"FOR A WHILE"

"We send Timothy, who is our brother and God's
 fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ,
 to  strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.
 You know quite well that we were destined for
  them."                          ---1 Thessalonians 3:2-3      


Sometimes life seems to be one long, unending
string of trials. What words of encouragement
does the apostle have for them. "But HR doesn't
stop on that morbid note. He adds: Be
strengthened. Be encourage in your faith. And
don't let trials unsettle you.
      We are destined for trials. In others words,
life is supposed to be difficult. Yet it's amazing
how many people believe that life should be easy.
They bemoan the enormity of their problems,
feeling as though their difficulties are a unique
kind of affliction that should not be. They feel
that affliction has somehow been especially
visited upon them, or else upon their families
and not upon others.
      Life is a series of problems to be solved.
Yes, solving problem is a painful process, but
it is this whole process that gives our life
meaning. Benjamin Franklin said, "Those things
that hurt, instruct." And the psalmist said long
before him, "It was good for me to be afflicted so
that I might learn your decrees" (Pdalm 119:71).
    So he strengthened and encouraged in your
faith. Don't be unsettled by your trials. You know
quite well you are destined for them. And for
good reason.
    Trials are not for our pleasure, they are for
our profit. Once you accept this truth, you
transcend it. Once you truly know that life is
difficult no longer.
     Lord, you have not redeemed me to make
my life happy, healthy, or free of trouble. You've
redeemed me to become more like Christ....
and this is why I'm destined for trials.