triumph through trials

{{For when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow. 

So let it grow, for when our endurance is fully developed,

you will be strong in character and ready for anything.  James 1:3-4}}

We have all been there.  In the garden of grief.  Those times were we find ourselves on our knees, weeping, crying out to Him for help.  Sometimes we find ourselves questioning.  "Why God did You bring me here?  To a place of hurt, disappointment, betrayal..."  I know I, myself have been there plenty of times.  Its rough.  Sometimes I find myself asking Him why He couldn't have found a way less painful, a way that wouldn't hurt as much as this.

   The truth is, He knows EXACTLY how we feel!  He was in the same spot when He was in the garden the night He was betrayed.  He also asked for a less painful way.  But He also KNEW that it was Gods purpose, and that the ultimate victory was at the cross.  He trusted the Father.  Just as olives must be crushed to make oil, so He was crushed and poured out as a love offering to us. 

He is testing us.  Refining us.  Our faith is more precious to Him than gold. As it says in 1 Peter 1:7;  "These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."

   We have to go through the nasty stuff, to get to the beautiful.  The pain, the hurt... in the end, it will all be worth it to see His beautiful face at the finish line, and to hear Him say; "Well done child.  You have won."  

The trials this world throws at us are meant to give us endurance and teach us how to fully rely on Christ.  We can't do these things, or go through them on our own.  He gives us His Spirit to live inside us, and walk with us in our lives daily.  

   And when the weight of your circumstances begin crushing down on you, He tells you to come to Him in prayer, and to lay all of your burdens at His feet.  

The time will come, to leave that garden, and He will lead you straight to the cross where your trials will be transformed into triumph. 

Hallelujah!