[Christian] Perseverance Through Trials

Christian Perseverance

When signs of troubled waters surfaced in early ’24, I confessed to our small group “the only way out of the furnace, was through the fire” as awful as it sounded. But what I didn’t realize in the moment is that I’d still be walking through the fire two-and-a-half years later. Each season, feeling harder pressed than the previous. So reading a book of sermons, Spurgeon on Perseverance Through Trials, over the next year felt like a natural thing to do. Yet–when God revealed perseverance as my 2026 Word of the Year, it [literally] hadn’t occurred to me the enormous significance of this purchase months earlier.

“Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).

While reading the very last sermon, God ministered to me and forever wrecked my soul for Him through Spurgeon’s words. “As surely as the stars are fashioned by His hands, so surely are our trials weighed in scales. He has predestined their season.”

My hard season isn’t a surprise to God (and neither is yours). God ordained it for my (and your) good. I only need “to be still, and know that He is God.” I will not slip through his fingers until His promises are fulfilled. And though I may fail, His love endures. His good purpose will prevail.

Trials are Necessary

The ability to actually feel our trials is the essence of Christian perseverance. God intends for us to feel our trials, because feeling is necessary for our sanctification. Without feeling, our trials won’t produce the fruit of spiritual transformation that God intends. As Christ-followers, we tend to feel our trials more than others. Because more often-than-not, we can trace our trials and tribulations back to God. Also, we enjoy the comfort of knowing that our trials work for our good. And ultimately draw us nearer to Him.

God often calls out to us, and yet we do not come. We delay. We forget. Or worse, we refuse. The day my mother passed from this earth, God called me to love, perfectly. And I refused. I was too angry with those around me. To this day, I remember exactly where I was when the realization hit me, I would need to learn the lesson of loving in the hard places. And it would be costly. Yet, I longed for it. I longed to be perfected in His love. And “though He may slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (Job 13:15).

The presence of struggle, pain, opposition, or suffering reminds us to rely on the One who is the Perfecter of our faith. We should never expect to escape troubles in this life. Matter of factly, Jesus said “in this world you will have trouble.” Rather than clinging to dust, we are to place our trust in Him. He is worthy of our fullest confidence. And Hope does not put us to shame, friend.

“I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against The Rock of Ages.” – Charles Spurgeon

Perseverance isn’t just our ability to endure a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. God uses trials not only to draw us closer to Him, but also for our spiritual formation. Our suffering is never wasted, friend. 

“Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Trials Transform Us

God often withholds His righteous hand or smites His beloved, whenever and wherever we are most likely to be affected. Why? Because trials have a way of revealing what we are truly made of; exposing our sins and faulty thinking. But also trials teach us that we are capable of being affected by God’s grace and transformed into Christ’s image.

The refiners fire produces Spirit-led, fruit bearing lives. I’ve often prided myself that when given the chance, I could walk through the furnace with Jesus and the three men. But when faced with the trials of pain, suffering, struggle, and offense, I fall short of the rose-colored lens through which I view my own faith walk. I am weak and complain, when I should boast of Christ. I blame God for my circumstances, instead of trusting Him to use them for my good. 

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1-5).

Through the trials of life, God deepens our faith strengthening us for battle. But He also places His loving hands underneath me.

“When God places a burden upon you, He places His hands underneath you.” – Charles Spurgeon

God invites us to share in Christ’s suffering with the promise that not only will He use it for our good, but that our hope in Him will not put us to shame. And because we know the fiery furnace produces in us fruitful, Spirit-led lives, we boast in the hope of the glory of God. The victory is already ours in the battle of earthly strife–and Love wins!

Trials are [all] Smoke and Not Fire

“How bright we are when everything is right with us, but how black we are when a little suffering comes upon us.” – Charles Spurgeon 

You may feel as if the Lord has forgotten you, even forsaken you, in the midst of your pain and suffering. But the one who counts the stars and calls them by name will never leave you. Our trials are merely smoke, and not fire, friend. The smoke of trials reveals the condition of our hearts. But because of God’s great love our trials don’t consume us. 

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 5:35-37).

We are not promised a life free from trouble. Instead, we are promised the Lord’s presence as we persevere through the fiery trials of life. Nothing can separate us from His love. Not trouble, nor hardship, nor persecution, or famine, nakedness, danger, or sword. 

Yet, we know that all who hope in the Lord will be called to endure the testing of their faith. How will you answer the call? For David, He uttered “For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I do not forget your statutes” (Psalm 119:83) 

Our light and temporary afflictions work in us an eternal weight of glory; our Christlikeness. All who hope in the Lord must take up the cross of suffering–and follow Him.

Trials Can Drive Us Away from God

Trials, if we’re not careful, have the capacity to drive us far away from God. And disconnect us from the life-giving source that is Jesus Christ. But no weapon formed against us—including the fiery furnace of trials—will prosper, if we remain connected to the one, true vine. 

Trials are an inevitable part of every believer’s life. We cannot escape trouble in this world. But God promises that perseverance through trials will produce fruit in us such as peace, joy, self-control, and love. When the trials of life threaten to dismantle your faith, friend, remember “God is too good to be unkind. And too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” – Spurgeon

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Final Thoughts on Perseverance through Trials

Christian perseverance manifests itself through “a holy determination” to throw off the sin that so easily entangles us and run the race He marked out for us. Through the storms of life, God teaches us to trust Him in deeper ways No one can snatch us from His righteous hand. And His promises still hold true, today, friend.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you… no one can deliver you out of my hand” (Isaiah 43:13).

Does life’s storms have you dipping your toes into the sea, like the Israelites, beseeching you to trust God with your life? If so, I’d love to pray for you.

Lord, how deep must I wade before you part the seas? Ankle deep? Chin-level deep? Only you, God, know the sea-level of trust and obedience you are growing in me. If the testing of my faith is measured by the gravity of my assignment, then I pray that I am not lacking in the “maturity” or “completeness” that James speaks of [in his letter]. Help me to trust you, deeper still, remembering nothing can separate me from your love. 💕