Take Hold of Your Trial

If we didn’t have conflict, pressure or trials, we would become passive and lukewarm. Decay would set in, and our temple would lie in ruins. That’s why the enemy’s plan against us is clear: He wants to take us out of the battle.

We find all our resources for strength to go on and power over the enemy in our spiritual battles. On that day when we stand before the Lord, he will reveal to us, “Do you remember what you went through in that awful battle? Look at what you accomplished through it all. It was all secured through the battles you won.”

The simple fact is that God has put his treasure in human bodies. Scripture states, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair” (2 Corinthians 4:7-8, NKJV). The Lord has made you a temple, a house for his Spirit to dwell in, and you have a responsibility to maintain that temple.

If you become lazy and careless, neglecting the maintenance work needed — regular prayer, feeding on God’s Word, fellowshipping with the saints — decay will set in, and you’ll end up in ruin.

As I look back on my own years of ministry, I recall many times when it would have been easy for me to quit. I would pray, “Lord, I don’t understand this attack. Where did it come from? I don’t see any purpose in it at all.” Over time, I began to see fruit from those trials, and that strength and spiritual wealth was supplied me in a way that I couldn’t have gotten through any other means. 

As Paul explained to the early church, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

I urge you to take hold of your trial by faith and believe God has allowed it. Know that he’s using it to make you stronger, to help you take spoils from Satan, to make you a blessing to others and to sanctify you for his glory.