Suffering – Part 4: Attitude (Continued)
Continuing from yesterday, what attitudes should we take when enduring times of trial?
Trust in His plan
If God seeks our ultimate good, if suffering is redemptive, if it forces us to rely upon Him, if His glory can be revealed through this trial, we should trust that He knows what He is doing…
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whohave been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
…what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.I…will have sufficient courage so that…Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. – Philippians 1:19-21
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” – Matthew 26:39
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. – Lamentations 3:19-26
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Look towards Heaven
This world is not all there is. We were never meant to be completely satisfied with this world since we were made for another home, a greater destiny.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:13-14
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. – Romans 8:18
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. – Romans 6:5
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18