The Power Of A Transformed Life Part 5
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Transformation comes as God allows us to go through particular trials as He is more interested in our holiness than our happiness. He is also more interested in our character than our comfort. Trials include hardship, distress and adversity. It is where one learns a person’s character by testing them. God wants to examine us to see how we are and to show us what we are like. The purpose of doing this is to cause us to be better and to make us more Christ-like, not to kill us or make us bitter.
Trials by way of persecutions, needs, distress, hardships and storms of life are God’s method of transforming us to be more like Jesus and to work on us from the inside out. However, this is not the only method God uses. Just as Jesus was persecuted, so will we (John 15:20). Therefore do not wonder why we go through persecution, since we encounter it when we are living for Christ (1 Peter 4:12). Trials are a natural part of the Christian life. Our faces should not look like we are going through a trial when we are going through one. Instead, we glory in the trial and know that something good is going to happen (Romans 5:3-4). That endurance produces character and character produces hope, giving us the assurance that Christ will see us through.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Matthew 13:20-21
We don’t rejoice at the trial, but at what it will produce in us. It will produce perseverance and maturity. If the Church is not tried, it will not be strong. We’ll be weak and sickly and feeble as children of God. This is like the character in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. We are told that the one who receives the Word among the rocky places, receives it joyfully, but “when troubles and persecution come because of the word, he has no root and quickly falls away.”
We shouldn’t be surprised when trials and suffering come since we partake in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:12-13). So when others curse us or talk about us because we are Christians, we are blessed. The prophet who tried to curse Israel, ending up blessing it when he opened his mouth.
In the midst of a trial, remember that someone else went through what you went through. 1Corinthians 10:13 says “No temptation has undertaken you except what is common to mankind.” Remember also, that God is faithful and He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. God’s Word tells us that He is touched by what we go through. Sometimes we think that we are going through things and that no one is praying for us, but Christ is interceding on our behalf. He is praying that our faith would not fail.
God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. With every trial, there is an exit. If there is an exit, the trial will not last forever. James 1:2 tells us to consider it pure joy when we go through trials of many kinds, not if we go through trials. 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us that anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted. 1 Corinthians 4:10-13 tells us that we are weak but Christ is strong. We go through trials sometimes because we have done everything right. Think of the glory of God not the trial. The trial will not last forever. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul speaks of the thorn in the flesh he was given to keep him from becoming conceited.
We ask ourselves, “Where is Jesus when we are going through our trials?” He is right there. He has given us strength, He’s praying for us and He is carrying us. When the heat comes through trials and tribulations, we must ask ourselves, “will we run to God or from God?”
