It’s important that we understand how trials work and the response we should have. There’s a natural increase to sin in our trials simply because of the added pressure and the human desire to escape from the pain and suffering.
Preparation is critical to pass trials because Satan can use our trials to destroy our faith in God.
One of the most common reactions to a trial in sickness, political upheaval, or just bad events in our personal lives is how shocked or upset we become. We saw this during Covid. People who didn’t have a strong foundation in the Word of God had foolish reactions. Like buying up the supply of toilet paper, wearing 2 and 3 masks, or even fighting because someone else wasn’t wearing a mask. God told us plainly that major changes will happen in life both good and bad.
When we encounter tough times, we often ask “Why?” We search for answers. But we should see the bad things as avenues for good things. In bad times there are always blessings. Romans 8:28 tells us “we know all things work together for good to them that love God, for those who are called according to His purpose.” God uses the trials we face to develop our character. By responding to trials by asking God “What do you want me to learn through this trial,” instead of asking why this is happening we can respond with grace, and experience the power of God, tranforminhour lives through love, joy, and peace.
I like what Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you, to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. But because we are paretakers of Messiah’s sufferings, rejoice that at the revelation of His glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy.”
Our response makes all the difference. Tests are opportunities to grow spiritually, instead of despairing whenever we encounter trials. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 22:9 he would glory in his infirmities so that the power of Christ Jesus would rest on him. By choosing to trust God and accept the grace He has given us, Jesus’s character will be formed in us.
Unless we accept God’s grace to deal with suffering, inevitably we will become bitter. However, if we choose to trust God to bring about His purposes through our suffering we can avoid the trap of bitterness and grow in the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 5:7, Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 13:14-15, 2 Peter 3:28).
We can be confident that God will not allow anything to happen to us without His permission, and will not let any bad thing happen that will not ultimately be turned into good. We can take advantage of bad situations to mature spiritually.
I admire people on the profession of psychology. Mostly because they offer a deep rooted understanding of human experiences.
They help people heal and grow. Psychologists work directly with individuals to help people overcome trauma, manage illness, and discover personal strengths.
They are the bridge between science and humanity with a sensitivity to human emotions and ethics.
It is a profession that listens deeply. In a noisy world, that alone is revolutionary.
Our revelation of the Holy Spirit can be our strongest tower. He is a lantern that guides us through the fog of the world. There is an insane amount of noise in the world and it’s difficult to sort through all of it and hear His voice.
Having the right mindset is key to living under God’s covering of protection. There’s a huge need to obey God and hear His warnings if we want to be covered.
I knew a man who almost ended up dead because he missed the Holy Spirit’s warning. A motorcycle and a desire to go to a Christian retreat weighed more than listening to God. After 3 warnings he went anyway. He almost lost his life after a bad wreck. He got out from under God’s protection by not listening and obeying.
Every day we have a choice to stay under God’s covering and not listen to our flesh. When we listen to our flesh and sin we are not under God’s covering. When I pray and ask God to help in a situation I pay attention to whether I have peace about the decision. For me, I know because I get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. If this happens I know not to do something. But everyone’s feelings of upset can be different.
We need to heed God’s warnings not only to prepare for the road ahead, but we also need to make sure that when things get tough we don’t quit. The words that ring in our hearts and heads that cause us to keep pushing forward past obstacles, challenges, and discouragement.
We will struggle on this journey through life, but we can stay under God’s protection when we do what’s right and obey Him. This is in no way saying bad things won’t happen, because we live in a broken world and we will make mistakes. The key is learning to hear God’s voice and then obeying.
We need to have a strong foundation in God. And work on our lives every day to have the right mindset to help us defeat the carnal nature and keep our motivation on course.
It is up to us individually to invest in our journey and our chance at eternal life. No one will do it for us.
As the world grows darker, it’s important to stay under God’s covering. If we are listening to our carnal flesh, we are in a dangerous place.
Never think you don’t have to worry, because you are “covered by the blood of Jesus because that’s the mindset you don’t want to have.
The kingdom of heaven is be compared to a person who sowed good seed in their field, but while people slept his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away (Matthew 13:24-25).
In the parable above, this is what goes on in the world. The good soil (a godly life) will produce an abundant crop, but that is only half of it. There is more to be told.
Jesus tells us more about the experience of a true follower in this world.
There are 7 elements of the seed and the sower.
