Trials: Jesus Helps Us in Everyday Trials
Jesus had difficulties
From birth to death, Jesus had a difficult life. He had times of joy, and times of pain. He was God, but also human, and he experienced the difficulties that come with this messed-up world. Jesus was tested by what he suffered, and he learned from it (Hebrews 2:18; 5:8). Because of his experiences, “he is able to help those who are being tested” (Hebrews 2:18).
Whether we believe in Jesus Christ or not, we will have troubles. But when we believe in him, we can be confident that he understands our troubles. That does not make our troubles go away, but it helps us to know that he had them, too.
We have a Savior who knows what it’s like. In Jesus, we see that God himself is willing to suffer. Paul tells us that we will not only share in Jesus’ resurrection life, we also share in his suffering (Philippians 3:10-11).
In this world, Jesus said, we will have troubles (John 16:33). He warned his disciples about the cost of following him: They would have to take up the cross each day, willing to suffer and die, if need be, for their faith in Jesus Christ (Luke 9:23).
If we have enough faith…
Some Christians think that they have a guaranteed way to escape life’s difficulties. Scripture says that if we ask for anything in Jesus’ name, then he will do it (John 14:12-14). Some people think that we can ask for a trouble-free life, and if we have enough faith, then Jesus will make sure that we have no troubles.
However, God not only promises to help us in our difficulties—he also promises us difficulties! Christ did not come to give us a trouble-free life. Instead, he warned us that we would have conflict in our families because of him (Matthew 10:34-36), and we would be persecuted (John 15:20; 16:33). We enter the kingdom through many trials (Acts 14:22), and Christians will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). We should not think it unusual when troubles affect us (1 Peter 4:12).
Can we claim John 14:12-14 as a promise that Christ will give us whatever we want? No—in a passage like this there are conditions, limits that are explained elsewhere in Scripture. God answers only according to his will (1 John 5:14). This is what it means to ask “in Jesus’ name” – to ask what he himself would ask.
God will not answer requests that go against something that is good. He often has reasons we cannot see. We do not know his will perfectly, and it is possible for us to believe (to have faith in) something that is not true. Our faith cannot guarantee that God will give us what we want.
Faith and healing
Many Christians have firmly believed that God would heal a loved one. They prayed in faith. So they were surprised when the loved one died. What they had believed so strongly turned out not to be true. Their faith could not heal the person—only God could heal, and he decided not to, despite their prayers, their faith, God’s love and God’s promises.
When such disappointments happen, a new trial sets in. If faith in the healing turned out to be a mistake, what about faith in Christ? Was it also a mistake? That is one of the dangers of the “word of faith” teaching—it links faith in our Savior to faith in specific predictions. Did Jesus promise to heal every disease? He did not heal Epaphroditus, as least not as fast as people wanted him to (Philippians 2:27). Even in his earthly ministry, Jesus did not heal everyone (John 5:3-9).
Every Christian eventually dies. We do not yet experience everything Jesus accomplished for us. Someday, we will be raised with perfect bodies. We will then receive the full benefits of Jesus’ redemption (Romans 8:23). But in this age, we share in his sufferings (1 Peter 2:20-21).
Jesus promised problems, not freedom from pain and sorrow. Paul had great faith, but also many sufferings (2 Corinthians 1:5; Philippians 3:10; 4:12). Although Jesus paid the penalty for all sin, Christians still suffer despite their faith—and sometimes because of their faith. We suffer from persecution, and we suffer from living on a planet that doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to, and in societies in which sin is still common. Sin hurts innocent people, and sometimes we are the innocent people who are hurt.
Sometimes sins cause an early death, sometimes a slow and pain-filled death. We may suffer physical damage from a beating, a car accident, or from breathing dust. Our health may suffer from being in bad weather, from smoke in a house fire or chemicals in our food. We may be hurt by wild animals, or microorganisms. God has not guaranteed to protect his people from all possible problems.
