II Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Last week, we looked at the three areas of trials and afflictions that we face in life: health, wealth and family. This week, I want to focus on three reasons God allows trials and afflictions to happen in our lives. They are (1) To get our attention and focus, (2) To grow and mature us in our Christian walk and (3) To provide us a life message and ministry to other people facing similar trials. Trials get our attention and drive us to trust God and have a renewed and deeper dive into God’s Word and spend extra time in urgent prayer. It may be something rather small but it may also be a life changing decision we need to make. In any event, the trial should lead us to growth and maturity in our Christian walk. God is always looking at ways we can grow more like Christ and His character. He walks with us in trials and serves as our mentor who never leaves us alone. He supports us, loves us, and encourages us every step of the way. God never sleeps and is always near with the promises of His Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I want to focus on the third reason that we go through trials. We all have a purpose and a message given to us by God’s love and care. He wants to use our message, experiences and example to help others. If we haven’t been through a certain trial, it is hard to relate to another person going through a trial. If another person should say to you, “You don’t understand and haven’t been through what I am going through.” However, if you have been through the same or similar trial, you can truthfully say, “Oh, yes I have and let me tell you how God led me and sustained me.” It provides us an opportunity and platform to share the Gospel and be an example to others of what God has done in our lives. Since Christ lives and leads in our lives, He desires for us to let Him live in our life message. When God uses us to help others, we can then look back and see why we have gone through the trial and say, “God, I now understand and thank you.” Hindsight is said to be 20/20 but I say that hindsight is not an advantage that you have at the time you are going through the trial. Trials are a part of life and we can use them as “stumbling blocks or stepping stones.” The choice is ours to make.