Let the Will of the Lord Be Done

Acts 21 and the Journey Toward Jerusalem

And we're going to now open on the Word of God together. So if you want to open your Bibles to the 21st chapter of the book of Acts, the title of today's message is Let the Will of the Lord Be Done. Let the Will of the Lord Be Done.

And our scripture reading comes from the 21st chapter. Now my goal today, and I know it's a lofty one, my goal is to go through the whole chapter, but we're going to focus on verses 10 -14. So we're going to hone in on five verses, but we've been doing this extended study of Acts, and I want us to start to draw to a close, because what we're going to see in the last few chapters of the book of Acts is Paul's journey from Jerusalem to Rome, and all of the events that took him from Jerusalem to Rome.

And we know that he ends in Rome having not yet reached his final goal, which of course is to preach the gospel before Caesar, but he does have all of these events that happened before that. And we're going to be looking at them somewhat in snapshot form in the weeks to come.

We're just sort of going to go through in broad scopes and look at what's happening, and hone in on a few particular points as we go to make our way toward the end of the book. But in the 21st chapter of the book of Acts, we now come again to what is the end of Paul's third missionary journey, and the finality of all of the missionary work that he has done so far as he is being moved now into a state of being under arrest.

We have seen so far in Acts that it began all the way back in chapter 1 with Jesus telling His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And the book of Acts, if you wanted to say what's the thesis or the theme of the book of Acts, that one verse, Acts chapter 1 verse 8, when Jesus looks at His disciples, He says, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem.

And the first few chapters is that Jerusalem ministry. And then persecution comes and they're scattered out into Judea. And so because of persecution, the church spreads. It doesn't die. It spreads out into Judea.

And persecution continues and it spreads up into Samaria. And then persecution continues and it spreads up further into Syria. And then we come, there is Antioch, that church which sends out the missionaries, Paul and Barnabas, and they go up into Asia Minor in that first missionary journey.

And they go up through the region of Galatia and all of those areas to bring the gospel. And then Paul comes back and they send him again. And he goes out into Macedonia and he plants churches in Philippi and in Corinth.

And then he comes back to Asia Minor and he plants a church in Ephesus. And then he goes back to Antioch and they send him out a third time. And he goes out a third time. And this time he goes out and takes a collection for the church of Jerusalem, which is still under persecution.

All of these things have been happening and there's still persecution happening in Jerusalem. So Paul takes a collection from these churches and he brings it back to Jerusalem. And that's where we find ourselves at the beginning of chapter 21.

We find ourselves with Paul headed back to Jerusalem. And I want us to again focus on verses 10 through 14. But we're going to read the whole chapter so we might as well start at verse 1. So let's start at verse 1.

It says, And when we had departed from them and set sail... And notice the personal pronoun here, the plural of we. And the understanding here is that Luke has now joined with Paul. Luke is the author of this book.

And so when he speaks of we, he is now with Paul and going with Paul. We came by a straight course to Kos the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patera. And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

We had come inside of Cyprus, leaving it on the left. We sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre. And there the ship was to unload its cargo. And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days.

And through the Spirit, they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. Now that phrase, the Spirit telling the disciples that Paul was not to go, that needs to stick in our mind. Because that's going to sort of undergird what we learn as we go.

Paul has gone and everywhere Paul has stopped, he sought out disciples. And here he sought a group of disciples. He stayed with them for one week. And during that week, they have received a message from the Holy Spirit that the Apostle Paul was about to be persecuted.

And they interpret that message as don't go. I mean, wouldn't you interpret the message that way? If God gave you a message and said, Hey, Brother Mike comes to us and says, Hey, this week I'm going to go down and I'm going to preach at the monster truck rally.

I'm going to go preach outside. And I get a vision from God. And I know we don't really practice understanding the gifts that way now. But if for some way God awoke me and said, You know, Mike's going to get beat to death at the monster truck rally.

I might say, Hey, Brother, don't go. Well, that's what's happening here. These people have received from the Spirit, it says very clearly. This isn't just on their own idea. From the Spirit, they've received that Paul is going to be persecuted.

So they say, Don't go. Don't go. Verse 5, When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey. And they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another.

