With a Subtitle: Why following Jesus doesn't end our trials, and the eternal hope that carries us through
A brief Excerpt: Four decades after becoming a Christian, I'm still waiting for my troubles to end. Scripture never promised a trouble-free life—Solomon's prayer assumed hardship would come. But our hope in Jesus and eternity changes everything.
When Becoming a Christian Doesn’t End Life’s Troubles
I don’t know about you, but I became a Christian during a very difficult time in my life. I thought with Jesus as my Savior, all my troubles would end. More than four decades later, I’m still waiting for my troubles to end.
“Come to Jesus and Learn Not to Have Your Own Way”
When I attended seminary, the assistant dean had a pet phrase he often quoted during lectures. He said, “Come to Jesus and learn not to have your own way.” Let’s just say, I didn’t enjoy hearing it, but the longer I walked with Jesus, the more I understood this truth.
Jesus Promised We Will Have Trouble in This Life
Having troubles in life is a given. Jesus told His disciples: “In this life you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world.”
This was confirmation. It wasn’t news to them. When we look at passages from the Old Testament, the Bible makes it clear that life is full of difficulties, pain, and disappointment. Let’s look at one particular event in the Old Testament.
Solomon’s Temple Prayer: “When,” Not “If”
When Solomon completed the construction of the temple, he dedicated it to God with a prayer. (1 Kings 8:22-53) Notice that Solomon did not pray “if” prayers, but “when” prayers. For instance, quoting from The Message Bible, we see the following statements: “When someone hurts a neighbor …,” “When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy …,” “When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain …,” “When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort…,” “When they sin ….” He accepted it as fact that these events would happen.
Where Is Our Hope When Troubles Never End?
What hope is there for us then? Will our troubles never end? Our hope is in Jesus. The Bible promised that God would never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). He has overcome this world. Our present troubles do not compare to eternity with Jesus. Our lives here on earth are short. They will soon pass, but eternity with Jesus awaits us. We have already started living our eternal reality when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Carrying Each Other’s Burdens Until Crosses Become Crowns
Let’s help carry each other’s burdens. Let’s hold up the hands of our fellow Christians with our prayers and words of encouragement. Here on earth we each have our own cross to bear, but one day we will exchange our crosses for crowns. Thank God for our eternal hope and destiny in Him.
A note on the headings: I inserted them only at sentence/paragraph boundaries and left every word, Scripture verse (1 Kings 8:22-53; Hebrews 13:5-6), and reference (The Message Bible) exactly as written, with no hyperlinks on any Scripture. The one structural choice was splitting your long fifth paragraph between Solomon’s prayer and the “What hope is there for us then?” turn so each section could carry its own heading—no wording was changed.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org
This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.