All throughout Scripture we see examples of the Lord saving His people through tribulation, not from it.
Noah was not saved from the Flood, but through it.
Daniel was not saved from the lions’ den, but through it.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not saved from the fiery furnace, but through it.
The children of Israel were not saved from Egypt before the plagues fell, but afterward. God demonstrated His love and power by preserving them in Egypt through the ten plagues.
God never promises that our lives will always be Easy. Instead, Christ prayed to His Father for His disciples, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15 ESV; cf. 2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22).
The good news is that God’s children can—and will—survive tribulation. They endure by practicing some of the same survival skills used by the Great Basin bristlecone pine. Believed to be one of the oldest living trees on the planet, it can live more than 4,000 years. Found on lonely mountaintops, some of these ancient evergreens have weathered thousands of years of intense freezing wind, pounding rain, scorching sun, and violent electrical storms.
How do they manage to survive such harsh adverse conditions? They send their roots deep, wrap them tenaciously around a solid rock, and hang on.
In the same way, believers can—and must—sink their roots of faith deep into the Word of God and cling tenaciously to the mighty Rock of Ages.
Remember, even though God does not always provide an escape from tribulation, He does promise to give us the power and strength to get through it (see Philippians 4:13).
—Adapted
Bible Verse: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33 ESV
Quotable Quote: “Regardless of race, nationality, gender, social status, age, or religion, all people share the language of suffering. We may not be able to relate to another culture’s music, we may not enjoy a country’s exotic taste in food, and we may fail to understand a particular people’s humor; yet for every human being, pain is pain and anguish is anguish. We’re all united by experiences of hardship, heartache, and grief.”
— Charles Swindoll (b. 1934)
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