Every trial we pass through in this life is guided and controlled by the hand of the Lord for our good. He alone fully understands us and what we need to experience for our good and for His glory. In love He acts through trials to reveal Himself to us and through us, and to expose our own hearts to us so that we might judge ourselves and become partakers of His holiness.
Our natural hearts do not want trial, and when in it, we naturally want (and may ask) to be taken out of it. Yet, God often glorifies Himself, not by taking us out of the trial, but by sustaining us in it. He is glorified when we trust Him in the trial, for such trust displays His work in our hearts, and His worthiness is to be depended upon at all times and in all circumstances.
Our Lord submitted to the greatest of all trials, saying, “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:4242Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42)). Never was God so glorified as in that trial; moreover, our eternal blessing depended upon it.
Only in trial do we learn to know our God as a God of all comfort. If we did not have trial on earth, we would never know Him as a comforter.
When trial comes, may we learn to trust the Lord and give thanks for it: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus towards you” (1 Thess. 5:18 JND). When we are in the Father’s house, we will look back on every trial we ever experienced and thank God for it.