Then we went on board the ship and they returned home. So the disciples went out, prayed with him and sent him on his way, knowing full well what was about to happen. Verse 7, When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemaeus and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day.

Last time he stayed a week, now he's only staying one day. It says, On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea. And when we entered the house of Philip the Evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

Now, very quickly, just as by way of reminder, if you go back to Acts 6, you'll remember that there were men who were chosen to be the first deacons. The diaconate prototype is chosen in Acts 6. One of those men was named Philip.

Later, that same man would go and preach the gospel. And he was the one that gave the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch. Remember, he was the one that was there on the road. And that's why he's often referred to as the Evangelist.

In fact, that's what he's called here, Philip the Evangelist. So here we have this man who has a reputation throughout the Scriptures as being one who is strong in the faith, a faithful servant, and a preacher of the gospel.

He has invited Paul to stay in his home. Verse 9 makes mention of something that's quite interesting. It says, He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. Now, I thought about this week, speaking on the subject of female preachers, but I decided against it.

Only because that's really not the focus here. But this passage has been used to promote the idea of female pastors. That is not, to draw from this text, the meaning. The Bible does say, and it says very clearly in Acts 2, that when the Spirit was poured out, it was poured out on men and women, and men and women both prophesied.

But that did not change the foundation of the structure of the church, where the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 2, that pastors and elders are to be men. 1 Timothy 2 and 3 make that so clear. And I don't say that as a sexist, or as anybody who hates women, and somebody who would accuse me of such, would be foolish to say so.

I simply say that because it's what the Scripture teaches. However, we have to understand, in the early part of the church, the gift of prophecy was given to men and women, but the gift and the office of pastorate was not.

And there is a distinction to be made. And the gift of prophecy that was active in the early church, I don't believe is active anymore. I think it was one of the gifts that was given in the early church, for the foundation of the church.

So, just to point that out, like I said, I could have spent a whole message, I decided to just say, let me just say this quickly. Those who make the argument for female pastorate from this passage, are reading into it more than what it says.

That's all that really need be said. But I do want to mention this about these women. When it says they were unmarried, that says more than just the fact that they were unmarried, in the sense of, if I said, well here's a woman who's unmarried, here's a man who's married.

This speaks of their quality of character in general. In fact, some of your Bibles say the word virgin. How many of your King James Bible? It actually says virgin, doesn't it? It doesn't say unmarried.

The modern translators translate that as unmarried, but it's more speaking of the fact that they were devoted to God. They had not entered into relationship of marriage, because they had devoted themselves wholly.

And you remember the Apostle Paul talks about this in other places in Scripture. He says some people get married and that's good, but some people stay unmarried for the purpose of being able to serve God with all their heart, and not be bound to that relationship of marriage, which does take part of our lives, and force it into a service that is outside of the work of ministry.

Paul says, it'd be great if everyone could be single, then everybody could focus on serving the Lord, but not everybody can be single, because not everybody's gifted to singleness, and I know I ain't.

I was not given the gift of singleness, and so God gave me a wife, and I praise Him every day for that gift. But these women did have a special place, and a special quality of character, that they were devoted in their lives to the Lord, and they had a gift to use in the service of God's church.

Now there's another man who is mentioned here who's also a prophet in verse 10. And this shows too that all prophecy was not given from a pulpit, or from a place of proclamation. At this time in the history of the church, sometimes prophecies or words were done in the communication of individual to individual, or in small group settings.

Because look at what Agabus does in verse 10. It says, for we were staying for many days, while we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt, and bound his own feet and hands, and said, thus says the Holy Spirit, this is how the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

So Agabus comes in as an itinerant prophet. He looks at the apostle Paul, and under the power of the Holy Spirit, he takes Paul's belt off. Probably a little interesting way that that all worked out. I don't think I've ever gone up to a man and just removed an article of clothing, but he did.

And he tied him up with it, and he says, thus is the same that will happen to the man who owns this belt in Jerusalem. Ultimately, the prophecy is pretty self-explanatory. You're going to be bound. You're going to be imprisoned.

