Daily Prayers for Grieving Hearts: A 21-Day Plan for Comfort on the Road to RecoveryIsampula

TRIALS . . . FOR OUR GOOD?

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. II CORINTHIANS 4:8 TLB

For grapes to become wine, they must go through the squeeze of a winepress. To transform into butterflies, caterpillars must force their way through the narrow channel of a chrysalis. And for our faith to grow and mature, we must pass through trials that at the time seem unbearable, yet we do not get crushed. The apostle Paul would know—he faced more trials than most, and he didn’t give up and quit. Our trials are the only portals that lead to the true transformation from our dependence on ourselves into an absolute reliance on our almighty God. We need them in order to fully comprehend just how out of control we are and how fully in control He is. And if we cling to the fact that there’s an eternal perspective in play, we will persevere and reach the most beautiful heights only the saints who endure can see.

Lord, please help me to rise above my immediate circumstances and strive for the eternal perspective You want me to have. Give me the determination not to give up— on myself or on You. Help me remember that while I may have trouble on every side, I can and will endure as long as I stay by Your side. I trust that You will hold me up and keep me going for yet another day.

IN YOUR GREAT NAME, I PRAY. AMEN.