In Philippians 4:4 (NIV), the apostle Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” While we have no trouble rejoicing while everything is going well, it is difficult to rejoice while going through trials. In his book “Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World”, Max Lucado writes:
“But how can a person obey this command? Rejoice always? Is it possible for a person to maintain an uninterrupted spirit of gladness? No. This is not Paul’s challenge. We are urged to ‘Rejoice in the Lord.’ This verse is a call, not to a feeling, but to a decision and a deeply rooted confidence that God exists, that He is in control, and that He is good”.
The psalmist David wrote, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4, NIV). Note that when David sought the Lord in prayer, the Lord delivered him from all his fears, NOT all his problems. When we seek God in faith, He does not necessarily answer prayer by removing our problems, but He does deliver us from our fears, and gives grace and strength to endure our trials, as well as giving us His peace throughout them. When we exercise our faith in God in this way, His Name is glorified as others witness His power at work in our lives, and they may desire to seek God themselves.
We may never know the reason for the difficult circumstances in our lives, but we can know the God who called us according to His purpose. By seeking God in prayer and reading His word, we can get to know God better and thus learn more about His character. As a result, our trust in Him will grow, because God is everything that is good, and His plans are for our good. When we are in the purpose, or will, of God, every event in our lives can be used for our good, and to conform us to the image of Jesus:
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. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son … (Romans 8:28-29a, NIV)
We are so blessed to have God’s word so freely available to us, as there are so many Bible verses which encourage us to trust in Him. Just three examples of these follow. Firstly, in the book of Isaiah, we read:
For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13, NIV)
Secondly, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews penned the following encouraging verse:
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, NIV)
Thirdly, in his second letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul wrote:
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NIV)
Our God is so worthy of our complete trust!
Robbie Bryant