10 Jan God and Jesus Help Us To Overcome Our Weaknesses, Trials, and Temptations
This is the sixth in a series of encouraging articles about “The Blessings and Joy We Receive From God and Jesus.”
It is amazing how God and Jesus help us in our weaknesses trials, and temptations! In the passage below we will see how Jesus, the Son of God, experienced and overcame the same trials that we have. Because he relates to our struggles, he is able to help us face our own challenges:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Brothers and sisters, we can come to Jesus in our times of trials, temptations, and weaknesses. Jesus has great sympathy for us because he knows how difficult trials and temptations are. Because he overcame temptation himself, he is able to graciously give us the mercy and help we need as we face our own temptations.
In the passage below, we will see Paul’s testimony about how Jesus taught him in his weaknesses:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weaknesses.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
This is one of the most amazing and encouraging teachings about how Jesus will help us in our trials. The apostle Paul faced a tremendous challenge, a “thorn,” and three times he begged God to take it away from him. Although God didn’t take away Paul’s thorn, he did help Paul grow as he faced his weaknesses. God used Paul’s struggle to help him grow in humility and perseverance; Paul learned to depend on God for strength and help. As Jesus helped Paul through his trials, so he will also lovingly help us through ours! If we need strength, he will give us strength; if we need humility, he will give us humility; if we need encouragement, he will give us encouragement.
As Paul learned to delight in his trials, knowing that Jesus would graciously help him, so we must also learn to delight in our trials. God may not take our struggles away from us, but he will help us to persevere and grow through them. We do not have to feel discouraged and guilty because we are going through trials; instead, we can be joyful, knowing that God and Jesus, by their love and grace, are drawing close to us and helping us.
And remember, because Jesus went through the same trials we suffer, he is lovingly sensitive to us, and able to help us in our time of need. Let us take our trials to the Lord, confident that he will graciously give us all we need to endure and to overcome.
*Watch the video discussion with Sam and David HERE!
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