His Encouragement – Trials

Posted by abakersp in Thoughtful Thursday / 8 Comments

Hello reader friends! Welcome to another dose of His Encouragement, a weekly post to provide something from the Word of God from a few blogger friends of mine.

How many of you have ever gone through a trial? It could be physical, spiritual, emotional, health, work, etc… I know I have had my fair share. It seems like lately in my church so many people are suffering from different things, myself included. I have back issues, and on Sunday, while I was getting a shirt to wear to church out of my dresser drawer, my back gave out on me. It does that every now and then and it is painful. It takes me like a week or more to recover from, depending on the severity of it.

This issue is very frustrating to me. The littlest, dumbest things will make my back go wonky, and there really is no rhyme or reason to it. I have to miss work, I can’t do all the things around the house I need to do, and it’s a real thorn in my side. I’d even go so far as to say I hate it. Yep, you heard it here first folks 😉

I still managed, by the grace of God alone, to make it to church on Sunday. You’ll never guess what the message was about. Finding joy from trials. Yep, you heard me right. Finding joy from trials. So I’m sitting there, not wanting to roll my eyes because I love and respect my pastor. He is true to God’s word and I appreciate that about him. But I was hurt. I was angry. I was frustrated. And I simply didn’t want to understand how having my back issues for years now would bring me joy. Let me share a verse with you.


And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

Romans 5:3

Awesome. My pastor wasn’t making this up, the bible tells us to glory in tribulations – or find joy in trials. And patience? Yeah I am not good with that at all. In fact all week I’ve been pushing myself to do things because I don’t have the patience to wait until I am better! I obviously forgot about the verse that was preached to me on Sunday. Well, if we’re being honest here, I kind of wanted to forget about it. On purpose.

Then I’m sitting here and wondering what verse I should share for this post. Guess which one came in my head? Yep – the very one I heard on Sunday. Do you think the Lord is trying to tell me something in the very midst of my own trial? On Sunday my pastor mentioned that the trials we go through today could help us connect with someone in the future. He is absolutely right. Who knows what kind of people I will come across in the future that have back issues that I can be an encouragement to. How you ask? Well, by sharing with them that even though I was frustrated and upset, I still relied on the Lord to get me through. I drew my strength from Him and Him alone. I still did my bible reading every day with my daughter, even though it was uncomfortable. And I praised Him as I made progress every day.

Back issues aren’t fun. But maybe, just maybe, years down the road I will understand why I am going through this right now. Perhaps there is a lost soul out there who will need the Lord at a time when their back is bothering them, and I can be a witness to them. Until then, I’ll keep praying that God will strengthen me. I’ll pray that I won’t lash out at Him over this physical ailment. I’ll keep my faith and grow stronger in my relationship with Him. I’ll find joy in a difficult situation.

What’s been on your heart this week friends? I hope you’ll share in the comments, and please don’t forget to visit my friends and see what they’re sharing this week!

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Nicole @ Christian Fiction Girl

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Becca @ The Becca Files

Jenny @ Author Jenny Lynn

Gina @ Stories by Gina

8 responses to “His Encouragement – Trials

  1. It is not easy to find the good in trials and hardships. We want to get upset and say, “it’s not fair”. Truth is, it isn’t fair. Sin is ugly. It has ruined the perfect world that God created. It caused a separation between God and us. But Jesus has bridged that separation and soon, Jesus will come back! Oh, what a glorious day that will be! Until then, we are becoming stronger through our trials. When trials come we have two choices, draw closer to God and build a stronger relationship with Him or pull away. If we are honest, most of us would never even turn to God without some kind of trial or hardship, reminding us that we are nothing without Him!

  2. Thank you for sharing about your back pain. I am praying you feel better soon. I, too, have back issues. Significant arthritis in my spine and neck and it can flare up at any moment. Thank you for the reminder to lean on Him and find joy even while I am in pain.

  3. I really love that you admit to purposely wanting to ignore a verse. I admit I’ve had a verse or two put on my heart, but rather acted like a bratty toddler. I’m so glad that God forgives us and gives us a lot of second chances. And, I’m sorry about your back. I hope it’s healing up well.

    • Jessica

      Bratty toddler – I love that! And it’s so true. Imagine God up there just shaking His head at us!