Wisdom wrote in Proverbs chapter 3:
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor detest His correction;
12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
When we are going through trials let us embrace those trials with the assurance that FATHER Loves us and HE knows what we need in order to become mature Sons and Daughters. Jesus and the disciples suffered on behalf of the Kingdom and we should prepare ourselves to endure opposition as well. In order to be an overcomer we must “overcome” some form of opposition. Upon successfully enduring the trial we come out on the other side stronger than before.
In the past, many preachers associated with the “faith” movement promised an easy life without opposition if only you exercised faith and claimed the benefits mentioned in various Scriptures. People wanted to believe their teaching because it promised a trouble-free life but in the end reality set in and the opposition came anyway.
In Hebrews chapter 12 it is written:
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
In HIS wisdom FATHER finds it necessary for us to endure so that we become disciplined in our walk. When we endure the opposition, we develop a better perspective of what others are going through in their lives. Our compassion increases for those who are also suffering and we no longer judge them to be spiritually weak and we are able to minister Love and understanding toward them. The result is that we are able to share and experience FATHER’S holiness.
While we are in the midst of this discipline we should not expect to be full of joy but instead we may experience sorrow. Jesus experience sorrow, rejection, and pain on our behalf during His ministry as Isaiah 53 describes:
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Are we willing to suffer on behalf of others as well? When we endure opposition our perspective is expanded and we are able to relate with those who are weak and suffering themselves. FATHER has included this suffering as part of our training and the result is that it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness in our lives. We do not need to seek out opposition but when it comes let us draw near unto FATHER and ask HIM to show us what we need to see as part of our training. We should ask HIM to strengthen us during this time, allow HIS Love to flow through us, and provide us the understanding associated with this aspect of training. At some point our sorrow will turn into joy.