The Word - Feb. 13, 2012 - TRIALS COME AND GO

"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. For I am the Lord, your God" (Isaiah 43:2-3a).

God has only one road for every one of His children. It is through! Every trial, regardless of how severe or how long, is only temporary. We're going through!

Three times, our Scripture says 'through'. It is necessary for us to experience trials. There is a need-to-be to every trial we experience in our lives. The way our Lord deals with us is most of the time difficult to understand; but our final destiny is unmistakable; eventually we are going home!


It is not "if" we pass through the waters, but "when". You can rest assured that no true child of God will enjoy a trouble free life. God loves His children far too much for that result. "If God fails to discipline you as He does all His children, it means you are illegitimate and are not really His child at all."

Peter prayed for suffering believers in His day and ours, "Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you go through many trials for a little while; these trials will show that your faith is genuine" (1Peter 1:7-8).

So, dear friends, just as the refiner sits over the fire to make sure the dross is all gone when the work is finished, so the Lord sits over our lives and will NOT allow us to be tested beyond what we can bear. Just acknowledge your weakness; then His strength will become yours!

"It came to pass, the sorrows deep; It came to pass; the heavy care
The reddened eyes now cease to weep; That seemed beyond all strength to bear;
And, underneath, God's loving arms Til shared by One on yonder throne,
Now rest the soul and quell alarms. Who bore the greatest burden known.

It came to pass, the shattering blow
which taught the troubled heart to know
A deeper sense of God's great grace,
The rainbow in the storm to trace.