“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33); “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:7).
Too many folks out there are operating under the wrong biblical assumption that life gets easy when we get closer to God. No it doesn’t. Life gets better because of Gods grace so that we can deal with the many temporary injustices we see in this world. I’ve seen a number of devoted Christians who are very poor, excellent brothers in Christ who are discriminated against because of how they look or talk, intelligent people without the means to get a college education without putting themselves into major debt, you name it. Who said that life is easy and fair for the brethren?
Let’s not forget the teachings of Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12), or John, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15;18), or Peter, “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:17), or Matthew, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10), and many more!
There is hope, which is the good news, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). We also learn that we should keep course as, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
Keep the faith and love what is good despite of what you might encounter in this world. Stand firms in the faith! Never give that up. Our hope depends on it. Remember what we learned in Romans, “God will repay each person according to what they have done” (Romans 2:6).
Our only hope is the lamb. Patience in a virtue but only God saves.