Do Not Lose Heart

WHEN LIFE GETS REALLY DIFFICULT, DON'T JUMP TO THE CONCLUSION THAT I'M NOT ON THE JOB.

Instead, be glad you are in the thick of what I experienced.

Accept your ordeal as a spiritual refining process, with Glory just around the corner.

There are many ways to suffer for Me.

The most obvious one is to experience persecution for presenting the gospel to others.

However, when you endure any kind of adversity in a Christ-like way because of your love for Me, I view this as suffering for Me.

So do not lose heart when the trials you are going through seem endless

You can even rejoice that you are sharing in what I experienced as a Man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.

Invite Me into your struggles.

I understand them better than anyone else, and I want to help you with them.

When your suffering is prolonged, the greatest temptation you face is escapism—trying to get away from your problems at all costs, even irresponsibly.

If you endure life's blows in trusting dependence on Me, I can bring much good out of them.

I make all things work together for good to those who love Me.

Consider your trials a part of your education: a spiritual refining process.

Since you are My follower, your suffering will definitely end someday.

To help you persevere, keep focusing on the reward—Glory just around the corner!

From "Jesus Lives " by Sarah Young

Stay Strong!

"Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner."
1 PETER 4:12–13 MSG

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
ISAIAH 53:3

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
ROMANS 8:28 NKJV