How To Stay Joyful During Every Trial Of Your Life

Question: What would you do if the governing authorities in your city started breaking into all of the homes of the Christians at your local church?

How would you respond if your beloved friends and family were all carted off to jail, had all their property confiscated, and some were even killed?

And what would you think if you knew this was all occurring for no other reason than that you all believed Jesus was the awaited Messiah and that you loved Him with all your heart?

Would you be bitter over your circumstances, or would you remain joyful through it all?  Would you be angry at the governing authorities, or would you be submissive?  Would you start to question God at all, or would you love Him all the same?

Walk A Mile In Someone Else’s Shoes

I think it is really hard to answer such questions if you haven’t actually experienced something like that.  But let me give you a word of encouragement.  Although your faith would certainly be tested–if you’re one of God’s redeemed children–you’d come out worshiping God through it all.  You’d persevere.  You would overwhelmingly conquer.

I’m convinced of it.  And here’s why I believe that.

Being Joyful Is Dependent On Your Perspective Of Circumstance

The early church in the book of Acts experienced such hardships, and it only made them stronger as a result.  No doubt they weren’t happy through it all, but I do believe they remained joyful, for the most part.  Those trials caused them to trust God more fully, to encourage one another more fully, and they shared the gospel even more fervently.  Such holy behavior can not be explained except for the grace and sustenance of God’s Holy Spirit.

Only God’s children can be that joyful in the midst of such painful times.

At that crucial point in the life of the early church (i.e.: the persecution of the Christians in Acts 8), God began to execute (pun intended) phase two of His revealed plan for Great Commission Discipleship.  In a strikingly similar way that the Council drove Stephen out of the city, the Lord—Himself—rushed His people out of the city so that the mission of evangelizing the lost would move on to phase two (Judea and Samaria).

As far as Scripture tells us, Stephen became the very first believer to ever actually leave the city of Jerusalem.

For the two-year period between the death/burial/resurrection of Jesus Christ and Stephen’s murder in Acts chapter seven, Scripture doesn’t even suggest that any of the Christians ever left the city to go back to their own homes, left to evangelize the areas around Jerusalem, or even went on an afternoon stroll outside the city gates.

God had certainly been patient with the church there in Jerusalem.  He forced them into a holy compliance, and they benefited in the end–even if they couldn’t understand that at the time everything was happening.

Notice what it says immediately after Stephen’s death in Acts 8:1,

“And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (underline mine).

Where did Jesus command His disciples to take the gospel after Jerusalem?  Judea and Samaria.  Where did the Lord scatter His people with this persecution in Acts 8?  Judea and Samaria.  God is holy!  He is serious about this Great Commission business.

Joy Comes When You Are Obedient, Even In Tough Times

With the introduction of religious persecution, the Lord scattered His people so they’d move toward being wholly obedient to His revealed will for their lives.

There is so much for us to learn from all these events.  I pray that the American church learns this lesson soon, before the Lord decides to call our bluff.  Don’t you?

Now that the church was being scattered around the lush mission fields of Judea and Samaria, the Lord would soon grant them mercy, sheathing the sword of Divine Persecution, granting them peace.

God certainly understands the difference between spiritual complacency and outright ignorance.  There is a big difference between deliberate disobedience and not really understanding what God’s will is.

Difficult Trials Will Cause You To Trust In The Lord

In my next article we’ll see how God removed the church’s veil of ignorance once and for all, leading them to even greater ministries and the salvation of many souls around the world; souls of which belonged to Jews as well as to Gentiles.

QUESTION:  Do you think God allows people to endure trials and tribulations, purely because of our spiritual apathy?  Why or why not?

* Image credit: Travis Silva (Creation Swap)