When you are facing trials in life, the first thing you should make yourself understand is to, be a student and not a victim. Now what a difference it makes to be a student and not a victim:
A victim looks at everyone else and cries out, “Life isn’t fair.”
A student looks at life and says, “What happened to me could have happened to anyone.”
A victim believes his hard times have come because God is trying to punish him.
A student understands that God allows hard times in order to help him grow.
A victim would rather complain than find a solution.
A student has no time to complain because he is busy making the best of his situation.
A victim feels so sorry for himself that he has no time for others.
A student focuses on helping others so that he has no time to feel sorry for himself.
A victim begs God to remove the problems of life so that he might be happy.
A student has learned through the problems of life that God alone is the source of all true happiness.
James 1:2 reminds us to “Count it all joy” when you encounter various trials. That’s not possible as long as you focus on the trial itself. But if you shift your focus to God, then you can find joy even in the worst moments of life. Everything that happens in the world is either caused by God or allowed by God, and there is no third category. Nothing ever “just happens” and nothing is caused by someone or something outside of God’s control.
Job 23:10 says “He knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come forth as gold” You can have an easy life, or you can have a deep faith. You can’t have both. There is no gold without the fiery furnace. Our hard times are designed to bring us closer to the Lord. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Let us therefore endure our trials with grace and courage, knowing that in the end the clouds will part and the sun will shine again.
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