A Fresh Look at Tribulation, Perseverance,

and Eternal Reward

by Matthew Chapman

 

 

  This article is probably not about what you think it is. Most of us tend to have an exclusively apocalyptic connotation of the word "tribulation," associating it with end times events and what is commonly referred to as "the great tribulation." Obviously, such considerations are quite valid. Anyone with basic discernment can see that such a time as this is coming together on the horizon in the not too distant future. We'll likely even touch on this aspect of tribulation before the end of this article. But what I want to primarily focus on is tribulation of the non-apocalyptic variety-the kind that finds its way into our lives everyday-because how we relate to it is of eternal significance.

The scriptures teach us that the little "vapor" of time we Christians are allotted to live on the earth-from the moment we are born of the Spirit of God until our departure from this life-is like a race (James 4:14, 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Phil. 3:10-17, 2 Tim. 4:7-8; Gal. 2:2, 5:7; et al.). Whether we know it or not, all of us who are in Jesus are running this race, and a major part of it is dealing with tribulation. We are exhorted to "run in such a way that we may win" (1 Cor. 9:24), and this is hopefully our aim, for the exhortation itself denotes the possibility of our choosing to run poorly, in such a way so as to lose. "Okay, but what 'tribulation'?" you might ask.

The Greek word for tribulation is thlipsis, which means great misery, distress, or suffering as from oppression, affliction, or trial. It is used 45 times in the New Testament, and is translated into English a number of different ways throughout the scriptures: tribulation, affliction, distress, anguish, persecution, and trouble. The noun thlipsis is derived from the verb thlibo, which means to press hard, crush, or afflict.

Now here is where it gets really interesting. Some of these thlipsis scriptures show us settings in which we would expect to find "tribulation," but others reveal places that may surprise and even shock you. In other words, the scriptures account certain trials in life to be in "the tribulation category" that we would tend to put into a different category because to call them "tribulation" sounds too extreme. Yet we need to be discerning and see things as God sees them. If He calls them tribulation, then we need to also. This will help us rightly relate to the hardship at hand and "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects" as we seek to endure and overcome and "make ourselves ready" for the coming Bridegroom (Col. 1:9-12, Rev. 19:6-10). So let's look at a sampling of these contexts through which tribulation comes and consider them with respect to running our race in God.

 

Hearing the Lord

One place we frequently experience tribulation is immediately after the Lord has spoken to our heart or revealed His will to us.

Aside from other truths we could glean, this passage, taken from Jesus' parable about the sower, the seed, and the soils, explicitly shows us this reality. Whenever we hear "the word of the kingdom"-be it the gospel for our initial salvation or any of the many things the Lord speaks to us concerning our subsequent life in Him-tribulation very often comes upon our lives "because of the word" He has sown in our heart (Matt. 13:18-21, Luke 8:11-13). We see this over and over again throughout the scriptures. The Lord would declare or promise something to His people, and then all sorts of trouble, temptation (Luke 8:13), and hardship would come about that seemingly negated the very thing they heard Him say. Of course it ultimately didn't, and yet we see examples of both those who fell away because of the tribulation over the word and those who persevered and saw/bore the fruit of the word. The testimony is consistent-the only way to overcome in this (or any other) type of tribulation is to not allow the trial(s) to move you off of faith in the Lord and His word (1 John 5:4).

One of the greatest examples of this can be seen in the life of our Example, the Lord Jesus. We know that "although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He laid aside His privileges and emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:5-11). In other words, He laid aside the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence He had always known in the Godhead, was born into a human body, took on the limitations of a man, and lived completely by faith in His Father. As soon as Jesus came up out of the water after John had baptized Him, the Father spoke from heaven saying, "You are My beloved Son in Whom I am well-pleased" (Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22). Jesus heard His word and humbly received this affirmation by faith, trusting the word of His Father.

