Vindication And VengeanceShembull

DAY TWO: The greater the suffering, the greater the promise of blessing for you down the road

Suffering is “not for nothing.” This is precisely why James said for us to “count it all joy” when we fall into trials of any kind (Jas. 1:2 esv). If you dignify the trial rather than complain, you will see that such a trial was worth more than gold (1 Pet. 1:7).

How do you dignify a trial? Don’t complain. Forgive your enemy. Maintain unfeigned thanksgiving. See the delay of vindication as part of God’s strategy for you. Don’t try to hasten the end of the trial. Every trial has a built-in time scale. You think it will never end? It will. When it’s over, it’s over. In heaven the audience of One—the righteous judge—renders a verdict of pass or fail.

For too many years I failed when a trial came. I complained, grumbled, murmured, and forgot that “every joy or trial falleth from above,” as the hymn writer Frances R. Havergal (1836–1879) put it.

God was gracious to me, giving me many, many more chances to pass. Has He not been gracious to you? Therefore see the withholding of vindication as the weapon He could be using to drive you to your knees to spend more time with Him.