Trusting Trials

By: William Schneider

Romans 9:14-24

Romans 8:28

Proverbs 3:5

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”  -Corrie Ten Boom

            Did you just go through a hard time in your life? Maybe you are going through one right now. And I know that hard times will come in the future as well. The wonderful thing though is that as Christians we can call upon the Lord and look to Him to give us strength and peace of mind. We can trust in the Lord in the midst of our trials, knowing that God works all things out for good to those who love Him. But is it ever that simple?

            Our God is a God of love, mercy, patience, compassion, and forgiveness. When something bad is happening to us we cannot see how our God could possibly be sovereign over the situation. How can such a loving God allow so much suffering in the lives of those who love and follow Him?

            Let me give you another piece of this puzzle; and it’s only that, a piece of Gods puzzle. God is so big and we are so small, yet we think we are the ones in control of our lives. When we look at the events happening in our lives we are only seeing a piece of the puzzle. God has not yet put the whole thing together. It is hard not to look at our trials and say this isn’t going the right way, I want things to work out like this… and we explain to God how we would run our lives. Who are we to tell God how to run His own creation?

            God will do as He wishes in our lives. At times we may be stubborn and not see why God may be taking a good thing away from us. Other times it will be clear why God allowed something tragic to happen in our lives, but either way we need to trust God and the way He chooses to mold His clay. God knows what He is doing even if we do not fully understand.

            The next time you are burdened with a trial, remember to give God your trust and your heart. An easy way to do this is to think of the example of the ‘greatest thing’ coming from the most ‘horrible thing;’ that is the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God (the Father) put His Son (Jesus Christ) through unimaginable suffering; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Think of what the people alive while this was happening might say, “He can’t be the Son of God because God would never put someone He loved through trials of pain and suffering…” It’s the same thing we say in the midst of our trials too. Now look at the outcome of the trials that Jesus went through; our forgiveness, our salvation, our eternal life, and our undeserved grace. God does work through pain and suffering and He can mold us in whichever paths He chooses so trust in Him!

Point to Ponder: Are you trusting God and that He is doing what is best for you during your trials, even when you can’t see the good in them?