"Through many tribulations."

What if this difficult time is something you really have to go through?

I’m sitting in Rochester, Minnesota, once again as my wife prepares for another two-week stint at the Mayo Clinic. As I did my prayer and journaling time this morning, I got clear direction to just read. So that’s what I did, and the verses that stood out to me may also be important for you.

I’ve been slowly working my way through the book of Acts. Why? I don’t know. I just felt like I needed to. This morning, I read Acts 14 and I was struck by several things. Most importantly, though, was the fact that Paul — a titan of the faith — was stoned.

I knew in the back of my mind that Paul was stoned at some point, but I didn’t know the exact details. In Acts 14, we get them. But here’s the interesting part: we get them, but we don’t. There really aren’t many details. And that’s part of what struck me. It’s almost like Paul being stoned and nearly dying is a footnote. It’s an, “Oh, by the way.” Take a look at how it’s described:

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

He was stoned so badly that those stoning him thought he was dead. You got to imagine that means they delivered a pretty thorough murder attempt, right? You don’t just walk away from someone you’ve stoned if you think they’re still alive.

Here’s what’s interesting to me about that, though: There are other instances in Paul’s story where God saves him from harm. Acts 9:23-25, for example, describes a time when Paul was lowered in a basket in secret to escape Jews who were trying to kill him.

In other words, sometimes God saves us from the stoning, and sometimes he allows us to go through it. He decides. Whatever is for our good and his glory. It is hard to us to fully wrap our heads around the fact that pain and evil and whatever else can be used for our good and his glory, but it can. It does. It will be.

That makes the second realization from Acts 14 hit even harder. In verses 21-22 we get an assault on the idea that God only wants what we think is good for us. That’s the prosperity gospel, the teaching that says God wants us only to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. It’s just not true. Here are those verses:

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Friend, we are guaranteed to go “through many tribulations.” In fact, we “must” go through them to enter the Kingdom of God. Must! That’s a pretty strong word.

As I sit here at Mayo Clinic I’m reminded of that. As I take this week to focus on writing out my story of addiction, I’m reminded of that. As I read

Christina Lynn Wallace

’s struggle with her dog even, I’m reminded of that. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I know you either have gone through something, you are going through something, or you will go through something. Because you have to. You “must.”

Our trials and tribulations, as C.S. Lewis talked about, are the megaphone that wakes us up to who God is, what he’s about, and they draw us to him. I wish it wasn’t so. But it is. And as I’ve accepted that, I’ve learned that Jesus is wooing me to himself through my weaknesses. And it’s in that wooing that I find strength.

I know it may seem counterintuitive, but this week I want you to thank him for the difficulties in your life. I want you to ask him to reveal how he’s using them for your good and his glory. Because he is.

And guess what: What may seem like such a big deal right now, may end up being just a footnote in a much larger story. Just ask Paul.

(Pic: Outside the Mayo Clinic, street signs are covered in visitor badges. What a stirring reminder of people that are going through trials and tribulations.)