Common to Man
But now it has come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. – Job 4:5
After a promotion at work, my best friend turned against me. She said things to others that were not true. The comments would have hurt coming from
anyone, but she was my best friend—at least I had thought she was! Being promoted had not been my idea, but when the time came, I felt I
deserved the position. I was qualified and ready. What I was not ready for was the coolness I felt from fellow employees; it was thick enough to
slice. They had believed the stories being circulated.
After praying hard about the problem, I finally felt I had surrendered it to the Lord. Still, I was not free of the trial. Even after I gave the situation
to the Lord there was tension at work that felt hurtful and was emotionally draining. Many times before, I had encouraged someone else to hang
on and to trust the Lord through a difficult time. Now it was my turn and, like Job from our focus verse, I was troubled. Somehow my faith staggered.
It hurt. I did not understand. I wanted it to go away. Now!
I had searched for help from the Bible, something that would tell me I was right and everyone else was out of sync with God. I tried “encouraging myself
in the Lord” as David of the Bible had done. I made it through with songs and verses that would lift my spirit, but at times the doubts would begin
again and the hurt seemed to multiply. I feared this trial would never end. But eventually, it did!
No one really enjoys a trial, but they do serve a purpose. Through that experience, I learned to be more compassionate and understanding of others
who are going through hard places. I learned that even good friends can change their loyalty, but Jesus will never betray us. And I learned to
just hang on and wait for the answers from Heaven; even if I do not feel relief, I know that Jesus will not fail me.
When we are going through a trial, we can put our trust in the Lord. He will take us through, and in the end we will be stronger Christians for it.