Tribulations

My oldest son just got his driving permit; and so I’m in the mood to write about tribulations.

A couple days ago my wife was out “practice driving” with him. From the passenger seat, she was giving instructions; “You going to turn right here…”; “You’re going to need to get in left lane soon,” etc.

Then she wanted to have him practice parking. They pulled into a parking lot and spied a relatively safe parking space. As they pulled into the spot, she gasped, “You're going to drive over a planter!” Taking that as instructions, he said, “Sweet!” … and proceeded to plow right over the edge of the planter. This, of course, gives us great confidence.

But the more I thought about my son’s response, the more I liked it. When it comes to life it's a great analogy. God has warned us there are going to be some bumps along the way. But He has also given us many reasons to say, “Sweet!”

When it comes to tribulations (bumps big and small), one of the reasons we can be encouraged is because God has promised to seal us through them. This is modeled for us in the Great Tribulation of the last days. There, Heaven gives these instructions: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." Revelation 7:3.

God always does this with His people. He seals us. While it is true we are not immune from tribulation, nevertheless God walks with us through trouble and protects from judgment. We may experience the wrath of humans, but we will be sealed and protected from the wrath of God. This gives us great confidence in the things that matter most.

Sweet!