Hope in our Trials
IT’S WORTH CONSIDERING
This article represents another break from all the bad news from around the world. In fact, I’m going to attempt to show that even in the midst of it all, as bad as it is, there is a very good reason to rejoice. Sometimes we have to just take a giant step backwards and try to see the big picture. The good news come from the source of all good news-the Bible, the only book that makes sense of all the chaos we see in the world. In Matthew 12, after Jesus had entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, he told some of his disciples that the hour had come for him to be glorified. To be glorified was a wonderful thing, as good as it gets. The hour that led to it, however, required his death. Desiring to explain how necessary his death was, he said,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Matthew 12:24).
Anyone who has taken a close look at the process by which an oak tree begins to emerge from the heart of a decaying acorn will admit that it isn’t pretty. It’s amazing, but not pretty. As the dead seed opens, it looks like a disorganized mess. Yet, somehow, a mighty oak tree emerges from it. Jesus’ brief explanation of the grain of wheat, the same process an acorn goes through, pictures not only the world around us, but our personal lives as well. No pain, no gain. Only through the apparent wreckage in the world and our own lives can his glorious purpose for the world and us come about.
AS I SEE IT
We really have to look beyond the immediate to see the big picture. Whether we’re talking about world events or the chaos in our own private lives, we must remind ourselves that we’re only seeing part of the process-the ugly part. We know that God is good and a good God can only do good things for His children. Yet we must go through the valley to reach the mountaintop. This is why there’s hope in all the mess the world is in as well as the trials we face. It means that glory is right around the corner. He who endures to the end will be saved, and what a glorious salvation it will be!
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