After having spent time in the Word of God and in prayer concerning the topic of trials and afflictions, I believe and interpret from the scriptures the following:

For the short season we occupy this earth, starting with the first seconds after the acceptance of salvation until the hour we are reunited with our Heavenly Father, the course in between will bring with it much affliction and the continued grief caused by the ever-increasing sensitivity to sin.

Only after someone embraces salvation allowing the Holy Spirit within to reveal the destructive effect of sin upon the soul of man can the dread of its consequences be felt. Only then, based on the life changing alterations directly associated with the conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning sin, can one begin to understand persecution associated with faith, and lastly, only when the Holy Spirit dwells within can the individual begin to understand what it means, and feels like, to grieve the Holy Spirit as a direct result of sin not rejected even after truth has been shown on the sin being embraced.

The thought of being free from sin, and of the temptations presented in this world, for all eternity, once being reunited with the Heavenly Father, should cause the Christian to desire and anticipate with increased fervor the arrival of such a glorious day, driving the Christian to strive daily for righteousness and a stronger more intimate walk with God.

Each step with God brings the Christian to a place of deeper grieving towards sin. This grieving is of the Holy Spirit and is the force behind continued rejection of sin and the eventual strength to overcome recurring sin.

These different continued temptations and encounters with sin are a form of trial, more in a spiritual sense than in a physical, but what is encountered and overcome in the spirit has a direct affect on the physical. Only the joy found in Jesus Christ, and the knowledge of things He has in store for the faithful Christian, offsets the heaviness found in the afflictions and trials suffered.

The Christian must keep in mind that the trial and suffering is only for a moment in relation to eternity, a single grain of sand in the greatest desert or the smallest atom when compared to the infinite reaches of space.

The suffering of each difficult trial works for us to an exceeding and eternal weight of glory, working always for the good of those that allow the Lord to be their guide. The Christian must always keep close the understanding to not look unto the things that are seen, but unto the things which are unseen. That which is stored for the faithful believer in the Kingdom of God, for the things of this world that are seen are only temporary while the unseen things of the Kingdom of God are eternal.

This knowledge should help keep joy in the heart and spirit of the believer as trials are endured, counting it a joy when we fall into various trials, knowing that the trial of our faith works patience.

In the eyes of man these negative experiences should be viewed differently through the eyes of the believer, being instead accepted with joy an the reassurance that the Heavenly Father will use these trails as a positive work, refining us, and producing spiritual maturity.

Spiritual maturity comes through recognizing and then the rejection of the temptation presented or comes after the believer falls into the snare the enemy as left, becoming aware to the sin (grieving the Holy Spirit) and seeking God through repentance and desiring the strength and discernment to see and reject the temptation when it is presented again.

A Christian will fall all though-out the walk of righteousness, continually corrected by the Spirit of God, and only with the edification of the Holy Spirit is the believer capable of perceiving the trail or affliction as an opportunity for positive faith and spiritual growth.

The Christian's victorious over trials come ether by standing strong or by the grace of God to get back up after we have fallen in battle. When the believer allows the Lord to use the trial for good and after His approving can victory be claimed.

Though victories come, the believer must never forget, upon their salvation the greatest victory has already been won, the victory over death, won by our Lord and Savior, our Champion Jesus Christ.

God Bless, daniel

Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.

Acts 20:32 ... and now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.

Colossians 3:24 ...whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ.

1 Peter 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.

2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.