Episode 267: I’m Talkin. . .Trials

I’m talking episode 267 for May 28th, 2023.

This is Joel from the I’m Talking microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking trials.

Trials is not really a very fun word to talk about.

I really can’t believe over the number of episodes that I’ve done that this word has never been on my list to talk about, but I double checked and triple checked, and apparently I’ve never done the word trials before.

But this is something that the whole world has in common.

There’s not anybody on the face of the planet who has not faced trials and they face them regularly.

And there’s a wide variety of trials.

They come in all shapes and sizes.

They may come in the sizes of little tiny babies because you get tired and the baby needs full attention.

And they may come in the size of buildings because you need a building to be available for you to work or be available for you to live.

And they don’t always perform as you would hope they perform.

And anything in between, they can come momentarily.

They can come over time.

You can see them coming down the road.

They may just totally blindside you.

So timing is very different.

And then duration.

Some trials last for moments, maybe even measured in minutes.

And some can last in times measured in years.

And everywhere in between, there may be hours, it may be months, it may be days.

But they are coming and you will face them.

And the difference between how we face them as Christians and how the world might face them without Christ is the challenge that we are going to talk about today.

The Bible says when we face trials, it doesn’t say if, it doesn’t say maybe.

God tells us that we are going to face trials.

But then he also tells us that we can face them not alone.

We can face them through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We can face them knowing that God has our back.

Then knowing that regardless of how a trial may end, that God has his hands in the midst of it.

God is sovereign.

He knows what’s going on.

He also tells us that he won’t make us face things that we aren’t able to handle.

And that’s odd because there are tough trials that we face as Christians and we are not sure how to handle them.

Sometimes we’re not even sure we handle them well.

But the world is watching.

And because we have the strength of the Holy Spirit in us, the world is looking at us as professors of Jesus Christ to see how we handle the trials differently than they see others do.

And the Bible says, count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of various kinds.

So that goes right back to the beginning of what I said.

There are going to be all kinds, all strengths, all sizes, all circumstances.

And how do we be joyful in the midst of that?

Well, it doesn’t mean we can’t mourn.

It doesn’t mean we can’t cry.

It doesn’t mean we can’t show some emotion.

But the reality is that in the trial itself, we have a peace that passes all understanding.

And that gives us a joy knowing that we are not on our own.

We can face the trial, maybe even with a smile.

And there are times in my life where people have said to me, how did you?

And then list the trial that they know I was going through.

And it’s only through the power of the Holy Spirit.

It’s only through the strength, the peace, and the joy that He provides that I am able to face trials different than the world would expect.

And only in that effort, only in that reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit and on Jesus Christ Himself are we able to live sold out for God’s glory.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.