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Larry explained that believers are sealed, however, it is very likely there will be tribulation to one degree or another on our journey to the safe harbor of heaven. Or said another way, sometimes life just comes at you hard. The question is: how should a believer navigate times of great pressure along the way?
Meditate on Psalm 23 and 1 Peter 5:7-10 to discover your road map to peace through the storm.
Psalm 23 New International Version (NIV)
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
1 Peter 5:7-10 New International Version (NIV)
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
In Revelation, chapters 6 (the four horsemen) and 7 (the martyrs), show trouble mainly from external pressures. However, for many of us, our troubles are also self-inflicted. Read James 1:13-18. How is it possible to avoid self-inflicted trouble?
James 1:13-18 New International Version (NIV)
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
When the Apostle Paul reflected on his troubles as he followed Jesus in 2 Corinthians 4:8-18, he could somehow refer to them as light and momentary, even though from an outside observer’s standpoint, they would seem anything but that. How is it possible to have the same outlook on our troubles? Could it be as simple as a change of focus, as was the case for Paul?
2 Corinthians 4:8-18 New International Version (NIV)
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
How could the vision of Jesus in Revelation calmly seated on His throne in power be the key to living above the fray when trouble comes our way?