“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12) There is not the word “may” in this verse, this is a promise, if you have been crucified with Christ, if you are living a godly life, you will face trials, tribulations, and persecutions. The question is, how will you handle them when they arrive?
The difference between a trial and tribulation must first be made clear, and I will offer my humble opinion on these two guaranteed events in the lives of those who serve the will of God for the glory of God. A tribulation is the same as a trial in the sense that they are most of the time unexpected, we do not search for either of these, but a tribulation differs in that it can be life altering, in fact it can mean the end of life, either physically, or in a way that will alter the rest of it until you die.
The most visible acceptance of this is in what is approaching, the great tribulation period. All of mankind alive in those days will experience it, many will not live through it, in fact, I would guess most will not, for Mark 13:20 stands as truth, “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.”
Nineveh faced tribulation, repented when Jonah was sent, went about their business, so to speak, and then was destroyed one hundred years later. The flood in the days of Noah, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., many times tribulation is brought upon mankind by the Lord Himself, and always for, what I believe, is the same reason, mankind attempts to live life apart from the Sovereign direction of the Almighty, we stop glorifying Him.
The age of grace that we find ourselves in has lasted around 2,000 years now, the days of Tribulation, of Jacob’s Trouble will be fierce, and full of the wrath of God. Those who continue to glorify the Lord during days of tribulation are not always spared when they arrive, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. And here then is another similarity between trials and tribulations, in trials we still glorify the Lord our God.
A trial can be as simple as a toothache, a missed connection at the airport or a flat tire, or it may be the unexpected death of a loved one. Trials are meant to grow our faith and trust in the Almighty in the direction that He would have our lives to go. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:” (1 Peter 1:6) as well as anything else that He allows to come into our lives. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Yes, even the trials, in fact, we grow more in these dark days than we do in the sunshine, when life is going what we call well.
Anyone who spends time witnessing to others can verify that it is almost always a trial, and it is one of those rare cases where it is expected to be so. No one who offers the truths of the Word of God to the lost on a regular basis sees most of those they speak to come to the Lord, in fact, quite the opposite. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18) In fact, the more the Lord blesses a man with the truth of this world, with the ability to discern between good and evil, with the desire to be as Matthew 5:6 states, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” will tell you that nearly everyday is a trial.
It is how we accept these days of trials and tribulations that sets us apart from the rest of the world.
The most comforting verse I have found in this area is Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
You need to be able to look ahead, past the current circumstance, to where you will spend eternity at, and when you do, if you pay attention at that moment, you will find a smile growing on your face, and an assurance in your heart that cannot be compared to anything here in this life. Those moments of the knowledge of His love for you will carry you through any trial or tribulation.
