Joyful in tribulation

Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.   I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.   Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. 2 Corinthians 7:2-4

One of the many things I love about the Bible is how it shows us our heroes as real fallible people who go through the same struggles as we do. After struggling with the depth of his struggles and battles he is able to say that he finds glory in how it had worked for the Corinthians. His struggles and how God brought him through them encouraged the Corinthians that God could do the same for them.

I love the consistancy of God’s word. Here Paul talks about having ‘exceeding joy in his tribulation’ and James writes ‘count it as all joy when you fall into various kinds of trials.’

At first glance this seems just plain crazy. Not only are trials to be endured, but we are supposed to find great joy in them.

There are a lot of reasons to find joy in tribulations. Experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit, finding God’s comfort during trials, learning patience, seeing growth and maturity, and many other blessings are the results of trials.

Joy in trials – its all a matter of perspective.