, when trials and tribulations come they have a divine purpose. 

A good example is seen in Joseph’s life between the hatred of his brothers who sold him into slavery, the anger and lies of his master’s wife, and incarceration that left him forgotten in prison. It would have been easy for Joseph to lose hope, and those 13 years of his life must have seemed like an eternity, but Joseph trusted in the Lord, stayed close to Him and kept his faith strong. 

Just like Joseph we need to choose to believe God’s promises and trust that He is always in control of our life. He loves us and cares about us and He will never leave or forsake His children, no matter how we may feel when going through trials, tribulation and hardships. 

When we are going through tough times, we need to bring to our mind that our feelings are unreliable factors on which to base our decisions, since they are constantly changing, and can be flawed. For that reason, we need to make a conscious effort to base our decisions on biblical truth rather than on our emotions. We need to trust that the Holy Spirit is with us as we are dealing with hardships, even when we don’t sense His presence or understand what is happening. 

Instead of asking “why?” we need to ask “how?” When we ask why? God may or may not choose to give us an answer. However, when we ask God how, He will often reveal the purposes that He wants us to fulfill as we go through our trial. We should always remind ourselves that during these tough times we need to draw closer to God because “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust” (Psalm 91:2). 

All through out the Bible, God’s people have asked why certain things happened, or will happen, and many times He explained why things have happened like they did, or will happen. Daniel, Paul, David and all of the prophets have asked God to explain why events have happened and will happen. All through out the Bible God has invited us to inquire of Him why certain things have happened and will happen in the future.  

Jeremiah 33:3 is just one scripture where God gives us a command and an invitation to inquire of His great plans and purposes and says: “Call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  

God wants His true children to be fully informed about many things that we need to know; He even blessed us with the promise that true Christians “have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). 

We need to understand that trials develop godly character, which enables us to “rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5). This is the way God refines us to accomplish His purpose for our life. 

Jesus Christ set the perfect example. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). These verses reveal aspects of His divine purpose for both Jesus Christ’s trials and tribulations and ours; knowing that “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). 

We must however, be careful never to make excuses for our “trials and tribulations” if they are a result of our own sins and rebellion. God will forgive our sins because the eternal punishment for sin has been paid by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Never the less, we still have to suffer the natural consequences in this life for our sins and bad choices. But God uses even those sufferings to mold and shape us for His purposes and our ultimate good. 

Scripture tells us that trials and tribulations come with both a purpose and a reward. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. . . . Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:2-4, 12). 

As believers we need to know that we have victory as we overcome life’s trials and tribulations since God has given us His Word to guide us, His Holy Spirit to enable us, and the privilege of coming to Him anywhere, at any time, to pray about anything – “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). 

We need to have strong faith like Joseph who in the midst of trials and tribulations trusted that God was with him every step of the way. And at the end of the dark years, he proclaimed he had learned that what man meant for evil “God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result” (Genesis 50:20). 

One of the primary reasons we struggle in adversity and give in to despair and hopelessness is ignorance of the Scriptures. The Lord wants to help us through affliction, but we must open His Word to receive His guidance, comfort, and assurance. 

When we are confident of the Lord’s love for us and understand how He uses adversity in our lives, we will be able to trust Him and respond in a way that benefits us knowing that God is always with us and that He promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). 

God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This is the goal of the Christian, and everything in life, including the trials and tribulations, are designed to enable us to reach that goal. It is part of the process of sanctification, being set apart for God’s purposes and fitted to live for His glory. The way trials accomplish this is explained in 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

The believer’s faith will be made strong by the trials we experience so that we can rest in the knowledge that God is with us and His purpose is to refine us, giving us the hope needed for enduring with assurance and peace in our inner most being. 

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