Following Jesus doesn’t make you exempt from problems, trials and troubles. When you face those difficult days, what you need is God’s grace to carry you through.
The Apostle Paul endured tremendous suffering during his lifetime. Because of his decision to follow Jesus, he was rejected, persecuted, beaten, shipwrecked and falsely accused. But those things didn’t make Paul turn away from Jesus. In fact, quite the opposite was true. They drove him closer to Jesus.
God’s power in our weakness
Many people believe that Paul suffered from some kind of physical problem. Scholars can only guess what that problem may have been, but Paul knew that the Lord had allowed this affliction in his life for a reason. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NLT Paul wrote, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness’.” This was a low point in Paul’s life. He was feeling discouraged and alone, but in Paul’s pain, Jesus appeared to him and comforted him with these words, “My grace is all you need.”
When you face your darkest moments, when you feel alone, only God’s grace can pull you through. Instead of being angry with God or pushing Him away, Paul was happy to see that his troubles brought more of God’s grace into his life. “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Corinthians 12.9-10 NLT).
Grace to endure and grow
In your weakness, you can experience God’s grace and strength. Hebrews 13.9 ESV says, “It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods. God’s grace promises to strengthen you with all you need to face the troubles before you.”
2 Peter 3.18 ESV says, “that as we trust the Lord in our troubles we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The more you trust Him in your troubles, the more you grow to rely on God’s grace and the more you come to know Jesus deeply and personally.
How can you find grace and help when you need it most? Pray. Hebrews 4.16 NIV says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” When you come to the Lord Jesus in prayer, He promises to give you grace and help to overcome the problems you are facing.
Suffering with purpose
You may ask, “Why does God allow troubles to come into our lives anyway?” While I cannot tell you specifically why you are facing certain problems, I do know that every problem gives you an opportunity to experience God’s grace and trust Him more.
Paul wrote to the church at Rome, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us,” (Romans 5.1-5 NIV).
Paul reminded them that because of Jesus, they were standing in the position of God’s grace and favor. They were known and loved by God. Then he went on to describe why God allows troubles to come into our lives. Troubles give us the opportunity to trust the Lord and depend on His grace.
When we do, we find that our troubles produce in us perseverance. We learn to keep our eyes on Jesus and follow Him no matter what. This perseverance produces godly character, and godly character produces hope because we know that God’s promises are tried, tested and true. Through it all, we learn to experience the love of God through His Spirit.
Instead of troubles causing us to sink into despair, as we trust the Lord and rely on His grace, we are held up by a joy that only Jesus can give, James 1.2 ESV. This joy gives us hope that our troubles will not bring us down, but will ultimately make us stronger. Peter reminds us, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you,” (1 Peter 5.10 ESV).
This blog features an excerpt from one of our books, Walk With God.