Interestingly, immediately after this, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness, where He fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the devil. And when Satan came to Him, what was the very matter over which he tempted Him? The word He had just received from the Father at His baptism: "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down [from the pinnacle of the temple]" (Matt. 4:1-11). The enemy relentlessly sought to shake the human side of God's Son by trying to get Him to doubt the Father's word about who He is. The means Satan employed to try and accomplish this was through repeated attempts to entice Jesus to prove who He is. Satan knew that if he could just get Jesus to act defensively, out of insecurity (fear), that he would succeed in blemishing the Lamb of God, for "whatever is not from faith is sin," but he did not succeed (John 13:3, Rom. 14:23).

At this point we read, "And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13). And when was that "opportune time"? I'm sure there must have been other such times that we do not know about, but the scriptures specifically reveal at least one more time the devil came to Him. It was when Jesus was at His very weakest. And once again, Satan came tempting Jesus to doubt the Father's word about who He is, but this time the enemy came speaking through flesh and blood, through a number of the very people He came to redeem:

Can you imagine what Jesus must have been going through? Aside from the excruciating physical pain of the crucifixion, the Father, at this point in time, had "caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him" and "made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf" (Is. 53:4-6, 2 Cor. 5:21). And because of this, for the first time in His existence, Jesus was experiencing separation from the Father, for He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" It was in the midst of this incomprehensible suffering that the devil saw his "opportune time" and came railing against Him once again with enticements to doubt who the Father said He is and question if the Father even took pleasure in Him anymore. How completely sinister and mercilessly cruel this was, but that is how Satan plays. Yet praise God, we know the rest of the story! Jesus emerged victorious over all of these afflictions and temptations, for "the ruler of the world came, and he had nothing in Him" (John 14:30). This is why Jesus says to us, "In the world you have tribulation (thlipsis), but take courage; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

How many times do we hear the Lord speak to our heart or lead us to do something, and we know it is Him and rejoice over the word He had spoken, and then it's as if we get blasted with trouble and trials from every direction? The very area He spoke to us about seems to fall apart. Sickness or physical ailments strike. Financial or logistical impossibilities seem to pop up all around us. The relatives think we're crazy or irresponsible to do this thing. People in the world ridicule and persecute. Human government becomes an obstacle. Even other Christians just don't seem to understand. Whatever way the tribulation comes down, it is real and it is difficult and it is painful, and it tests the very word that has been sown in our heart by the Lord. But we can look to Jesus in faith, and receive His grace and endure.

Remember those temptations He went through that we just read about-"afflictions because of the word" He had received from the Father? It is important to recognize that these really were temptations, not just some meaningless formality He effortlessly walked through on His way back to being seated at the Father's right hand. The scriptures wouldn't call them temptations unless they really were temptations. I point this out in order to underline that He truly is...

This should bring us great comfort. He understands the tribulation (thlipsis) that comes upon us after hearing "the word of the kingdom" and will walk with us through it, and He will also bring about the fulfillment of His word in due time.

 

Other Christians

As tragic and unbecoming as it is, tribulation can also come through our brothers and sisters in the Lord. For whatever reason, instead of walking according to the Spirit and bearing the fruit of the Spirit and the fragrance of Christ, they choose to walk according to the flesh and act in ways that are hurtful and even mean-spirited. We expect such things from the world, but our brethren?! The pain is almost unbearable.

Paul knew such distress of soul. While in prison, at a time when he needed the love and support of the saints the most, there were some who were actually going out of their way to cause him trouble-and they were brothers who were fellow-workers in proclaiming Christ!

We do not know the exact circumstances, but we do know these brothers were "preaching Christ" from "envy, strife, and selfish ambition." Now think about this. These men wanted something Paul had that they didn't (envy), and because of this they were contending against him (strife), and it was all because they wanted to elevate themselves in some way for personal gain (selfish ambition), and they were "preaching Christ" to accomplish this! Incredible! But it happens-all the time.

