Your suffering hurts but God has a plan

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Renewed hope”

Our Bible verse for today: “Consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Your suffering hurts but God has a plan”

Let’s be clear that when James writes that we should consider it “great joy” when we face serious trials in life, he did not mean that we should be happy that bad things are happening to us. If we consider his statement in the context of the rest of the verse, we realize what he means is that God can and will use our trials to make us stronger and better.

That still does not mean that the trial itself is a good thing, only that God can and will use it for our benefit if we let Him. This is essentially the same truth Paul taught in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” God will reach into the middle of bad circumstances and bring good things out of it for those who belong to Him.

This is what Job was referring to in Job 23:10 when, writing about the eventual outcome of his own trials, he had faith that “when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure as gold.” In other words, Job knew that God could and would use the times of fiery trials as a refining process in his life and that he would emerge from it stronger and better.

Applied to your life and mine, we realize that bad things happen to all of us, but God can reach into those bad times and use them to make us better, stronger, and more mature. Like Job, we can come out of it refined and of greater use to God and to others.

When we are hurting and struggling, like Job we often don’t understand what’s happening or why. Resist the temptation to feel as if it all has to make sense to you, because often it won’t. Trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God and know that God will honor your faithfulness by using this trial to make you better and stronger. That then will give you a sense of renewed hope. Your suffering hurts but God has a plan.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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