What the Bible says about tribulations
Illness, loss, financial crises, persecution, family conflict, injustice. Sooner or later every person goes through tribulations. Some believers are surprised and wonder whether they have done something wrong or whether God has abandoned them, because they expected faith to spare them every problem. Yet the Bible never promised a life without difficulties. What it promises is something deeper: God’s presence in the midst of the trial, a purpose in pain and a final victory. In this article we will look at what the word tribulation means, why God allows trials, what they produce in us, how the men and women of the Bible went through them and how we can go through them today in faith.
What is a tribulation?
The word “tribulation” comes from the Latin tribulum, a wooden threshing board set with stones or sharp points, used to separate grain from chaff. In the New Testament the Greek term is thlipsis, meaning pressure, distress, anguish, like that of grapes in the winepress. The image is eloquent: tribulation is a pressure that hurts, but in God’s hands it can separate what is precious from what is not.
Jesus warned us
Jesus never deceived his disciples with promises of a comfortable life. On the night before he died he told them plainly:
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
The two halves of the sentence are inseparable: “ye shall have tribulation” and “I have overcome the world”. Tribulation is real, but it does not have the last word. The apostles understood this; Paul and Barnabas encouraged the new churches by saying: “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). And the psalmist already knew it: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
Why God allows tribulations
We cannot always know why we are going through a particular trial. Job never received a full explanation. But the Bible shows us some purposes God can fulfil through them. Purifying faith: Peter compares tested faith to gold refined in the fire (1 Peter 1:6-7). Shaping character: trials produce patience and maturity. Drawing us to God: it is often in need that we seek him most. Read Where was God when this happened to me?. Preparing us to comfort others: those who have suffered can better walk with those who suffer. Bearing witness: a faith that holds firm in difficulty speaks powerfully to those who see it.
Tribulation produces patience
One of the most quoted texts on this subject is in the letter to the Romans:
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Romans 5:3-5
Paul does not say we glory because we like suffering, but because of what God does through it: tribulation, patience, experience, hope. And that hope does not disappoint, because it is upheld by the love of God poured into our hearts. James says something similar: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4).
In the furnace, they were not alone
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. They were thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. Before going in they told the king: “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace… But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods” (Daniel 3:17-18). They trusted God whether he delivered them or not. When the king looked into the furnace, he was astonished: “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25). God does not always deliver us from the furnace, but he always walks into it with us. He promised it through Isaiah:
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
Isaiah 43:2
Read the story of Daniel.
Paul: troubled, but not distressed
Few knew tribulation as the apostle Paul did. He was flogged, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked three times, and suffered hunger, cold and dangers of every kind (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). Yet he wrote:
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
And a few verses later he explains his secret: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Paul did not minimise his suffering, but he compared it with eternity. Read Paul’s thorn.
Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ
In the middle of a list of tribulations, Paul asks one of the most beautiful questions in the Bible: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” And he answers: “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:35, 37). He does not say we avoid these things, but that in the midst of them we are more than conquerors. Read God, never let me go.
The persecuted Church today
For many Christians around the world, tribulation is not a metaphor. In various countries believers are discriminated against, imprisoned or killed for their faith. Their witness reminds us of Jesus’ words: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Praying for the persecuted Church and supporting the organisations that serve it is a concrete way of bearing one another’s burdens. Read Churches worldwide.
And the “great tribulation”?
The Bible also speaks of a time of great tribulation before Christ’s return (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:14). Christians interpret these texts in different ways: some understand them as a specific future period, others see a partial fulfilment in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 or in the persecutions throughout Church history. Beyond the differences, all agree on what is essential: Christ will return, God cares for his own in every circumstance and history will end in his victory. Revelation describes those who “came out of great tribulation” clothed in white before the throne, and adds: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelation 7:14-17).
How to go through tribulation in faith
Pray honestly: tell God what you feel; the Psalms are full of sincere laments. Read Prayer in times of deep despair. Hold on to his promises: write down and repeat verses such as Isaiah 43:2 or Romans 8:28. Don’t isolate yourself: reach out to your church, your family, friends in the faith; let them walk with you. Live one day at a time: “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34). Give thanks for what you still have: gratitude lights up the darkness. Seek practical and professional help when you need it: medical, financial, legal or psychological. If the anguish is extreme or you are thinking of harming yourself, call 123 in Colombia or your country’s emergency number. Look beyond: the trial is temporary; the glory is eternal.
Comforted to comfort
Paul wrote that God “comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Your tribulation today can become someone else’s comfort tomorrow. Nothing you live through with God is wasted.
Joseph’s story illustrates it well: sold by his brothers and unjustly imprisoned, years later he could say: “ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20). What at the time looked like nothing but pain became salvation for many.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you did not deceive me: you said that in the world I would have tribulation. But I did not think it would hurt this much. I am in the middle of the fire and cannot see the way out. I wonder how much longer it will last and whether I will hold out. I do not want a faith that only praises you when all is well; but I confess that today my faith is small. You went into the furnace with those three young men: come into mine with me. I do not ask first that you take me out; I ask that you do not leave me alone inside. Come, Holy Spirit, and be my breath when I run out of air. Let this pain not make me bitter: let it make me more compassionate, more yours. Pour your love into my heart, so that hope does not put me to shame. Remind me that you have overcome the world and that nothing, not even this, can separate me from you. And one day, when I come out, use my scars to comfort someone else. I trust you. Amen.