Dan. 12:10 says, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand”
Beloved the hard times and sufferings believers are passing through all over the world in this present time should not be a thing of surprise because it has been long foretold. We have been told that when the end of all things approaches believers will be purified because there is every possibility they have been polluted and contaminated by the putrefying world. So, to separate the genuine believers from pretenders and the wicked, all must pass through trials. However the distinction of the trails of a believer to that of the unbeliever is that the believer will assuredly triumph over his challenges for the glory of God to be seen by the people of the world.
This trial should not in anyway deter believers from maintaining holiness and righteousness or make them to seek help from the enemies of God but rather it should help them to understand the sign of the End Time and instill in them the consciousness of heaven. The trials and persecutions of the churches and believers are design to take away their filth, as gold and silver are tried and refined. This is the glory of Christians and it is their great duty to suffer persecution, because it is destined for them by God. Trail is a call up exercise for believers to draw near to God through prayers, fasts, evangelism, righteous living and holiness.
1Thess. 3: 3-4 states, “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. 4 For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know”
All Christians are exposed to trials, persecution and must not hope to avoid it. Thus, we must not be deterred by what is happening in the world today vis-à-vis the killings, intimidation and persecution ongoing in the world in this present time for such was a divine arrangement. No one who professed Christianity should hope to be exempted from the trial, for it was the common lot of all believers. Believers are under a divine appointment from God Himself, to undergo trial and affliction as that will prepare them for eternal joy.
It is part of God’s gracious plan that His people in this world should suffer trials. That is the reason believers are urged to acknowledge the hand of God in their trials as well as their mercies, and never be led by them to renounce their confidence in Him. It is by affliction that He purifies them, and by trial He takes away from them the affections of this world. Trails help us to look to God for consolation, depend upon and abide in Him. It stirs in us the spirit of intercessory prayers which spurs us into praying without season. So while passing through the ocean of trails remember as a believer, you must remain steadfast in the Lord bearing in mind that it is for your own good.
Isaiah 48: 10-11 says, “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another”
In the plan of God, affliction and trails have great benefit to believers and if they keep this benefit in mind as they undergo the painful experience, it will help them to endure its temporal pain which will make way for joy everlasting. I don’t know the trails you are passing through neither do I know the cause nor who is behind it. But what I know and can assure you is that God has not abandoned you, at the end of it all you will triumph. Victory shall be yours and I shall hear your testimony in Jesus name.
Acts 20: 22-24 says, “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God”
Paul the Apostle said he did not consider his life as so valuable as to run away from persecutions. That he was willing to lay down his life for persecution if it became necessary. And he concluded that if he should do that, it would be to finish his course with joy. This implies that in the faithful discharge of duty, he had nothing to fear. He considered all afflictions and persecutions meted against him as nothing and they weigh him not down. This was the position of almost all the early disciples and therefore should be our avowed position as good followers.
Just as Apostle Paul gave himself out for trials, all believers are expected to follow his footstep if they really want to be good disciples and make heaven at last. The saints should strive so to live that they may have nothing to regret when they lie on the bed of death. It is a glorious privilege to finish life with joy but most awful when the last hours are embittered with the reflection that life has been wasted, or that the course has been evil. And the only way in which the course of life may be finished with joy, is by meeting faithfully every duty as Paul did, and every trial with a constant desire to glorify God.
2Tim. 3: 10-12 says, “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience. 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”
Apostle Paul after enumerating the degree of trials he went through in the course of his discipleship’s journey concluded that such trials were not peculiar to him alone but will be the lots of all believers who wish to make heaven at last. The trials could be great but cannot be longer than life itself, for it will end when life ends. So, whatever your trials maybe in this world, remember it is for a short time and meant only to purify and prepare you for heaven at last.