Opening her fourth letter, Megan cried out, "Not another bill! I can't handle this!" As she burst out crying, the phone rang. It was her best friend, Christy.
"Megan, what's wrong?"
"I've lost my job, and I have all these bills to pay. Everything is going wrong. I just can’t take it anymore."
"I know how you feel. Bob and I have experience some difficult trials, too. We have been trusting God to help us."
"He can't help me. I don't think anybody can. All of my life, I have had failure after failure. I want to be free from all of my frustrations."
"You will always have trials."
"I'm going to move to another state and leave all my struggles behind."
"Running away doesn't solve anything."
"I've got to get away from here."
Have you felt like Megan? Megan wanted to find a way out. She was tired of her trials and wanted to escape from her present circumstances. The only thing she could think of was to run away to another state. However, she realized that no matter where she went, her trials would always go with her.
When the trials in your life seem to get too difficult to handle, you probably wanted to escape, too. Nobody likes to have unpleasant circumstances in their lives. However, you have to learn how to cope with the trials instead of giving up.
Trials are all around us--Conflicts with people, job, school, finances, or physical problems, etc. Life would be different without trials. Let’s imagine what life would be like in a world free from trials. Everything is perfect--no conflicts, no financial problems, no sorrow, no pain, no physical problems, no death, etc. Heaven will be like that, and that was what the world was like before Adam and Eve sinned.
Now, let’s imagine what it would be like on a deserted island. Being on a deserted island isn’t a way to escape from trials. Let’s look at what you might encounter on a deserted island. If you decided to escape to a deserted island, you might be alone, but there would not be any restaurants or any of the conveniences you would have at home. There wouldn’t be any grocery stores or other stores where you could buy food, clothes, or other material possessions. The kind of food that would be available would be sea food, fruit from trees, or meat, if you had a way to kill the animals and cook them. Also, there would not be a shelter in storms except for a cave or a cabin unless you brought a camper. Loneliness is also something you would have to deal with as well as other emotions if you were alone on a deserted island. Trials are all around you.
Now let’s look at what might happen if you lived in a mansion and had everything you could possibly want or need? Would you have any trials? Yes, you would have trials living in this type of situation. You could have a proud spirit because you could view yourself as more important than others. You would be richer than others and did not need anything. However, you would still have to pay your servants, utilities, and other bills. Your servants would do things for you, and as a result, you might become lazy.
What if something happened to your money, and you lost everything unexpectedly? How would you feel then? You would become depressed and would not know what to do next. You thought you had everything you needed for a happy life.
In this type of setting you could develop a proud spirit, and you could place too much value on material possessions. If you lost everything, you would have to start over again by finding another job and another place to live. No matter where you live, you could still lose your job and house.
If you become depressed because of your circumstances, you might want to find a way to escape. However, you cannot escape from the trials in your life. God placed those trials in your life to help you grow into the type of person He wants you to become. He has a plan for your life. You need to view your circumstances as a way to learn and to seek God and His plan for your life.
THEME: God has a plan for our lives. He works out our circumstances for our best.
"And we know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose."
(Romans 8:28)
This verse is from the NIV Bible.
This is an excerpt from a book that I am writing titled, Giving Up Or Pressing Onward.
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