How to Triumph Over Tribulation

In our humanity, we all face pain, fear, loss, and challenges. Jesus was unflinchingly clear on this. He said in John 16:33a:

In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering…

I love the way Scripture whitewashes nothing! This news would be super depressing if He had not continued:

…but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world. [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

(Amplified Bible)

Here He admonishes us (gives us friendly, earnest advice or encouragement) to:

• be courageous,
• be confident,
• be undaunted,
• and be filled with joy.

That all sounds good, but is that really possible? Of course it is! Jesus would have been a colossal jerk if He told us to do something we could not do. 

However, this is not something doable in our own strength. It is in His strength and empowerment that we transcend our struggles. In our own strength, we will peter out and get stuck at best and spin out at worst.

Philippians 2:13 explains:

13 [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

(AMPC, emphasis added)

So we see that:

• God is always at work in you;
• He is effective;
• He energizes you (we all need energy!);
• He provides the power (enables you);

And He creates the desire to will (He heals your “want to”) and to work (walk out) His will, which will (at least eventually) be pleasurable, satisfying, and delightful to both Him and you!

That is His promise to us, and since He IS Truth, Light, and Love, we will see it play out in our lives more and more IF we yield to Him and cooperate with Him as He leads us. 

If we resist, rebel, or run away, He still loves us and will stay with us because He never leaves us (Rom. 8:38–39 and Heb. 13:5). But we will not experience those promises until we yield. He will not FORCE them on us but will woo our hearts to cooperate with His good plans for us (Jer. 19:11). This will always involve growing in intimacy with and trust in Him. 

Jesus said in John 15:5:

5 I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches.  As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless.

(The Passion Translation, emphasis added)

 Living in union or oneness with Jesus as your source is all about growing in relationship, dependency, and intimacy. This requires a renewal of how we think about Him, ourselves, and the world (Rom. 12:2 and 2 Cor. 10:5). It requires yielding our wills to be led by His Spirit and not by our own understanding (Rom. 8:14 and Prov. 3:5–7). In addition, this involves letting Him minister to our emotional and physical health (Is. 53:5 and Ps. 42:5–6).

One vital thing to understand is that the separation from God talked about in John 15:5 is ONLY in our minds, leading to an experience of separation.

Colossians 1:21–22 says:

21–22 Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored,

 (TPT, emphasis added) 

Your ability to grow in intimacy with and trust in Him will flow from the ongoing revelation of His radical love that caused Him to choose you, join you to Himself, and to continue pursuing you when you were at your worst. His overcoming the world for humanity in general and YOU in particular is how you can be courageous, confident, undaunted, and filled with joy in the midst of the trials of life. And He is there to help you unceasingly! He is a better teacher than we are students. So we can look to His masterfulness, not our own inabilities and limitations. We can learn and grow in all these things and live more and more victoriously!

I hope this has been an encouragement to you. You are adored by an all-good, all-powerful, relentless God Who is Love.

If this has impacted you, let me know! I would love to hear from you. 

 

With much affection,

 

Catherine