Many times, after repenting we may begin to experience hardship- it seems as though hell falls down on us when we begin to follow the path of righteousness. We wonder why God allows us to receive such punishment for things we have received forgiveness from God. After we have mourned our sins and repented before God for our impurities from the past, we are forgiven for those things– we are never punished or made to pay for events in our lives that occurred prior to being saved from living in sin. The difficulties that God allows us to encounter are simply to raise us- to “grow us up” in the spirit.

Our trials help us to develop our character and allow us to create a closer relationship with God because they cause us to go through situations that make us need Him and teach us to trust in and lean on Him. Those trials are not to punish us, but rather are to help retrain our minds and spirits so that we do not think, feel, or react in the ways that we previously had before being saved. Our thoughts and doubts can weaken our faith and cause us to backslide, so God gives us circumstances that will teach us to trust Him and prove to us that He will always carry us. Our circumstances are not to punish us, but to deliver us from old habits that were acquired prior to accepting the Spirit of Christ in our lives.

Accepting Him in our hearts is the first step, but it takes practice and habit to embed the Holy Spirit in our minds and train our actions and thoughts to be motivated by the body of Christ instead of our flesh. So, appreciate your trials and learn from them– God will bless you abundantly for your service to the Kingdom of Heaven, but you cannot serve well without preparation. Embrace the struggles that train you.