We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory. That glory is much greater than the troubles. 2 Corinthians 4:17
(Life Application Study Bible)
Jesus Tells Us…When you have a problem that goes on and on, with no end in sight, see it as a wonderful opportunity. An on-going problem is like having a tutor who is always by your side. If you are willing, you can learn so much from your trouble. Ask Me to open your eyes and your heart to all that I am doing through the problem. I may be teaching you patience or persistence. Perhaps I am strengthening your faith or your courage. Then thank Me for the Lessons you are learning. When you can be thankful for a problem, it loses its power to drag you down. In fact, your thankful attitude lifts you up into heavenly places with Me, where you see the situation from My point of view.
Jesus Concludes…this lets you see your problem as a small, temporary trouble that is helping you gain an eternal glory, blessings that will never end.
2 Corinthians 4:17; Isaiah 30:20-21 Study Notes
Footnotes 2 Corinthians 4:17 Our troubles do not need to diminish our faith or disillusion us. We should realize that God cares deeply about our suffering, even when we don’t have tangible evidence of his work. However, our problems and human limitations can have several positive results: (1) They can teach us how to suffer with Christ. (2) They can teach us to persevere faithfully. (3) They can teach us to look beyond this life for hope. (4) They can be used by God to demonstrate his power. Even when our pain feels great, God is still good and faithful, and his glory is always greater.
Passage Isaiah 30:20-21 20Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more, with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it”
Footnotes Isaiah 30:19-20 The Lord gave his people adversity for food and suffering for drink, but he promised to be with them, teach them, and guide them during hard times. God expects much from us, and at times, following him can be painful. But we can be confident that he always acts out of his love for us. The next time you go through a difficult time, try to appreciate the experience and grow from it, learning what God wants to teach you. Ask him for help. He may be showing you his love by patiently walking with you through adversity.
Footnotes Isaiah 30:21 When the people of Jerusalem left God’s path, he would correct them. He will do the same for us. But when we hear his voice of correction, we must be willing to follow it!
Jesus Tells Us is from the Jesus Calling 365 devotions for kids.
THE WORLD…we see history
George Washington Divine Body Armor, be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God.
In the Word and the World, we see His Story, Divine Body Armor
In the mid – 1700’s, both France and England had colonies in America. The strife between them led to the French and Indian War, which preceded the American Revolution by just over a decade. The French colonies, having a smaller population, allied themselves with various Native American tribes to fight the English. The British administrator of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, selected a twenty-one-year-old soldier named George Washington to travel from Williamsburg to northwest Pennsylvania on a diplomatic mission to avoid war. The negotiations failed, but the attempt was well publicized and made young Washington a household name. Later, during the ill-fated Battle of the Monongahela (near present-day Pittsburgh), Washington, who was recovering from illness, exhibited remarkable courage and leadership when British forces marched into an ambush and suffered a disastrous defeat. Washington’s survival was miraculous. After the battle, he wrote his mother, saying, “I luckily escaped without a wound, though I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me.
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
I was not half recovered from a violent illness that had confined me to my bed and a wagon for above ten days.” Washington believed God had providentially protected him, and it infused him with confidence in God’s guarding, guiding hand. Writing to his brother, John, he said, “By the all-powerful dispensation of Providence I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side”. The Native Americans were equally perplexed at Washington’s survival. One of the chiefs had repeatedly fired at him and ordered his young warriors to do the same, all of them being true marksmen. But their bullets were “turned aside by some invisible and inscrutable interposition.” Chief Red Hawk claimed to have personally shot at Washington eleven times. Another chief, perplexed at Washington’s survival, is said to have predicted, “He will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the father of a mighty empire.” Washington’s incredible survival, created a sensation in the Colonies, and many felt God’s hand was on him for a special purpose. That opinion was expressed in a famous sermon preached in Hanover County, Virginia, on August 17th, 1755, by Samuel Davies. Davies, a Presbyterian evangelist whose wife had died from a miscarriage shortly before their first anniversary, was battling tuberculosis. He wanted to use every moment for the Lord. He wrote hymns, advanced the Great Awakening, served as president of Princeton University, and preached sermons that left a lasting impression on the Colonies. In his August 17th Sermon, “Religion and Patriotism,” Davies preached to Captain Overton’s Independent Company of Volunteers and encouraged the troops to bravery as he quoted his text, 2 Samuel 10:12: “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God”. He spoke of the defeat at Monongahela but reminded the soldiers that “God governs the world.” “As a remarkable instance of this,” he said, “I may point out to the public that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to his country.” Davies didn’t live long enough to see how prophetic his words were. He died in 1761, at age thirty-seven. His text, however, lives on. It’s remarkable how often the Bible commands us to be strong and to stay encouraged. The eye of providence that preserved young Washington hasn’t lost its keenness. The hand that steers the stars and turns the pages of history is the same that arranges our days and bestows the grace needed for each one.
Source: https://www.robertjmorgan.com/shop/100-bible-verses-that-made-america/