Responding to trials and tribulations...

Sometimes trials and tribulations come to us as a direct judgment of God. It can be part of the corrective wrath to his children, or the punitive wrath to those who are obstinate in their disobedience toward him.

Sometimes the Lord does send circumstances or people that will help us develop our spiritual muscles and character. It could also be that we are being besieged by the enemy, something Martin Luther frequently spoke of experiencing - what he called "the infection, the personal assault that comes from the prince of darkness."

For me, it's not easy to discern between these causes, whether its God trying to send me a message, or just having 'bad luck' with certain things that come with life. I need to begin by recognizing that God is sovereign over all tribulations. Whether it's a tribulation that follows as a consequence of my sin or God's putting me to a test or my being the victim of another person or the object of Satan's attack, God is sovereign over all of those things.

In the midst of tribulation, instead of losing myself in trying to discern for sure what the cause is and trying to figure out why this thing is happening to me, it's important that I ask the deeper question, How am I to respond to it?

I can begin by searching my heart to see if there are any wicked ways in me that could be legitimate reasons for God to be correcting me. We ought to rejoice that God does this because it is an indication of his love for us. The correction of the Lord is designed to lead us to repentance and to the full restoration of fellowship. When I enter into a trial or into some type of tribulation, I should be saying, Lord, is there something that you're trying to say to me? Is there an area of my life that needs attention or cleaning up?

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

We should remember that Paul does not say that all things that happen to us are good things. In fact, bad things do and will happen to us. Painful things. Things that will crush our spirits. Things that leave wounds and scars. Yet all of these 'bad' things that happen to us are working together for our good. This is to say that ultimately it is good that these things happen to us.