Hope Despite Our Circumstances

Suffering and difficulty is part of the human existence.

Since the fall of man, no one is exempt from suffering.

Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him. All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.Ecclesiastes 7:13-15

Suffering and difficulty are a result of God’s judgment of sin.

God punishes the sin of the unsaved.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;Romans 1:18

God chastises the saved in an effort to bring them back to obedience.

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.Hebrews 12:5-6

All sin has destructive consequences for the saved and the unsaved.

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.James 1:15

Suffering and difficulty are a desire for God’s sanctification of His children.

Trials are given to us for the glory of God and our personal good.

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.John 9:1-3

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28

We are prone to make our decisions based on what we can see.

We are prone to make our decisions based on what we have experienced.

“Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue.”

As Christians, we must view the world from the perspective of God’s Word.

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)2 Corinthians 5:7

God is greater than your trials.

A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.Psalm 34:1-2

God is sovereign through your trials.

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.Psalm 55:22

God has pre-ordained your suffering and has pre-ordained your deliverance.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.Proverbs 3:5-6

They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.Psalm 18:18-20

God is faithful.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.2 Corinthians 4:8-12

Hope is a choice.

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;1 Peter 1:13