A life of worship through trials, obstacles and fire

The Christian life is a battlefield and the war is real. We have a real enemy out to kill us and we have real trials and battles. If you are a true follower of Christ you have experienced this because He promised we would:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33

I’m so thankful for that last half. We can take heart, we can have comfort despite trials, persecution and affliction because Christ has overcome the enemy and through Him we also share in the victory and are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

So, if we are to have a life of worship beyond the song service at church on Sundays how can we maintain that worship through trials, obstacles and fire?

1. Never take your eyes off God.

Satan will do everything he can to put your eyes on you. Don’t let it happen. You will always lead you astray so kill the sin of pride before it kills you and focus on the prize, the Author and Finisher of your faith who endured the cross for you. Whether or not your feelings tell you so, God is with you in the midst of the battle, His Word says so.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” –Isaiah 43:1-3

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” –Deuteronomy 31:8

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” –Matthew 28:19-20

2. Hold Him to His promises.

He has given us a book filled with His exceedingly great and precious promises and we need to hold Him to them, not for His sake but for our own selves. David did this numerous times throughout the Psalms as he beseeched God to “Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:49-50). David wasn’t reminding God of this because He forgot, but because it helped his own heart remember that God and His promises were his only hope through affliction and they are the same for us.

Some promises to hold Him to:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8:35-39

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” -1 Peter 5:10

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” -2 Corinthians 4:8

“Blessed be the God of and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” -2 Corinthians 1:3-5

“I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” –Philippians 1:6

Reasons to trust Him for those promises:

The reason can be summed up in three words: He is faithful.

“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” –Hebrews 10:23

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful – for He cannot deny Himself.” -2 Timothy 2:13

“No distrust made (Abraham) waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave lorry to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.” –Romans 4:20-21

3. Follow His example.

Find comfort in the fact that Jesus suffered the same as we have and can identify with every area of our Christian walk including our trials.

I suggest writing down some of the ways Jesus was persecuted, tried and tempted as well as the way He handled each of those situations, then pray for strength and discipline to handle each of your battles in the same manner. I guarantee you nothing you are facing is new to God or out of His jurisdiction to help you with. And whatever we’re going through we need to remember Jesus had it worse and didn’t sin one time throughout each battle, but remained faithful to His name and continued to serve the Lord with gladness.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” –Hebrews 4:15-16

“He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamp that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” –Isaiah 53:7

4. Remember suffering is a tool for your sanctification.

Trials are not without purpose and are not placed in our life for God to get a good laugh out of our struggle. God is using them, as He does everything else in our life, to grow us into the image of His Son. We are being shaped, molded, stretched and honed to be a more distinct reflection of Jesus with every affliction and battle we face. Hold fast through the hard times - they are being used for your good and His glory.

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” –Hebrews 12:11

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.” –James 1:2-4

5. Praise the Lord.

Just because things are rough doesn't mean God deserves our praise any less. A life of worship is just that, a life full of worship in the good times and in the bad. Sometimes it won't be easy, sometimes we won't feel like it and sometimes Satan will lie to us and say we can't worship or praise God because we aren't sincere. He's lying to you. God deserves our praise whether we feel like giving it or not.

"Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.” -Revelation 4:11

I encourage you to watch David Platt’s Secret Church videos on The Cross and Suffering as well as search the Bible for your own verses to hold on to during times of trial as these listed are just a tiny fraction of the plethora of goodness awaiting you within the pages of His Word.

May we be like Paul during his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 4:17 and have an eternal perspective saying, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us and eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”