Preparing for and Overcoming Trials

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Preparing for & Overcoming Trials

Introduction: As you might expect, a key topic of conversation in my Bible studies this past year has been the virus and the subsequent trials that many of suffered as a result. My observations and the observations of many others has been that the younger generation has struggled with these trials even more than those who are older even though the older are more vulnerable to the virus. My guess is that older people have more experience with trials and therefore deal with it a little better. Of course, younger people may have been more vulnerable to losing their jobs, which increases their stress.

Either way, it is critically important that we actually understand how a trial works and how we are to maintain a biblical response to the trial. There is a natural increase in sinful responses to trials simply because of the added pressure and the human desire to escape the pain.

Further, even if you were not seriously affected by the trial, if you live long enough, the day will come in which you will have to go through two or three very tough trials. Preparation is critical because Satan uses trials to destroy our faith in God.

1. Why Are We Surprised?
   1. One of the most common reactions to trials such as the virus, political upheaval, or just bad events in our personal lives is how shocked and upset we become. I expect this from people who aren’t believers, but for Bible students it is a foolish reaction. The Lord told us plainly that major event-changes will happen in life both good and bad.
      1. Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 God has intentionally ordered life with good and bad days/times so that we cannot find out or expect what will happen after us. This is important for us! It urges us toward trust in him. The more we can trust, the more we can live in peace. God is always our answer for anxiousness (Phil. 4:6-7).
      2. Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 These events are destined to happen. God has determined it. The one who “works” to change this pattern will be living for vanity and striving after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14-15).
      3. Like many men are, I am a “rut” kind of person. I’m comfortable in my rut and I’m fine with doing mostly the same thing every day with a few minor variations. Trials force us out of ruts which are intended to move us toward God instead of ourselves and our own comforts.
   2. Therefore, Peter said, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
   3. Therefore, it is critical we prepare mentally and spiritually:
      1. Your knowledge of the poetic literature is imperative. As in Proverbs 1:24-27, that knowledge is “insurance” policy so that you survive the trial. Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember your Creator before the dark days come…” Thus, trials are typically sudden and unpredictable. Peter thought he was prepared, but he was not. 
      2. Remember, the severity of the trial is important. Daily annoyances are not what God calls a trial. If the trial is not severe, we do not learn from it. Peter called it a “fiery trial” that purifies us. “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small” (Prov. 24:10). 
   4. You may be thinking right now, “I’ll never fall away…” Well, you may not, but that does not mean you will be living by faith in the trial. Living by faith is not just whether you will be baptized and take the Lord’s Supper. It is trusting God’s path when his way is more painful and against your natural inclination. [Like fleeing Jerusalem instead of staying inside the protection of the walls!]
2. Why Does God Allow Suffering?
   1. Job never knew about the conversation between God and Satan. I suppose if he had, his trial would have been more bearable. Job 1:9-12, Satan asks a critical question: Does Job serve God for nothing? That question is asked of every one of us. Unfortunately, many are like Job’s wife, if there is no physical reward, if life is not smooth and fair, then the Lord is not worth serving. Cf. Mal. 2:17.
   2. Job 33:29-30, Elihu explains that God works these things with a man “to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.” In other words, when a trial comes in our life we should consider at least three things:
      1. Though trials do not necessarily come as a direct result of sin, it is a good time to double check for sinful patterns that would bring us down to the pit.
      2. Trials expose character traits that need improving. Trials accentuate our weaknesses that we might not have noticed when times were good. We can become overconfident, thinking we are truly patient people with self-control and sacrificial love for others. A trial will reveal whether that is really true. Peter says that trials purify us like gold (1 Pet. 1:6-7). 
      3. Trials expose weak trust & our love & desire for God. Maybe you need to rely on God and less on your own abilities. Maybe you are just too comfortable and are beginning to believe that you deserve all the good things that are happening to you. Or, maybe your desire for heaven and God is not as strong as it should be because life has become too easy for you.
   3. James tells us that trials produce patience and completes our character (Jas. 1:2-4). And Paul tells us that trials produces patience, character, and hope (Rom. 5:3-5). Tribulations are the only means to this end. It is the difference between reading a book about baseball and playing baseball.
3. Problems Generally Faced in Trials
   1. Trials usually affect more than one area of our lives. In the case of Job, he lost his prosperity, his children, then his health, then his wife, and finally his friends. Satan added one after another to maximize the pain and use the most effective means possible of destroying Job’s resolve to serve God and endure.
   2. True trials have no foreseeable positive results. This is what makes a true biblical trial. In other words, we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. Job 7:19, “How long? Will you not look away from me, and let me alone till I swallow my saliva?” This is where faith is so critical.
   3. There is a strong tendency to make poor decisions, foolish statements and to try to solve the pain by turning to a sinful escape. Job 42:3, “I have uttered what I did not understand.” Job’s wife recommended renouncing God.
   4. No amount of changing one’s life, being good, or praying for the trial to end seems to help (Job 9:30-31; 10:14-15). It is easy for us to wonder if God is even listening or cares.
   5. The trial is usually perceived to be unfair. And, it usually is “unfair.” Our sense of justice has been violated. We think, “I may not have done everything perfectly, but I don’t deserve this.” Job 21:13-14, it is especially disconcerting when we see those who are wicked faring better than us.
   6. Many who you hoped would have helped you see the trial as an opportunity to judge you (Job 16:1-2). Others simply flee from you (Job 19:19). Sometimes we deserve it, sometimes we don’t. Either way, this is part of the trial and we must not let it cause us to stop loving those around us. Job was told to pray for his friends in the end.
4. The Keys to Overcoming
   1. First, it is important to understand that God cares: Job 36:5-7; 1 Peter 5:7; Heb. 12:5-6.
   2. We must avoid the “sin of demanding” and accept what is happening as part of God’s right to do with my life what he pleases. After all, this is not my life; it is his (Job 38:1-3).
   3. Remember, the trial is God’s classroom to improve us and draw us closer to him (Job 35:9-14). We are not allowed to skip class (Job 34:31-33).
   4. God is in the midst of the storm (Job 37; esp. vs. 13).

Conclusion: In the end, God did bless Job. There is a Job chapter 42. Hebrews 12:11, for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 

Berry Kercheville