Day 728 – Trials and Tribulations – Ask Gramps

Wisdom-Trek

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 728 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Trials and Tribulations - Ask Gramps Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 728 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. Last week we started on a new trek called “Ask Gramps.” This is a time where Gramps will answer questions that you would possibly like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason are unable to. No matter how old you are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask Dad or Gramps questions about life in all areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way. As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is my goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [e-mail], send me a message at the bottom of any page on wisdom-trek.com, or text me at 740.350.5732. I will answer your questions on our Friday podcast. I hope that this will become a highly interactive and informative time. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We all face hardships at times, and our life’s trek can be steep and winding with many obstacles along the path. So here is our question for today: “Hey Gramps, ‘Why does God allow us to go through trials and tribulations?’” Trials and Tribulations This is one question that has certainly gone through my mind several times during this year. One of the most difficult parts of the Christian life is the fact that becoming a disciple of Christ does not make us immune to life’s trials and tribulations. The question still comes to mind, though, “Why would a good and loving God allow us to go through such things as Hazel getting leukemia, or me breaking my femur bone in a freak accident, or a grown child losing the job which causes financial hardships, worry, and fear?” Surely, if God loved us, He would take all these things away from us. After all, doesn’t loving us mean He wants our lives to be easy and comfortable? Well, no, it doesn’t. God’s ultimate purpose for His children is to mold them into being an image bearer for Him. An often misrepresentation of Romans 8:28 is that “all things work together for good.” To us “good” is often thought of as what we desire or what we think is best for us. A closer look at Romans 8:28 shows, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." So that must mean that the trials and tribulations God allows in our lives, He causes or shapes those circumstances that will allow us to mature as the bearers of His image. As in all things, God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more like His Son, which continues in Romans 8:29-30, "For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory." This is the goal of the Christian, and everything in life, including the trials and tribulations, is designed to enable us to reach that goal. It is part of the process of being set apart for God’s purposes and fitted to live for His glory. The way trials accomplish this is explained in 1 Peter 1:6-7, "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead,