Trials can be overcome when you focus on these four principles

Have you ever felt like a trial would never end?  It will.

We call it “patience.”

Patience is “enduring to the end.”

It WILL end.

“Better is the END of a thing than its beginning, and the PATIENT in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” (Eccl. 7:8)

You may be in that kind of a trial.  Days have turned into weeks, months, and years.

Here are four ways to keep your eyes on the end of the trial:

1. “What God begins, He will finish.”

“And I am sure of this, that he who BEGAN a good work in you will bring it to COMPLETION at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1: 6)

God is working inside of you.  He may not have caused the trial, but He always works in us.  

When I am in a trial, the Lord speaks to me about issues that need to change.  I am more tender in those times.

I listen to His voice better rather than being drowned in technology, hobbies, and busyness.

I make the adjustments needed and then look for the “end” of the trial.  

2. You can REST on His Word.

Think of God’s promise as a seat, a hammock, and a resting place.

Trust in the Lord.

He does not go by a watch or a calendar.  

His promise cannot fail. Rest in Him and rejoice that He is working behind the scenes to end this trial.

3. Job shows us that there is an “end.”

It got really bad for Job.  One terrible trial led to another.  His wife told him to curse God and his friends begged him to own up to sin.

He stood firm.  He praised God.  He trusted the Lord.  And then…it ended.  He got “twice as much” in the “end.”

People refer to the “beginning” of Job’s trial but not the “end!”

There will be an “end.”

4. Run all the way to the finish.

A runner can’t quit.  If he just keeps putting one foot in front of the other, he will finish.

He keeps his eyes on the finish line.  

Your mind will often tell you to stop or quit when you are having difficulty.

Keep patiently running.

Paul told us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author (Beginning) and the Finisher (Ending) of our faith” (Heb. 12: 2).

Jesus did not quit.  He shed His blood for the “joy set before Him.”

You are going to WIN.  Follow Jesus’ example of not quitting until He was the victor in the resurrection.

Remember this fact:  "The end of a thing is better than the beginning of a thing!”