3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
31 For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. 32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. 33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
1 When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” 3 The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
92 If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.
32 “Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes.”
“There are many blessings to be learned in the furnace of affliction. It teaches us compassion for others in a suffering condition, and to value our earthly comforts more without doting upon them. We are blessed when sufferings conform us to Jesus Christ, and lead us to prayer. Man is never in a happier condition than when his heart is in a praying frame. Affliction makes us more acquainted with the Bible, and teaches us to weep over grieving God’s Holy Spirit. Affliction teaches us to long for heaven, and to redeem the time. A teaching-affliction is a part of the covenant of grace. It does not contain freedom from affliction, but from the evil of sin. The rod and Word are blessed.” Thomas Case
“God’s grace will always be sufficient for those who trust Him. The hope we taste in the promises we trust will often be the sweetest thing we experience in this age. And the reward of God’s fulfillment of these promises will be glorious beyond our imagination.” Jon Bloom
“God's children run home when the storm comes. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Jehovah. "He who has made God his refuge" might serve as the title of a true believer.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg
“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else. Turning away with bitter scorn from earth's hives, where we find no honey but many sharp stings, we rejoice in Him whose faithful word is sweeter than honey or the honeycomb.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg
“In believing prayer, we learn to connect our present troubles to the good and perfect will of God. We refuse to believe that chance rules our lives. We withstand the temptation to imagine that God is capricious or malicious. We know he has a higher purpose and that he is not dealing with us as our sins deserve. As we bring our troubles to Jesus in prayer—asking his will to be done—we approve the will of our Father in heaven. We see our sufferings in the greater reality of his good, acceptable, and perfect will. In prayer we ‘turn crisis to Christ.’ Our heart becomes tuned to his heart and we sing the song of grace.” Ancient Prayer, John F. Smed
“A fixed, constant attention to the promises, and a firm belief in them, would prevent solicitude and anxiety about the concerns of this life. It would keep the mind quiet and composed in every change, and support and keep up our sinking spirits under the several troubles of life… Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s promises. For there is no extremity so great but there are promises suitable to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.” Samuel Clarke
“God will never permit any troubles to come upon us unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.” Peter Marshall
“This God is no stranger to the hard road. This God walked the hardest road for us. And whatever road we’re walking on now—then somehow, someway—that road is good. There’s not just breadcrumbs of good for you on it; the road itself is good… In this hard, He is doing something holy. He is doing something transformative. Even as our hearts rage. Even as they break… This upside down road, where His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), where troubles are an opportunity for great joy (James 1:2) because troubles usher us into His presence, and in His presence, there is fullness of joy. (Psalms 16:11). This is Who. A God who does not forsake. A God who is not cruel. A God who is not stingy with grace. Not a sparrow falls outside of His care. When we find ourselves walking through a dry and weary land where there is no water, shaking our fists at why… Fix the eyes on this God. Remember and rest in Who. Maybe comfort isn’t found so much when we ask ‘Why is this all unfolding here and now?’ — Maybe comfort is found more when we rest in Who is enfolding us all here and now.” Katie Ganshert
“God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day. God appoints every day’s troubles. And God appoints every day’s mercies. In the life of his children, they are perfectly appointed. Jesus said, ‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’ (Matthew 6:34). Every day has its own trouble. Every day has its own mercies. Each is new every morning. But we often tend to despair when we think that we may have to bear tomorrow’s load on today’s resources. God wants us to know: We won’t. Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles. Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.” John Piper
“For the child of the King, it is such blessing to walk with God “in the cool of the day” free from worry, anxiety and fear. He Who loves us with an everlasting love, Who rejoices over us with singing, Who covers us with His feathers and under Whose wings we find refuge is our security in this fallen and very, very difficult world – the land of dragons. He doesn’t remove our trials, He bestows grace sufficient to meet our needs and by the difficulty, through His power, our faith is strengthened and a harvest of righteousness and peace is produced in our lives. He is always faithful in this task. Don’t flee from Him when troubles come our way (even by our own doings) rather run to Him. He’s calling you.” BHY