Praise God!

In life, we are all faced with suffering; momentary affliction. We are constantly being told by society that we deserve the best, we deserve to be happy on our terms, we deserve to do what we want, we deserve the world and, for whatever reason, the world owes us. So we hit suffering, but lash out because we think we don't deserve it - it isn't fair.  But the Bible promises us suffering [Acts 14:22, John 15:20, 1 Peter 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:12]; it promises us that this life will be difficult - because this world has been infiltrated with sin and we don't necessarily belong here. We belong with our Heavenly Father in the New Jerusalem. We must remember that God works all things together for the good of His purpose (Romans 8:28) and that no matter what we are going through it will never overpower or out weigh God's glory. It will never trump His mercy and grace that He showed us at Calvary, where He gave His only Son who knew no sin, to be sin that we could be completely reconciled to God [2 Corinthians 5:21]-- That we could have a right relationship with Him. Christ suffered in ways that we will never suffer - He suffered for the wicked though He is completely innocent. In a way, he was framed - put on trial and received the death penalty while the real criminal got away with murder. Christ suffered, that we can have eternal life - and so we rejoice and praise God. BUT we need to remember that everything we suffer here is momentary; and in suffering unjustly [not just justly], we are given more of an understanding (though not a complete understanding) of what Christ did for us. We need to remember that God has a purpose for all things - and that we are but a miniscule part of a bigger picture, the faintest brush stroke. We need to remember to praise God in ALL circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18); praise Him in suffering as well as times of comfort. We're here for a much bigger purpose. We're here to glorify our Jesus until He returns and brings us home. So praise God at your lowest, praise God for circumstances that you don't understand, praise God for the ways He is growing you in faith, praise God in the sad times and praise Him in the happy times. Praise God for redeeming your soul; for pulling you out of eternal damnation to bring you into eternal life. Praise God. (1 Peter 4:12-19). How great it is to know that our suffering is worth it; that it serves a good purpose.

I leave this post with my go-to verse in times of trial.
Romans 8:18 " For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."