July 5

strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. — Acts 14:22 BSB

What are God’s promises? Aren’t they all meant for his poor and needy people? What good are promises of pardon to those who aren’t guilty? What good are promises of salvation to those who aren’t lost? What good are promises of comfort to those who aren’t afflicted? What good are promises of grace to those who don’t feel utterly helpless? It’s through much tribulation that we come to experience the sweetness of God’s promises. Then they come alive in our hearts; they are felt with power in our souls. Like Jeremiah, we “find God’s word and eat it,” and it becomes the joy and rejoicing of our hearts.

Tribulation—both in life and in grace—afflictions, temptations, the scorn of the world, blows from both sinners and saints, and the painful awareness of the deceitfulness of our own hearts—all of these lead us into the kingdom of God. These trials bring us to the sweet manifestations of God’s love and mercy, which alone can satisfy us. If you are honest, sincere, and fear being deceived—if you know there’s something deeper in godliness and long to experience it more fully—then you can testify that you’ve only entered into any mystery of God’s kingdom through tribulation. Wasn’t it through suffering that you came to understand God’s word, and through hardship that you learned to value his love and grace above all else?