I think these men probably envied the deep respect and high regard bestowed upon Paul from most of the churches. He was an apostle with few equals in revelation, in understanding, in humility, in power, in ability to suffer for Jesus' sake, etc. These men had genuine callings upon their lives too and they wanted a little recognition and respect. Paul's imprisonment allowed them to function more noticeably and they took advantage of the situation. Amazingly, they even did this in such a way as "to cause" Paul "distress" (thlipsis-tribulation) in his imprisonment. But rather than returning evil for evil, Paul allowed this hurtful and distressing situation to be a place for the Lord. He drew upon the grace of God and was able to go on to be of such faith about the matter that he could say, "In every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice" (Phil. 1:18).

I can think of few things as ugly as what these men did to Paul in the Name of Jesus, but like I said, it unfortunately happens all the time, and not just among men who compete with one another for preeminence in ministry (cf. 3 John 9-11). There are all sorts of ways tribulation comes to our lives from other Christians. Think about the time you humbly and lovingly approached a brother or sister to speak truth to an area of their life where they were off in order to help them in their race, and they reacted in defensiveness and turned the whole thing back around on you and attacked you for "attacking" them. What about the times when Christians work for you and they are dishonest, lazy, resistant to instruction, and demanding of better/quicker pay? How about brethren spreading gossip about you, whether it is things that are true but you wanted kept confidential or things that are not true which they never bothered to ask you about before they started spreading it around as fact? Then there are those times that certain Christians or religious groups have either used you or sacrificed you for their own selfish gain. And then there is the ugliness of division in the body of Christ. Pain surely can come from our brethren, can't it?

I remember one time a brother came up to me and said, "Matthew, I really want to apologize to you for having a root of bitterness toward you. I really respect you in the Lord but I have also been jealous of you, which led to me begin judging you. In time I despised you. I hated you. I felt anger and rage every time I saw you and wanted to do things to hurt you. But then the Lord showed me that it was all my own problem, so I repented and now I wanted to come and make things right with you. So, will you forgive me?" I had no idea about his struggle, so this took me totally by surprise. I felt harpooned by the intensity of how he described the venom of his recent feelings toward me. So I'm sure I looked a bit dumbfounded when I said, "Sure, brother, I forgive you." His countenance beamed. "Oh great, thank you!" he said as he skipped off on his way.

Well, I was sure glad he felt better, but where do you think that encounter left me? With thlipsis of course! I had been doing just great and full of the Holy Spirit that evening, but after that I was on fire. All I could think about was what all he had said to me. Even though he admitted it was his deal, I nevertheless found myself reviewing our recent past in my mind trying to locate anything that I could have possibly done to offend him. Then I found myself getting upset with him for being so insensitive as to think he needed to tell me all that stuff when he knew that I didn't know anything about it. But the Lord really helped me as I called out to Him. I quickly forgave this brother, and after a few days of suffering through the hardship of denying my flesh's desire to analyze the whole thing all over again and take back up an offense, it never even came up on "the radar screen" anymore.

Should this brother have told me those things? No. But even so, the Lord worked through these events to help me deepen my roots of faith in Him, increase my ability to deny my flesh in the midst of personal pain, and respond to my brother from the Spirit and love.

Marriage

Who naturally associates "tribulation" with getting married or the marriage that follows? Is that gasps of "Nobody!" I hear from the singles in response to this question, and snickering from over there in the married section? Yet here we find this very word used in the scriptures to describe what we "will have" in marriage:

In chapter seven of First Corinthians, Paul went to great lengths to thoroughly communicate the Lord's "commands" to the church concerning marriage as well as his own perspective on some aspects, which he ultimately felt was inspired by the Holy Spirit too (v. 40). He made it very clear that it is not a sin to marry. Yet he also wanted those saints who go into marriage to know with certainty that being married will in fact bring tribulation upon their lives, division to their interests, and potential distraction to their devotion to the Lord (vv. 32-35).

