This reminds me of in the epistle of Peter where he says that the same temptations are
accomplished in your brethren which are in the world.
And he talks about how we as Christians, we go through trials and tribulations and we
can go through chastisement and discipline for things that we do wrong or we can just
go through times of testing and trial even if we didn't do anything wrong like Job did.
And the Bible says, "My brethren, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which
is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you," right?
Don't be shocked, it's going to happen.
But then he also talks about the fact how the same temptations are accomplished in your
brethren which are in the world.
You know, if you stop and think about it, worldly people go through stuff too, don't
they?
I mean, do worldly people typically go through their lives carefree?
Now, sometimes maybe they do, but the majority of worldly people are going through gnarly
things in their lives, whether it's physically, financially, in their relationships, at their
job.
I mean, they go through horrible hardships, and we as Christians, we go through hardships,
and they go through hardships.
The difference is that our suffering has meaning.
So if I go through suffering, it means something.
It either means A, the Lord loves me and he's chastening me, and he's making me a better
person because whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourges every son whom he receiveth, because
he's doing it for my profit, so that I can be a partaker of his holiness.
Or my suffering means that I'm being tried by the Lord, I'm being tested, and when I'm
tried, I will come forth as gold.
The trial of your faith is more precious than that of gold which perisheth, the Bible tells
us.
And so, either way, whether I brought it upon myself, or whether it's a testing from the
Lord, it has meaning, it has significance, and in the end, all things work together for
good to them that love God.
But all things do not work together for good to them out there in the world.
See, when they go through something bad, someone's just bad, and it's just bad on top of bad
for a bad reason, with a bad result, with a bad outcome, and what does it mean?
Well, it means nothing, right?
That's really the life of an unsaved person who's just living apart from God's will, and
they're unsaved, and they don't listen to God, and they don't care.
Well, you know, their life is going to involve a lot of suffering, and it's all going to
be meaningless.
Whereas, we as Christians, when we suffer, it has meaning.