"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Ac.14:22). This was how Paul 'strengthened' and 'encouraged' the disciples to continue in the faith. This is the kind of truth that we need to hear today, when many of us are struggling in the midst of different problems in health, finance, relationships, jobs, etc. The Enemy contradicts this by bringing in a false teaching that once we come to Jesus, everything will be fine for us! Preachers become popular by holding promises before the crowds that attract them even though they are based on false interpretations of scripture. Ultimately, many become disillusioned with God who didn't meet their expectations.
Even now, Satan is the ruler of this world (Ep.2:2). Therefore, when we become children of God we struggle against Satan's attacks on us who tries to discourage, misdirect, confuse, deceive and oppress us, with the ultimate aim of destroying us (Jn.10:10). We also suffer from the consequences of our own sins, the sins of others and living in this sin-cursed world. When things go wrong and we are in the midst of trouble, it is only natural that we cry out to our Father. But the confusing thing is that many times trouble does not go away and we are led to question the promises of God and His character itself.
That is why we need to learn to 'endure' – to be able to overcome these pressures that are coming upon us and to just 'stand' without crumbling (Ep.6:11). We overcome 'by faith' (1Jn.5:4). We know that the One we trust in is true, reliable, full of love for us, fully in control of all things, full of wisdom knowing what is good for us at all times. We know that He cares, and that He will ultimately bring out good from everything that happens to us (Ro.8:28).
As long as we try to understand why things are happening, what is going to happen, etc., we come up against our limitations. God has not promised to keep us informed of the details of His plans even though He has confirmed to us that they are entirely for our welfare (Je.29:11). Our job is to trust in Him and wait for Him to do what He thinks is best. Daniel's friends excelled in their faith when they faced death, knowing that God was able to save them out of the fire but leaving the decision entirely in His hands (Da.3:17,18).
God is interested in watching the choices we make when we are confronted with suffering. We can choose to stand with God even though we continue to suffer, or we can find a way to escape by ignoring God's ways. Remember, we are those who, in the past, have chosen to please ourselves in spite of knowing it would be displeasing to God. Now we are being given the opportunity to choose to stand with Him even if we would suffer.
God holds the control. He knows how much we can handle. If we press on towards faithfulness He will be delighted with us even if we fall here or there. But He knows those who only want to please themselves and enjoy life even when it means leaving God.