Have we not found this to be true? Even we men who have good marriages in the Lord constantly go through the stress of having to "hate" our cherished wife in comparison to how we are called to express our love and devotion to the Lord Jesus (Luke 14:26). Obviously, this same Lord also commands us to love our wife just as He Himself loves His church and gave Himself up for her (Eph. 5:25), so what we're talking about here is not a cloak for selfishness or treating our wife harshly. Rather, it is that we live life as His disciples with our ultimate devotion being to Him and not to her.

Inevitably, by the Lord's own design, life has a way of presenting situations where what we need to do to please Him requires us to follow Him in ways that take precedence over pursuing concerns "about the things of the world and how we may please our wife" (1 Cor. 7:32-33). She may not [at first] understand or recognize the Spirit's leading of us, or she may not necessarily agree with the timing in which we believe we must act. Or perhaps there is something she or one of the children needs or something for the home, and we sense the Lord would have us wait on getting it. Or it could be that she thinks you are to do this, but, before the Lord, we believe we are to do that. All of these types of situations result in "trouble" (thlipsis) for godly men because we are resolved to be faithful to the Lord and yet we delight to do things that please our wife, and we have to risk tension in our marriage in order to be obedient and faithful to Him. Obviously, having a submissive rather than a contentious wife goes a long way to diffuse the "trouble," yet this still doesn't exempt us from occasional hardship.

In addition, even the most godly of men have their moments of not "living with their wife in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman" (1 Pet. 3:7). I have yet to meet a man who is not tempted with irritation or even outright anger when he senses his wife is fearful, which is the female vessel's propensity. And then there are those times of the month where the weaker vessel's hormones get going and the emotional "land mines" we men inadvertently step on. The feminine vessel's needs during times of pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing can be also difficult for us to fully appreciate or understand. The stress and difficulties caused by any/all of these things are accounted by the scriptures as "tribulation" through which we men must "run in such a way that we may win."

Yet there is plenty of thlipsis to go around! The wife has her whole side of it too. She has to learn to walk submissively to her beloved but very imperfect husband "in everything"-even if he is "disobedient to the word" (Eph. 5:22-24, 1 Pet. 3:1-6)! She is called to "see to it that she respect (revere, fear with honor) her husband" and follow him, even when he is not being the most respectable or she perceives things in a situation that he doesn't and would herself choose a different approach to the matter (Eph. 5:33, 1 Tim. 2:12). If this is not a tall order, then I do not know what is. I have also known not a few women who experienced great tribulation in holding their tongue in their endeavor to "win" their disobedient husband "without a word." Everything in them wanted to speak their mind, but they denied themselves, stayed out of the way, and allowed the Lord to deal with him without him getting distracted with resisting her many words (1 Pet. 3:1-6). Needless to say, women have their share of tribulation in marriage too.

So when we marry, we "will have trouble (thlipsis)." And when we add the blessing of children into the mix, we also increase the tribulation. Just trying to faithfully parent and do all the things that need to be done while abiding in the Spirit, seeking first the kingdom, and not getting choked to death with handling mammon and the cares of this life (on their behalf) is a monumental, though not impossible, task that involves significant hardship (Luke 14:26, John 15:4, Matt. 6:19-34, Mark 4:18-19, Luke 21:34-36, Gal. 5:16). And besides just the typical tribulation involved in a good marriage and family, if you add marital problems or children out of control, you "will have trouble (thlipsis)" that is almost (except by the grace of a redeeming God) unbearable. There are also those situations where neither the husband or the wife was saved at the time they married, but then later one of them gets born again and yet the other doesn't. We are right to hold marriage in high esteem and honor (Heb. 13:4), and yet, even so, we must embrace the tribulation (thlipsis) that comes with it.

 

Childbearing

Having children is a natural part of life, and yet going through pregnancy and especially labor is a form of tribulation the sisters among us must endure in the running of their race.

Being a man, there is not a lot I can say here, having obviously never experienced labor pains myself, but childbirth is indeed a form of tribulation all its own. When this article is originally published, the time will be nearing for my wife, Maranatha, to give birth to our sixth child. All of our births have been at home with the assistance of midwives, and so I have very personally witnessed the "anguish" (thlipsis) Maranatha has gone through to bring our children into the world, and will forever appreciate and cherish every moment of agony she had to go through in the process.

On a different plane from that of labor pain itself, I think there are some aspects of tribulation we men share with our wives or even bear alone. Seeing and hearing the bride we chose in that much pain, embracing the vulnerability that a million things could go wrong, and knowing that this is ultimately a life and death situation in which we have no control, is "anguish" we must bear while looking to the Lord in faith and being strong for her. There is the trial of going through those sleep-deprived weeks where you have to maintain your regular work load and yet cover the base for Mama in taking care of the children and the home until she is heals up and is able to function normally again. If she had birth injuries, this goes on for an even longer period of time. Praise the Lord for older children and the body of Christ! We men must also take responsibility before the Lord for all of the expenses involved. "Anguish" can also surround childbirth when there is the heartbreak of miscarriage (we have had two) or the death of a newborn.

I have touched on this particular area to once again highlight a situation in life that the scriptures designate as "tribulation" (thlipsis) and yet we often don't think of it in that category. Interestingly, there are many places in the scriptures where childbirth is used as an analogy for the tribulation that comes, and is coming, upon the world.

 

Being a widow or an orphan

Most of us have no problem saying that widows and orphans have a difficult set of circumstances to endure, but how often do we consider their plight to be "tribulation"? Yet the scriptures do.

When someone among us loses a spouse, we think of them as being widowed, and we know the death and the funeral are difficult emotional times. But we can many times forget that it is the life the bereaved spouse lives beyond the funeral that this passage in James is referring to. There is certainly a very real "distress" (thlipsis) that widowers go through, particularly in the loneliness that they feel because of the loss of their wife. Yet I cannot help but think the "distress" of widows is significantly greater.

God created women to be headed by a man, whether it is their father before marriage or their husband after marriage (1 Cor. 7:36 -38, 11:3). Can you imagine the "distress" a widow must feel when she is suddenly put in the position to make all sorts of decisions about life, family, and finances, and has to assume the responsibility to take care of and maintain things like the house, automobiles, and the like, when she has lived a lifetime of depending on and following her husband's lead concerning these things? Suddenly, his "covering" is gone and she feels alone, on her own, uncertain, not confident, and afraid. Even if there are godly men around her who help her with these things, it is still piecemeal compared to what she had before her husband's death. The burden is on her to seek them out-they are not "just there" like her husband had been-and she doesn't want to wear him/them out, so she only asks about the things that seem really important, and yet she needs help with the little things too. This is tribulation.

And what about the life-altering effects of children losing their parents, whether by death or abandonment? Children need the security of a home with both a father and a mother. When one parent is missing, the other cannot ever compensate for the vacancy. And if both parents are gone, it is as if the entire anchor of the child's soul has been yanked up, leaving the child adrift in a vast and turbulent ocean without any bearing.

This is why the Lord is so serious about this matter of our "visiting orphans and widows in their distress (thlipsis)." As members of the body of Christ, Jesus can draw near to them through us in a very real way and help them along through the difficult course they must run. This is a primary way He manifests Himself as "a father to the fatherless and a judge for the widows. and [One who] makes a home for the lonely" (Ps. 68:5-6).

 

Injustices and natural disasters

We all know that such events are tragic and very difficult, but because we do not readily see injustice and natural disasters as somehow related to our faith in Jesus, we tend to not think of them as "tribulation." Yet Stephen painted a different picture when he was speaking of Joseph in his proclamation before the Sanhedrin just before he was stoned to death:

We see both of these elements of tribulation in the life of Joseph. The injustices began when he was victimized by his own jealous brothers. They sold him into slavery in Egypt and convinced his father that a wild beast had killed and devoured him, and Joseph had no way of getting out of this situation that was unjustly forced upon him. In one day his whole life was changed by a single malicious act. Some time later, his Egyptian master's wife falsely accused him of unseemly acts when in actuality it was Joseph who had been steadfastly rejecting her attempts to seduce him. Yet based upon circumstantial evidence that she concocted, he was unjustly imprisoned for a long time. These were the injustices Joseph suffered, and the natural disaster he endured was obviously the severe seven-year famine that caused "great affliction (thlipsis)" throughout the whole region.

I think it is important to differentiate between these kinds of injustices that happen in the world and the injustices that come with being persecuted solely for your faith in Jesus (persecution). These are situations like being wrongly accused of a crime or misdemeanor, billed for taxes that you do not legitimately owe, billed for long distance calls or credit card purchases you didn't make, sued and found liable when you are innocent, fired from a job due to mistakes that others made or circumstances beyond your control, etc. I know many homeschoolers have been harassed by local and/or state authorities because they wrongly assume that homeschooling is illegal. Then there are the injustices of being the victim of car wrecks or work-related accidents that are not your fault, crime, random violence, and even terrorist attacks.

Natural disaster can come our way too. These incidents can also seem like an injustice when they hit because we had no choice or recourse in the matter. Fires, tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes, hail, ice storms, severe drought, avalanches, falling rocks or trees, mosquito infestations (re: West Nile virus, etc.), infectious diseases, and many other destructive events could be listed.

All these kinds of tribulations come upon Christians too. And like Joseph, we too are to trust the Lord when they happen and allow them to be a place for Him (Gen. 45:4-9). Do we "acknowledge the Lord in all our ways"? Do we give thanks to Him "in everything"? Do we really believe that the Lord "causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose"? (Prov. 3:5-8, 1 Thes. 5:16-18, Rom. 8:28) It is amazing how people can go through the same set of events and, depending on how they related to it in their hearts, some come out bitter and cynical while others come out with a deeper faith in God.

 

Persecution

Obviously there is tribulation that comes upon our lives simply because we belong to Jesus and follow Him. He Himself said, "In the world you have tribulation (thlipsis)" (John 16:33). He understands better than we do about the spiritual dynamics of life on earth. "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one," and the unsaved masses of this world and the disobedient sons [of God] all walk "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air" (1 John 5:19 , Eph. 2:1-3). We read of how Satan, the serpent of old, makes war with those "who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (Rev. 12). It should come as no surprise to us then that being born of the Spirit of God and set apart as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for God's own possession" and yet sojourning in such an evil world makes us targets for the kingdom of darkness (1 Pet. 2:9-12).

 

It is as if the salvation and life of God that we have come to possess by faith in Jesus is like a magnet for the hostility of sinful flesh (cf. Rom. 8:7). You can be minding your own business and some people will nevertheless single you out for a hard time just because they can tell you are a Christian. No doubt many of you reading this have your own stories of how you have been so treated. Feminists and lesbians often treat godly women rudely in the marketplace, their countenance hardening almost as soon as they see these ladies dressed "modestly and discreetly" and especially if they have a lot of [well-behaved] children in tow (1 Tim. 2:9-10). Then there are some of the witches and new agers at the health food store who look at you with hatred when you stop in to buy something there. Or there are people in the workplace who have it in for you because you do not participate in their joke telling, laziness, or after-work activities. You have never said or done anything to offend any of these people, but because they sense who you are and Who you belong to, they are hostile toward you.

Obviously, in some places it is much worse. I just received a private e-mail today about a faithful brother in China who was arrested just last night and is now in jail awaiting interrogation. The message requested prayer for this brother's family and especially that he would remain faithful over the next few days as he will likely be tortured for information to betray the other saints of the church where he lives. Many of our Chinese brothers and sisters in the underground churches are undergoing all sorts of tribulations. The saints in North Korea are experiencing some of the harshest and most cruel forms of persecution and torture on the earth today. Christians in Islamic countries face the constant threat of attack, imprisonment, torture, and death.

