Lord, my God, help me recognize the utter beauty in affliction. Lead me through the fiery furnace for the sole purpose of being refined. The deceptive snare of seeking personal comfort and happiness can be a strangle-hold on gospel truth. Freedom from sickness or the infirmity of mortal life was never part of the promise. The inheritance of Christ inevitably includes trouble and hardship. But my heart can take courage in the fact that You have overcome the world. Whatever trial has been predefined for my life Lord, I am soberly reminded that You ordain such things for the betterment of my faith and the completion of Your will. I can rest assured that each season will bring me closer to Your heart if I do not harden my own heart with grumbling, nor let my spirit suffocate in a desire for personal happiness over soul refinement. Though the path of life is often engraved by storms, my heart finds comfort in the truth that I can follow my Savior’s footprints. Your very nearness is my solace. Your truth is my guide. Your grace is the staff I lean on when I am overwhelmed to the point that I doubt my endurance. Yet it is You, Jesus, who will bring me to the Kingdom through trial or tribulation. It is You who will welcome me home. Your love is so much more than a mere consolation. It is breath and life and true destiny. I can only imagine the joy, the peace, and the fulfillment of hope when I enter into Your glory at last. Until then, let the intensity of life shape me into Your likeness. Worldly trials are but a shadow compared to the beauty of light in the Kingdom that awaits those in Christ. Under the beauty of the Word in John 8:32 and the authority of Christ Jesus I pray.

You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
John 8:32, WEB