The owner:
The field is the world. So, the sower of good seed is the owner of the whole world. Just says the one who sows good seed (the owner of the world) is the “Son of Man.” Jesus used this name “Son of Man” 80 times in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) to refer to Himself. I find it interesting that “son of man” is a common human being. Jesus uses this to describe His own humanity and Hid prophetic role on earth.
So, Jesus says in Psalm 24: 1, “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness.”
The enemy:
Jesus (the owner) has an enemy, and we cannot understand the world as it is without taking into account the enemy and his work. Jesus tells us that His enemy is Satan or the devil (Matthew 13:39). If you do not believe in the devil remember Jesus did.
The power of this enemy is great and his work so vast that it took God an incarnation, a cross, and a resurrection to bring his kingdom to a defeat.
The seed:
In Matthew 13:38 , the good seed are God’s people of the kingdom (us). The weeds are the people of the evil one.
In the parable the seed is the Word of God, but now the seeds are His people who are growing where they are planted in the world.
There are two kinds of seeds. The different seeds are the kinds of people. The good seeds are the people of the kingdom. That is people who live under the rule of God in their lives. The weeds are the people of the evil one, that is, people who, like the evil one, place themselves on my the throne of their own lives.
I think we can look at the world and notice the destructiveness of the enemy’s work. He sows destructive seeds in Jesus’s field. He has no positive objective in mind. The motivating force of all his work is simply to destroy the harvest.
Do you ever scratch your head and say, “Why have so many terrible things happened?” I think this is at least part of the answer.
The field:
“The field is the world.” (Matthew 13:38).
I think these words are crucial to understanding what this parable is about. While there are applications of this parable for the church, this parable is not about the church. Jesus says it clearly in Matthew 13:38.
The question:
Matthew 13:27 says, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?”
If God is so good, if Jesus is so mighty, then why is there so much evil in the world?
This is a profound question, and it arises in every generation. Where does evil come from? If Jesus triumphed over evil on the cross, then why is it flourishing today?
People in Jesus’ day assumed that when He came He would blow the whistle and it would be “game over” for evil. But Jesus came without judgement.
Isaiah 61:2 says the coming Messiah will “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” What happened to the vengeance?
The answer is grace comes with Jesus now, and judgement comes with Jesus later.
It’s important to understand that Jesus came as a lamb, but He will return as a lion.
The growth:
Matthew 13:30 says, “Let both grow together until the harvest.”
Evil will grow alongside the good until the return of Jesus. That is the teaching of Jesus, and we need this wisdom because we need to understand the nature of the world that we are living in.
The good seed is growing and producing abundance but the weeds are growing too. With every week that passes they become larger and more deeply rooted than before.
The harvest:
Matthew 13:30 says, “At harvest time I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into My barn.”
We are living in the day of God’s grace. The day of judgment has not yet come, and until this day, this is what the kingdom will look like. Good wheat in the field laced with weeds.
The work of judgment belongs to Jesus. He has not given it to us to do. We are called to love and help save the lost. We plant seeds and water them, but ultimately it is God who brings the growth.
He calls us to live and grow in this world until He comes and brings about a righteous judgment when all will be brought to account before Him. The day will come, and when it does, the weeds will be gathered and bound together in bundles,
There are three ways to apply this to our lives.
Stay Engaged
“Let both grow together” Matthew 13:30
Where has God rooted you down? What have you sown? Stay engaged.
Don’t be on an agenda of withdrawal from the world. There are no ideal spots in this world. Whenever we sow and water seeds satan sows his weeds. So bloom where you are planted.
2. Practice Tolerance
The word tolerance has been hijacked in our culture. It used to mean showing patience and forbearance towards people with whom we radically disagree. Now it means affirming what others affirm. But there is no need for tolerance between people who affirm the same convictions. If you agree what is there to tolerate?
Tolerance is a wonderful virtue that is needed where there are deep-seated disagreements. It means showing patience and forbearance towards people you find really difficult, and disagree with radically.
A perfect example is that my mother-in-law and my views have radically different views. When I am at her house, I am tolerant of her because I believe she should be respected in her home.
I do not mean this passively. It does not mean that we give up concern for another person’s spiritual condition. Jesus makes it clear that in this world, the wheat needs to grow alongside the weeds until Jesus returns.
3. Anticipate the Harvest
Matthew 13:43 says, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
God will harvest the wheat. He will bring His people home, and the righteous will shine like the sun.