And it is not just the ones who are arrested who undergo tribulation. There are the spouses and children of those arrested who are left behind, stripped of property, deprived of the means to make income, and shunned by the society around them. There are also the churches whom those apprehended have served and been knitted together with, and what their arrest means to/for them. Will they give them away in order to spare themselves pain and suffering? Do they now need to find different times and places to gather together around the Lord? Do they need to flee to another area? Who can they trust? Though most of these saints bear this tribulation with unwavering faith in God, the stress and distress of the [constant] ordeal is certainly a hardship and a trial.

 

"The Great Tribulation"

How could we consider tribulation (thlipsis) without at least mentioning "the great tribulation"? We know from what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, as well as from many other scriptures in the Bible, that a time of tribulation is coming upon this world that will be like no other. What will make this time so unique and significant is that all these tribulations will be happening simultaneously and within a relatively short period of time: wars, rumors of more wars, ethnic strife, famines, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, plague diseases (pestilence), persecution of Christians, hostilities against Israel and the Jewish people, great hardness of heart and indifference among the peoples of the world, false prophets and false messiahs deceiving "many" through their false teachings, etc. In time, the antichrist, the man of lawlessness, "will be revealed" too (2 Thes. 2:1-15).

I see various situations in this world, as well as a number of political, economic, technological, and social trends coming together, that, I believe, are laying the groundwork for these very days that were prophesied about so long ago. And Jesus said, ".it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth" (Luke 21:35). Given His repeated warnings in this context to those who are called by His Name to be faithful, it is clear that this time of tribulation will come upon everyone in this world, both Christian and non-Christian alike.

There are those, I know, who scoff at such a declaration, and many more who are asleep and indifferent to the matter altogether, being merely focused on themselves and their own little world. Nevertheless, what Jesus said is true, and His word to those who belong to Him is to stay awake, keep on the alert, watch, and pray (Mark 13:33 -37, et al.). He made it clear that so living will be the only way to "have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:34 -36). Perhaps we can look at this more in-depth in a future article.

 

Why is persevering in faith through tribulation so important?

We have seen from the scriptures that tribulation comes upon our lives in many different forms, some of which we have probably never before even considered to be "tribulation." And it is crucial that we walk faithfully through every type of thlipsis that comes our way-whether it is persecution for being a follower of Jesus, or difficulty in marriage, or dealing with the effects of a natural disaster, or enduring hardship related to God's word and will for our lives. Regardless of the variety, it is incumbent upon us to walk by faith and abide in Jesus, and so allow the love of God, the fragrance of Christ, and the fruit of the Spirit to fill and emanate from our lives. Running our race in this way brings glory and honor to the Lord and allows us to "lay up treasure in heaven" (Matt. 6:19-21).

Even so, there is more to this than merely individual/personal eternal reward. Our faithfulness in tribulation advances the preparation of the bride for The Bridegroom:

Notice the linkage here between the bride of Christ's readiness for the marriage and her radiating "the glory of God." How did she obtain this glory?

How we choose to respond to tribulation carries eternal ramifications. Paul, the apostle, declared that we are "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, IF INDEED WE SUFFER WITH HIM" and thus "do [our] share [of suffering] on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions (thlipsis)" (Col. 1:24). And suffering with Him has both purpose and reward: the bride is "made ready" for Jesus and we are "glorified with Him" (Rom. 8:16-17).

Remember "the wife of the Lamb" whom John described coming out of heaven from God? What did she radiate? "The glory of God" (Rev. 21:10-11)! And talk about "treasure laid up in heaven." John spends the balance of Revelation 21 describing the bride further, in terms of "gold, silver, and precious stones." This treasure, deposited into New Jerusalem by faithful, persevering saints from throughout the ages, is something of eternal value and worth, something which will never decay or be taken away. It will stand glorious forever-and to think that it all came through the faithfulness of the Lord's people in mere moments of time who chose the Spirit over the flesh, love over self-protection, faith over losing heart, obedience over relief from pain, etc.