Is it God’s will to heal people who have faith in Christ? Sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn’t. Stephen was killed, James was killed. God may have saved the first Christians on many occasions, but eventually they all died. Some were healed, sometimes dramatically. These are examples of special favor, grace and mercy – they are not promises for every believer.
We should not imply that people who aren’t healed do not have faith. Sometimes their faith can be seen in their suffering—they remain cheerfully confident that God will do what is best for them. Whether they live or die, whether they have prosperity or poverty, whether they are sick or in heath, they trust in God. There is nothing wrong with their faith.
Rejoicing and trials
Peter wrote, “In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials” (1 Peter 1:6). Many people are puzzled by this idea of rejoicing when we have trials. How can we be joyful when we suffer? We may not be rejoicing that we have a trial, but we rejoice despite our trials.
Let’s notice what Peter wrote: “In this you rejoice.” What is “this” that gives us great joy? In context, it is salvation, that we can be confident that God will give us an eternal inheritance. We have a wonderful future guaranteed for us. This has been demonstrated to us by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and God keeps us until we receive the promised glory (verses 3-5). The same power that raised Jesus will also raise us to glorious immortality!
Peter speaks of joy again in verse 8. He says that we do not yet see our Savior. We do not yet have our promised inheritance. We are suffering all kinds of trials. Even so, we can rejoice. Why? Because “you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (verse 9). We rejoice in the salvation we are already receiving through faith.
Paul also explains how we can rejoice in our sufferings: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). We will receive a great inheritance — we are “joint heirs with Christ” (verse 17). Today, we may share in his suffering, but the day will come when we will share in his glory.
We have not yet reached the time when there is no more crying and no more death. Our pains and sorrows are caused by our enemy — sin. We rejoice because Jesus has conquered our enemy, and he promises that we share in his victory!
Jesus said, “If you want to follow me, take up your cross.” We need to be willing to suffer, even to be killed, if we want to follow Christ. If Jesus, our Lord and teacher, became a human to suffer and die to help us, if suffering was part of his training (Hebrews 2:10; 5:8), it should be no surprise that it is also part of ours. In these trials, we can rejoice because we know that Christ has promised us something far better.
Purpose of trials
Since God promises us difficulties, and he promises to help us in and through them, what are they for? Why does God allow any evil? We do not fully know, but we know that God does allow evil, and Jesus himself was willing to endure it, and he is still enduring it patiently.
Scripture tells us that life’s difficulties can have some good benefits:
- “Affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4).
- “Discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). It is part of our training, part of our preparation for the future life.
- “In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
We learn things from suffering that we cannot learn from studying. Suffering shapes our character in a way that words cannot fully describe. Jesus learned from his sufferings, and we are called to take up a cross and suffer with him. “If [we are] children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17).
Trials do not feel good, but may be good for us anyway. We are comforted by the fact that God is at work in our lives, and he is able to develop something good out of all things. He has the knowledge and the compassion to work in our lives for his wonderful purpose.
We often do not understand what lessons we are to learn from a particular trial, but the overall lesson is always to trust in God. We must trust God despite our physical circumstances, and by trusting God, we are growing in our faith relationship with him.
A faith that is never tested can be weak. Anyone can “stick with it” when things are good. A tested faith is stronger, and the bond between us and God grows stronger. God wants a personal relationship with his children, a relationship with faith, trust and love. Faith can be strengthened by our difficulties. Trials teach us to rely on God for every need. Whether our trial is health, money, relationships, or a problem in the church, we are to look to Christ.
Five facts about trials
- We have difficulties whether or not we believe in Jesus.
- Jesus promised that his followers would have trials.
- Jesus also promised that eternal joy would be vastly more than our temporary trials.
- There is joy in heaven and on earth whenever anyone turns to God.
- Faith in the future gives us reason to rejoice despite our troubles.
Author: Joseph Tkach, updated 2025
