Trials and Afflictions
Introduction and the lecture’s focus
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III mentions that entering the Holy Forty reminds us of the trials of the Lord Christ and that no human escapes trials and afflictions; they are a constant reality in the life of every believer.
Sources of afflictions and their types
He explains that afflictions may come from the devil, or from wicked people, or as a result of a person’s mistakes, and sometimes the Lord permits them to test will and love and to prepare for good.
Purpose of testing and the spiritual benefit
Afflictions test a person’s faith and will and grant him spiritual experiences: knowing God’s help, increasing love for the Lord, training in prayer, and gaining the ability to guide others as a result of experience.
Biblical examples and the training process
He cites the lives of the prophets and fathers: the Lord Christ on the mountain, the Virgin, Abraham, Moses, David, Joseph, and Peter, and how afflictions trained them and qualified them for greater responsibilities.
Spiritual outcomes of afflictions
Afflictions develop humility and contrition of heart, break pride, and make success be attributed to God’s help not to personal strength, and they refine the believer’s life to be practical and living, not theoretical.
Afflictions as a means for repentance and spiritual awakening
He points out that the Lord may permit afflictions for a person to face his sins leading to true repentance, as in the story of Jonah which was followed by an affliction that awakened a sincere heart.
How to face afflictions
He advises to face them with courage of heart and faith that God is with you, and to consider the affliction as half the truth and the other half is God’s help, and not to despair but to hope because the affliction is ordained for good.
Conclusion and a call to perseverance
He calls to consider afflictions as an opportunity for holiness and spiritual training, and to rejoice in afflictions because they renew the person inwardly and draw him closer to God.
Trials
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