Trials and Tribulations

We all have trials and tribulations. For those of us who call ourselves Christians, these things often occur because God allows them to happen in order to strengthen us. When they come, do you glory in them or worry over them?

In Romans 5: 1-3, it says: " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulations worketh patience;"

The life of a Christian is like a light bulb. When you buy it all you see is glass, metal and a filament. When you screw it into a light socket, it is still glass, metal and filament. We can flip the light switch, but if there is no electricity there is no light. It takes a steady flow of electricity for a light bulb to glow and illuminate the space around it.

A Christian must be empowered by God if they are to shine upon the earth. Then men will see the life of God, not their own, and that will bring honor and glory to our heavenly Father. Empowerment comes when our old sin nature is clocked with the empowering spirit which resides in every believer.

So if we are to rejoice in hope, we must glory in tribulations. There is a passage in Job that says " Man is born unto troubles, as the sparks fly upward. " If you have ever watched a fire in your fireplace, there are many sparks flying from the burning wood. The trials and tribulations of man are like the sparks from burning wood - a lot.

The word tribulation comes from the Latin verb - tribulare: to press, to afflict. The Romans had a tribulum, a wooden frame with many nail like teeth that was used to separate weeds from the straw. In the Greek, Tribulation is thilipsis: pressing together or pressure. God allows things to happen to those He loves in order for them to see just how much He cares for us. It is a form of Godly discipline.

When we discipline our children out of love, they will not hate us for. As a matter of fact they will one day thank us for it, if we preserve. I have lived to see that happen with my children, with statements like: "I'm sorry, Dad, I won't do that again." You can tell true repentance in the eyes of a child and the actions that follow.

In the Bible, oil and wine are symbolic of joy. Olives and grapes are the fruits that make oil and wine, but they are not oil and wine in themselves. They must go through a process of being pressed, squeezed and crushed before they become oil or wine.

In order for Christians to be splashed with joy, we must first be crushed - thus the reason for trials and tribulations. The fullness of joy comes when we have gone through trials and tribulations and can "glory" in them. God will grow his olives and grapes and then He will press out His oil and wine. You could be going through this "pressing out," but hold on for joy comes in the morning.

You can go on living a life of failure and complain, or you can live a life of joy and rejoice. Provisions have been made for us to glory in tribulations, if we will appropriate the resources that are ours through God. When troubles come, face them with the assurance that God allowed them for our good - so rejoice.

Which are you, olives and grapes or oil and wine?

In 1975 Obed began a non-denominational church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was the pastor-teacher there for twenty-five years. In 2000 he and his wife Linda moved to Franklin, Tennessee to be near three of his six grandchildren.

Obed has published two books on how one should study the Bible and numerous pamphlets on religious issues. He often travels to speak at Bible conferences in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and his adopted state of Tennessee.

Obed and Linda have three sons, Wayne, who lives in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife Fran and three children, and is a songwriter/producer; Karey, who lives in Pacific Palisades, California with his wife Nada and three children, and is a screen writer/director; and Brent, who lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Agneiszka and is a singer/songwriter.