Daily Meditation, June 16

FE’S THORNY TRIALS

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” – Psalm 34:19

*Comment:* In life, every one of us will face various difficulties such as poverty, family conflicts, illness, and setbacks at work and so on. When facing difficulties, many easily become negative, weak and have difficulties handling these experiences which sometimes make some to lose faith in God. Beloved brethren, please do not be worried, because God is always there for us. As long as we come before Him and truly rely on Him, God will grant us faith and strength to go through the hard times.

Afflictions, trials and tribulations can be very painful things for us to go through. Most times, we find ourselves begging God to remove us from these troubles we face. But what we don’t understand in that moment is that as we carry on through these tough times, with God’s strength, our characters are developing (Acts 14:22; 1 Corinthians 10:13).The next time we are faced with similar trials or tribulations, we are more confident, and experienced to handle it with God’s help.

Let me introduce two champions of God to you: A joyful Joseph in Egypt (Gen. 41) and a passionate Paul from Tarshish (Acts. 17). Reading about Joseph and Paul, in the midst of challenges and turmoil we observed they never complained or murmured of their state but they prevail through all challenges and trials by complete reliance on God. Let their life be a reminder to us. There is this saying: “Some people complain that roses have thorns, others rejoice that thorns have roses.”
Be thankful for roses among thorns. Always hunt for buds of beauty within our thorny challenges of life. You shall overcome by God’s grace.

*Prayer:* Our Heavenly Father in heaven, help us to be patient in tribulation and let Your saving grace help us through all our challenges through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.