“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” – 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT
Troubles… Trials… tribulations… difficulties…. They are painful, unpleasant, and we think unnecessary. But it is these very things (if we learn the from them) that can produce in us priceless treasures.
Everything we go through in life, both the triumphs and losses, are intended to teach us… to instruct us… to conform us into His Image.
Paul understood this when he wrote:
“12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” – Philippians 4:12-13 KJV [emphasis added]
Now, I want you to follow this very closely:
When Paul said “in all things I am instructed…” he was literally saying:
“I am taught when I have an abundance of money or when I’m broke (if I win the lottery or lose it all)… I have learned that whatever situation I find myself in (good or bad) I am in a fixed position IN Christ Jesus Who empowers me to handle every situation I’m in… to overcome any obstacle to resist every temptation…”
I other words: “I can acquit myself: manly.”
Paul understood, what we often forget, that life is full of ups and downs… triumphs and losses… but they shouldn’t define us… they are there to transform us…. To teach and instruct us… to conform us into His Image…
“28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren“ – Romans 8:28-29 NKJV
Conformed… that, my friend is why we go through what we go through: not as punishment but as a way of purging us from our carnal self and to teach us to trust Him in every situation. As we do, our faith grows stronger and stronger… and we mature into full grown sons and daughters ready to stand work with Our Father in His Vineyard…