May you be found in the bundle of life with the people of God who submit their lives to King Jesus.
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
The most important thing I carry with me is my mindset.
It shaped how I perceive the world, respond to challenges, interact with others, and navigate success or failure.
Most people may think of physical things that they carry, like cell phones, wallets or keys, or weapons while these items matter. it’s the internal perspective that seals how they use those things. Their beliefs, attitudes, and intentions that influence everything they do.
A strong and thoughtful mindset can turn setbacks into lessons and opportunities into achievements. It travels everywhere, even when you’re empty handed.
I would hate to have to endure life without joy and gladness these days without knowing Jesus. Without the Word of God at work in me through all the challenges I’m sure I would have caved by now.
Throughout my life, I’ve had to face what seemed like insurmountable obstacles and what I feel were attacks from the enemy trying to take me out.
Thank God I’m still advancing and moving forward. I’m still not quite sure if I have a special anointing on my life or have learned a few things through the struggles I’ve experienced.
I have learned that when it appears that when life seems to be unraveling, plans have turned to ashes, and the pain and misery of a life’s heart breaks have left me mourning that’s when God will lift me up above these things and sets me on the side of victory.
The Holy Spirit’s anointing of joy and gladness is reserved for God’s people. Isaiah 61:3 says,
“To provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
God has permanently placed before His followers things we will need in times of mourning, calamity, and trouble. His plan is for His people to be anointed with the oil of joy and gladness. However, unless we allow Jesus to anoint us continually with this oil of joy and gladness, life may become little more than a miserable existence.
Proverbs 15:15 in the Amplified Bible tells us,
“All the days of the deponding and afflicted are made evil by anxious thoughts and foreboding, but He who has a glad heart has a continual feast regardless of circumstances.”
When we praise God and allow Him to anoint us with joy and gladness, our life becomes a celebration regardless of our circumstances.
I think many churches over the decades have gotten the religious idea that crying was acceptable, but laughing, shouting for joy, of dancing were not. The truth of the matter is, the Bible had far more to say about rejoicing than it does weeping.
Joy comes from being in the presence of God and receiving His anointing of joy and gladness is deposited in us when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Until joy is returned to the church, and we allow the Holy Spirit to anoint us with the oil of joy and gladness even in difficult times in our lives, I don’t think we will be effective in reaching lost hurting people.
When the 120 believers were filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the joy of the Lord was an obvious manifestation. That is why people thought they were drunk.
It was only then that they began to impact those in Jerusalem. Then it continued to spread to others both Jews and Gentiles until eventually the gospel of Jesus was spread throughout the world.
I believe the church’s religious beliefs have dampened the effect of what the Holy Spirit can do.
So, if you’re weighed down with what’s going on around you, why not let the Lord anoint you with the oil of joy and gladness?
Do you ever go to seasons for God does a miraculous work in your life from freeing you of sins of you from your past, or answering a specific prayer. You find yourself in so much awe of Him, His Word, and His faithfulness, that you vow to never stop praising Him.
But if each day passes from the divine marked moment, we forget that moment of Him miraculous handiwork on our life. When the next new circumstance comes up in our life where we need help or answers, we can to find ourselves doubting God. We begin leaning on our own understanding. An overtime we begin trying to control the situation on our own, forgetting God‘s faithfulness.
It’s easy to let God’s faithfulness slip from our minds. Especially when He is not answering our prayers, moving in our situations, or speaking in the moment that we need Him to.
Deuteronomy 4:9 tells us,
“Only be on guard and diligently watch yourselves so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.”
I can’t help but think that too. Exodus when Moses held out his staff, and God parted the waters of the Red Sea. Once Israel, like such safely crossed, Moses dropped his staff, and the sea closed, drowning the pursuing Egyptians. This miraculous work of God is something they saw with their own eyes. Yet they had forgotten, but God had done for them. I hope that I will never forget the Almighty God’s personal sovereignty and protection freeing me of my horrible situations in the past.
But being human we forget too fast God‘s faithfulness. It’s important to remember that God is working in our because he is faithful no matter the situation we find ourselves in. He has proven time and time again, throughout every story in the Bible, throughout every story of our lives. Let’s not forget what He has done and will continue to do.
No matter what don’t stop praising Him, that our worship be a reminder to never let His faithfulness slip from our minds.
What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?
