Hope in tribulation

As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all the trouble. 1 Samuel 26:24

In the Upper Room Jesus told the disciples that they would be confronted with tribulation. The word that He used describes distressful circumstances such as the anguish of a woman in childbirth, or intense physical suffering due to illness. It also describes the anguish you face when you are slandered or persecuted. It was used of difficulties that confronted a person who had been accused of wrongdoing – both just and unjust.

We sometimes lose sight of the hope that Jesus attached to His statement. He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace...I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) and with those words, light penetrates the dark dungeons of our distress.

You are never so deep in a pit of despair that you cannot find a ladder of escape. This is the hope that allows God’s children to walk through the fire and to escape the flames, that enables His servants to endure the persecution of their enemies and to outlast the evils of slanderous men and women.

Hope is the weapon that fights discouragement and difficulty. It is an inner spiritual strength that no one can ever take from you.

Strangely enough, the word Jesus used, tribulation, was rarely used outside of the context of the Bible. But perhaps that should not be considered so strange because only those who link God and hope with their difficulties have much positive things to say about trouble. Experience the joy that comes from knowing He overcame tribulation and with His help, you can as well.