Trials and Tribulations Their Limits and Their Benefits
Human life—whoever the person may be—never lacks trials and tribulations. They are for all; even prophets and saints have their share, and the examples are many, such as what befell Job the Prophet and Joseph the Righteous.
So no one should think that trials and tribulations belong only to sinners because of their sins; rather, they are for all people. There is a difference between a sinner who faces a hardship because of his mistakes, and a righteous person who is struck by a hardship because of others’ evil or envy, or for any reason beyond his will.
All the righteous have passed through the crucible of pain, experiencing hardship and trial, and God did not exempt them from this.
For “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.”
The occurrence of these trials does not in any way mean that God has abandoned those who suffer from these hardships and tribulations. Nor does it mean His anger toward them or His displeasure…!
Rather, He—blessed be His name—may allow the trial for their benefit. And He is with them in the trial, helping them, strengthening them, protecting them, and supporting them as well.
He allows the tribulation, but He stands with us in it…
Thus the Psalmist sings and says: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us… Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124)
It is a beautiful experience: to see the help of God during our tribulations…
And to experience God’s tenderness, His love, and His work on our behalf. This is one of the benefits of trials—in them we feel that some heavenly powers stand with us and shield us, and we also experience the saying of the Psalm: “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.”
For this reason, the believer cannot be exhausted by tribulations. This is because he believes in God’s intervention, His work, and His protection. He believes that God is able to solve them; indeed, God has many solutions. Therefore the believer does not lose his inner peace during trials, nor does he lose his calmness or his trust in God’s work.
Every trial is without doubt a field for a new spiritual experience, deepening a person’s understanding of God’s care, His work, and His deliverance…
Yet God—in His compassion and tenderness—has placed certain rules for the tribulations He allows to occur. The foremost of these:
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God does not allow a trial that is above our human capacity.
He—exalted in His power—knows the measure of each person’s endurance and does not allow trials to come except within the limits of one’s human ability.
Someone may ask: How hard was the trial that befell Job the Righteous—losing his children, losing his wealth, losing his health, and the abandonment of his friends… Who could bear all this?!
We answer that God knew that Job’s spiritual capacity could endure all this, and therefore He allowed what happened.
As for you, do not fear. If you had a spiritual stature like that of Job, you too could face such trials. But God will not allow you to be tried except within the limits of your endurance.
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The second condition is that God does not allow the tribulation except with it He provides the way out…
Meaning, the problem comes with its solution. There is no trial that is utterly dark without any window of light… so there is no place for despair. The solution exists, and perhaps it requires some time, which grants the one under trial the virtue of patience and waiting for the Lord. He looks at the problem with hope, seeing the solution coming through faith from the love and power of God… and God is able to grant endurance and patience. -
We must also know that the trials God allows are for good, or they end in good…
For all things work together for good to those who love the Lord.
Even if the problem appears evil in itself, God in His goodness is able to turn it into good. Thus the believer trusts in the goodness of trials, whether at the time or later… Therefore trials do not crush him, nor press him down, nor rob him of his peace. I often used to say: “The tribulation is called a tribulation because the heart has become too narrow to contain it; but the wide heart is not constricted by anything.”
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A fourth condition for the trial: that it has a set time at which it ends…
There is no tribulation that lasts forever throughout life… Therefore, in every trial that passes over you, you can say, “Its fate is to end”—meaning there will come a time when you will pass through it safely. But during this time you must keep your calm and your composure. Do not weaken or collapse, and do not belittle yourself before the trial. Do not lose trust in God’s intervention, His help, and His protection.
Know that trials are undoubtedly beneficial. Were it not for their benefit, the compassionate God would not allow them… And how many virtues we can gain if we deal with tribulations in a spiritual way.
They strengthen the soul and grant it many forms of experience, whether in solving problems, or in hope and faith in God’s work, or in the wisdom gained by those who are tried, or in training to stand firm and steadfast before the tribulation until it ends, together with training in endurance and patience.
Without entering the crucible of trials, souls would become fragile and spoiled, unable to bear anything, untrained in facing difficulties and enduring them…
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper on 13-5-2006.
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