I hope my blog is making even a small difference to someone who needs to hear it.
So many churches tell us information or give rules they say we need to live a godly life. But don’t give us the wisdom on how to live it.
I believe some preachers or teachers are afraid to tell people exactly what the Bible says for fear of offending someone. And lose people and money. I have never sugar-coated anything. It’s not about tickling anyone’s ears, but teaching truth straight from the Bible.
I have been thinking about writing a small book with the basics of how to live a godly life. Right now it’s just a thought. I’m still praying about it to have wisdom.
Albert Einstein once said the world is ruled by three forces: stupidity, fear, and greed. He wasn’t wrong. These three forces shape everything around us, they shape history, dictate the rise and fall of nations and determine whether people succeed or remain trapped in mediocrity.
Stupidity:
Stupidity blinds people to reality. Greed drives them to take more than they need and fear keeps us paralyzed and unwilling to challenge the status quo. When all three work together, they create a world where progress is stifled, and people willingly participate in their own downfall.
Most people think stupidity is about intellect. It’s not. Some of the dumbest people have Ivy League degrees. I think stupidity is about the inability or even refusal to see what reality is. It’s about making choices based that logic, and ignoring the truth because it’s of its inconvenience or even worse it forces accountability.
If you look around it’s pretty clear. The people in government and the media spew nonsense and people eat it up like it’s the gospel. Businesses make the same mistakes over and over driven by arrogance disguised as “expertise.” Individuals stay in toxic relationships, dead-end jobs, and self-destructive cycles, and they convince themselves that change is impossible.
Stupidity thrives on arrogance. It’s the person who refuses to listen, the leader who doubles down on bad decisions instead of admitting they were wrong. People spend more time complaining than improving. The person who ignores every red flag and then is amazed when they get burned.
But the worst part is that stupidity doesn’t just hurt the stupid person it drags everyone else down with them. A single bad decision by someone in power destroys lives, economies, and futures.
Greed:
Greed is the disease of the power hungry. Forget what they told you -greed isn’t about wanting money. It’s about never being satisfied. It’s an addiction to power, status, and control. It’s the belief that having more makes you more. More important, more valuable, and more worthy.
Greed is why billionaires hoard their money while others barely survive. It’s why companies cut corners, exploit employees, and destroy the planet. It’s why they sell each other out for personal gain.
The real tragedy with greed isn’t just about the powerful it affects everyday people too. It’s why co-workers sabotage others for promotions or take credit for work they didn’t do. It’s even why people we call friends show up only when they need something.
Greed convinces people that success is a zero-sum game, that for them to win, someone else has to lose. And when greed rubs unchecked, it eats through trust like acid. It turns partnerships into power struggles, relationships into transactions, and societies into battlegrounds.
The cure for greed is to have a real purpose. It’s about choosing to build something bigger than yourself and stop chasing the numbers and begin chasing impact.
Fear:
Fear is the ultimate control mechanism. Nothing manipulates people more than fear. Fear shuts down logic (we’ve seen this during covid). It stops progress in its tracks and makes people easy to control.
Fear is why people stayed in their houses during the lockdown. Fear is why stores ran out of supplies. In my small community, I couldn’t even buy toilet paper. Fear is why people keep their mouths shut when they see corruption. It’s why governments can sell war, corporations sell security, and media sells outrage.
Fear convinces people that the unknown is worse than the miserable reality they already have. That the price of standing up for ourselves is too high and that failure is worse than regret.
Fear is why dictators rise, and why most people never live the life they actually want. Fear doesn’t need chains to keep us imprisoned. It just needs doubt.
When stupidity, greed, and fear work together, you get what the U.S. went through the last 4 years. We are still experiencing the effects of this and will for a long time long time I think. We’ve seen people too ignorant to see the problem, too selfish to fix it, and too afraid to fight it.
That’s how corrupt leaders stay in power, bosses thrive, and why wealthy people get richer and richer, why everyone else gets stuck in survival mode.
This cycle doesn’t break on its own. The only way out is to wake up and realize we were being played. Stop being part of the problem and find solutions. And never let fear dictate our choices.
The world isn’t controlled by geniuses, it’s controlled by those who understand how to manipulate the stupid, exploit the greedy, and weaponize fear.
Once you see the game they are playing, it’s hard to unsee it. And once you learn how it works, you can choose not to play.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” -John 10:10
From Pity to Praise 