Enduring Trials and Tribulations

“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, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” “Blessed is a 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 NASB1995)

Trials and tribulations are part of life. We all have them, not all of us all of the time, and not all of us to the same degree as one another. But life has its difficulties as well as its rewards. It has its blessings and its misfortunes. But for the follower of Jesus Christ, these trials serve a good purpose. For they test our faith to see if it is genuine. And if we respond correctly to the trials, they produce in us endurance which leads to spiritual maturity in Christ. 

Not everyone responds to their trials in all the same ways. Not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ sees their trials as a gift from God to help them to come to maturity in Christ and to be strengthened in their faith. But they see their trials as a bother, a distraction, a nuisance, a misfortune, and something to fight against or to give in to in a way which leads to sin rather than to increased faith and perseverance, perhaps out of anger against God.

And I am certainly not saying here that we should just cave to the trials and to let them conquer us. We can certainly pray for deliverance and for healing and for miracles. We can pray for God to intervene on our behalf and to deliver us out of the difficulty. But at the same time we must surrender to the will and purpose of God, saying, “Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” And we must be willing to learn what we need to learn through it all.

For suffering is to produce in us endurance, character, and hope. If we are insulted for the name of Christ, we are blessed. If we are taken as prisoner, and if we are brought before a court of law for our testimonies for Jesus Christ, that will be our opportunity to bear witness to the gospel of our salvation. And some of us will be delivered up to death by friends and/or family members because we speak the truth of God’s word to the people.

In all that we suffer for the sake of knowing Jesus, and for the sake of the gospel of our salvation and for our testimonies for our Lord, we are to remain steadfast in faith and not ever give up. And God uses these times in our lives to make us more like Jesus, and so that we can encourage others in their suffering. For all that we suffer for our faith teaches us to not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. So we put our hope in the Lord.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; James 1:2-4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Hebrews 12:3-12; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

We Will Sing!  

Based off The Psalms

An Original Work / December 4, 2013

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I will praise You, Lord, among all peoples.

I will praise You for all that You have done.

I called to the Lord, and He heard my cry.

He turned weeping into a song of joy!

I will sing praise to my Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God evermore.

I will praise You, Lord, for Your mighty works,

For Your love is great, reaching to the heav’ns.

O my Strength, I sing my praise unto You,

For Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

I will sing praise to my Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God evermore.

Shout with joy to God all who’re on the earth.

Say to God, “O how awesome are Your deeds.”

The redeemed sing praise to their Savior, King, 

For He saved them all in His righteousness.

We will sing praise to our Lord all our lives;

We will sing praise to our God evermore.

https://vimeo.com/114678287

Enduring Trials and Tribulations

An Original Work / March 23, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love