Five Ways to Look for Blessings During Trials By Juliana Gordon
“Trials are a blessing in disguise.”
Even now, God is providing for you.
“Look at the bright side!”
See God’s provision in other areas of your life, even if one area is really hard right now. He may even use this time to teach you what you really need. “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NASB1995)
“After trials come blessings.” When we are in the moment of residing in the uncomfortable, messy, or painful space of a trial or a hard time, one of these phrases can be a common response. Sometimes it is a meaningful comment, meant to encourage us to persevere. Other times, it is given because the other person honestly doesn’t know what to say. Either way, these remarks have the potential to land as insensitive, dismissive responses to legitimate pain. But what truth lies in this way of thinking? Can we find blessings from God during trials and challenges in our lives? I don’t believe that there is a transactional nature of suffering = blessings, as in “suffer for God = get what you want.” But I do believe that blessings not only follow trials but often come during them. Here are five ways you can look for blessings from God during trials.
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M AG A Z I N E N A M E
Even now, God is with you. Psalm 139:11-12 (NASB1995) says, “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.’” There is nowhere we go that God cannot see us or be with us. Even now, God is producing endurance in you. Here we encounter James 1:2-4 NASB1995. This is one of my favorite/least favorite passages. I love these verses because it gives me hope that my trials have a purpose; I don’t like these verses when they are used by others to poke at people who are hurting, to tell them to be happy that they are going through what might be the worst time in their lives. Read these verses knowing that God has a plan for your life. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
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