Articles
Everything Turns Out Right?
It can be very discouraging for a Christian who is struggling with the affairs and trials of this life, especially if troubling situations do not ever seem to get resolved. From our perspective, though, most trying times do not seem to have a resolution on the horizon, which can lead the Christian to doubt. So what do we do when we hit the bottom and no end is in sight? There are a number of difficulties that we must overcome:
It is very easy to tell somebody, “Stop worrying”, when you do not have the same worries. Be very careful about dismissing people’s trials too quickly, because no matter how well-intentioned you are, your words may only come across as insensitive.
Many Christians suffer from depression or other emotional maladies without anybody else’s knowledge. It is a quiet illness that is very easy to hide until its final stages.
Everybody’s weaknesses are different, so there can be innumerable barriers to rooting out sin when it is uncommon, socially unacceptable, or simply unique to a person’s particular situation. Financial troubles, for example, may lead one person to commit suicide, while another just shrugs them off.
Most of all, we struggle with perspective. That is, every trial at the moment may seem miserable and unbeatable, but years down the road we look back and actually feel a sense of gratitude that the affliction made us stronger. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). Also see James 1:2-4.
We may be very tempted to doubt God because our earthly trials do not ever have earthly resolutions. Cancer is not always treatable. Nothing can bring a house back from a fire, or possessions from a thief. We need to remember that God always works for us, even when it seems that He does not. Just because we do not see the hand of God, does not mean it is not in everything. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). This is an important verse to remember, but it is often misapplied. Rather than stating that “everything turns out right”, it is saying that everything has an ultimate resolution. Not every earthly problem will have an earthly resolution, and we need to keep our focus on the ultimate goal; heaven. Sometimes, Christians have unhappy earthly endings, but that should never distract us from serving God. More importantly, we should not lose faith simply because a carnal situation seems hopeless.