All of us want to overcome and receive this glorious inheritance. To do so is the birthright of every child of God (1 Pet. 1:3-9, cf. Heb. 12:14-29). And yet we often pass over these very scriptures without taking to heart their specific wording regarding our part in becoming an "heir" (i.e., one who inherits). We can be "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, IF indeed we suffer with Him." The glories of New Jerusalem are granted "to him who overcomes" (Rom. 8:16-18; see also Rev. 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26-29, 3:2-6, 3:11-13, 3:21-22, 21:1-7, 22:1-6). Suffering with Him and overcoming in this life doesn't happen by accident. It requires a steadfast diligence on our part to abide in Jesus, draw upon His abundant grace, and "fight the good fight of faith" (John 15:1-6, 1 Tim. 6:12).

Notice that it is the thlipsis-the affliction, the tribulation-that is producing this "eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." And yet it can only produce it "while" we are doing something: "while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." What is faith? "Faith IS. the substance of things NOT SEEN" (Heb. 11:1). In other words, if we keep our eyes fixed on the "substance" of God and His kingdom-an eternal reality which human eyes cannot see-and do this in and through the midst of tribulation, "an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison" is produced. This is the very essence of fighting "the good fight of faith."

When tribulation comes, rather than getting derailed by the pain, the injustice, or the severity of it, we can do something else. We can steadfastly "look" at Jesus-our Source, our King, our Defender, and our Beloved-with the eyes of faith in our heart. We can continue "seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" and "setting our mind on the things above, not on the things (like thlipsis) that are on earth" (Col. 3:1-4). We can stay centered on Him rather than moving off base and getting stuck in fear, bitterness, complaining, seeking revenge, depression, and the like. We can "seek first the kingdom of God." And "while we look" at these unseen and eternal things in Jesus (i.e., walk by faith and not by sight, 2 Cor. 5:7), the "eternal weight of glory is produced." It's just that simple.

So the next time you and/or some of the saints you are being knitted together with suffer because you are followers of Jesus, or "have trouble" in marriage, or are wounded by the selfish and malicious acts of another Christian, or are loving on a widow or an orphan, or going through childbirth, or are suffering injustice, or affliction is coming upon you because of the word of the Lord you have received-remember this exhortation. Make the most of your tribulation (thlipsis)! Allow it to be a place for the Lord. Invite Him to fill it. Keep looking at Him and His kingdom. Draw upon His abundant supply of grace. And never doubt His nearness and love. In so doing, we will run our race in such a way that we may win, and will finish our course well.

 

                          

Author's note: For whatever it's worth, I thought you might find it interesting to know that quite a bit of thlipsis has come upon my own life, and the life of my family, in the time since I began writing this article until its completion (late summer 2002 through 1-31-03). In fact, it would not have taken me this inordinate amount of time to finish this article had it not been for the difficulties and tribulation of these past few months-the sickness of my elderly mother and the many trips to visit and help care for her; my eldest daughter's six-week long bout with what was apparently viral meningitis; difficult financial trials; my wife, Maranatha, being down and barely able to function for eight weeks with debilitating "morning" (read: 24/7) sickness in her pregnancy with our sixth child; a horrific virus that afflicted our entire family for over two weeks at the beginning of this year, and which even led to the hospitalization of my youngest son; and a painful pinched nerve in my lower back that has, in recent days, hindered my ability to work. We have always been a healthy crew and have never known so many physical ailments at one time.

Clearly I needed to be tested further in "practicing what I preach" before I published this article to encourage you (James 3:1). I did not walk through every moment perfectly, yet the Lord's grace and life and peace has been abundant through it all, and I ran well overall, enough so that I can say with Paul:

 

 

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