Never Alone in the Trial

I am always amazed that when going through a trial or a hard time, or something that we may battle daily, weekly, yearly, or whatever, we often feel so isolated and alone in the midst of it. But God has never left us alone; He encourages us through the trying times and strengthens us. Sometimes we don’t understand why we have to go through certain things, but reading these verses today, God tells us why we have to go through them. Let me start from the beginning. Verse 7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” That word casting means to transfer one’s concerns. Isn’t it a blessing to know that we can give it all to the Lord? Verse 8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” I broke up a lot of those words to understand it a little bit better. Sober means self-controlled; vigilant means to be alert; adversary is your accuser; devour means to swallow up. The Bible tells us that we need to be under control. We need to always be alert because the devil is our accuser, and he is going to do anything to try to get us to sin or walk away from God. The Bible says that he is seeking whom he may devour. He is seeking who he can swallow up, who he can totally turn against the Lord. Verse 9 says, “Whom resist, stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” That word steadfast means solid, firm. In other words, we need to resist him firmly in the faith. But that’s not what got me really excited. The word accomplished means to finish, to bring to an end. So God is telling us, encouraging us, through the midst of our trial, that we need to stand firm and we’re not the only ones this is happening to!! It has already been accomplished. Others are going through the same thing, and they have come out victorious. We can too. That gave me so much hope! The first few words of verse 10 say, “But the God of grace….”But the God of Grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”I looked up a few of these words as well. Perfect means to prepare, complete, or restore; stablish means to cause one to be stronger; strengthen means to cause someone to be more able or capable; settle means to provide a firm basis for belief or practice. Why are we going through the trial? So we can be stronger, so we can be more capable, so we can provide a firm basis for our belief. Anything the Lord has us do is not in vain. There is a purpose. There is a reason we need to cast our care upon Him because he truly does care for you and me. He encourages us. He makes us stronger mentally and spiritually!!