Here's what it's going to look like. Now you would think that this would make the apostle Paul say, hmm, I spent seven days with this group over here, and the whole time I was with them, they were saying we're getting a message from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit's saying don't go, because you're going to be persecuted.

And now he comes to a man who is a prophet, who's already prophesied earlier in Scripture. We can go back to Acts 11 and see his prophecy earlier. We know this man is a prophet, and he has, as it were, the reputation of being a prophet.

He's made the way all the way to where Paul is to tell him what's about to happen to the point of giving a visual demonstration. You're going to get bound in Jerusalem. And so what does he do? The apostle Paul.

It seems at this point it would be right to say, okay guys, I'm going the wrong direction. Jerusalem's that way. I'm going to turn around and go the other way. But verse 12, when we heard this, we and the people urged him not to go to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, what are you doing weeping and breaking my heart? For I am not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. You see, Paul knew this. From the very moment of his conversion, he knew from the words of Jesus Christ himself that he was to suffer for his name.

And though there have been times where Paul has avoided persecution, and he has run out of a town or hid himself during times of persecution, he knows that now his time has come. And he looks at these people and he says, guys, you're tearing me apart.

I know what's coming. I know what's about to happen. I know. And yet you want me to run. You want me to hide some more. I'm not going to hide anymore. I'm not going to run anymore. I'm going to where God has decreed me to go and experience what God has called me to experience.

Verse 14, this is what the title of the message is based on. And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, let the will of the Lord be done. Let the will of the Lord be done. After this, Paul goes into Jerusalem.

Suffering, the Will of God, and the Call to Trust

And I'm going to sort of paraphrase because there's a lot more of this chapter. I'm sort of going to paraphrase at this point. Paul continues to Jerusalem and he meets with James and the elders of the church in Jerusalem.

And they discuss Paul's ministry. They discuss the powerful things that have happened in Paul's ministry. And they also discuss what people are having issue with Paul's teachings. They talk about the fact that there are people who are accusing Paul of not keeping the law of Moses and telling other people not to keep the law of Moses.

So they tell him, down in verse 22, we've got some guys who are about to take a vow. We want you to go with them and take this vow. And if you go with them and take this vow, this will show the other Jewish people that you're willing to submit to Moses' law.

You're willing to submit to the law of Moses. And perhaps this will assuage the crowd. Perhaps this will assuage the Jewish people who think that you are anti-Moses. See, that was Paul's reputation. Paul's reputation was he was anti-law.

He was anti-Gnomean. He was an anti-Moses man, anti-law guy. And so they said, no, go and submit yourself. Paul had already done this once. Remember a few chapters back, he had already been in a situation where he had submitted himself to a vow.

Well, he submits himself again with these four men. And they go in and submit themselves under a vow. And while they're there, while they're submitted under this vow, after seven days, Paul is recognized.

Verse 27, Paul is recognized. And an uproar ensues. And they begin to beat him. The Roman soldiers come in, wanting to know why the riot is happening, what's happening. Down in verse 31, the Roman soldiers come in and they take Paul out.

Basically saving him from the mob. And Paul looks at the Roman soldiers and he says, let me address the crowd. And so they let him out of the barracks that he was in. And they let him address the crowd.

And he gives his testimony. Next week, we're going to talk about the testimony. Next week, we're going to talk about Paul's testimony. And we're going to talk about what it means to have a testimony. But today, I want to focus on verse 14.

That's why I gave you sort of just an overview of the next few verses. Because I want to focus on verse 14. Going back up. These people were begging Paul not to go. They were begging Paul, don't go into Jerusalem.

Agabus already showed you, you're going to be bound. You're going to be beaten. You're going to be killed if you go. Don't go. And finally, Paul says, I'm going. Don't try to stop me anymore. Stop breaking my heart.

I'm going. And the people say, okay. Let the will of the Lord be done. I have two points of application I want to give you today. Two words today to think about in regard to verse 14. Number one. And this should be obvious.

But sometimes the most obvious things are the most profound. God's will for our lives will not always include ease. God's will for our lives will not always include ease. You know, I struggled with how to write that.

It sounds like a simple sentence. And it is relatively simple. But as I was sitting just struggling how to say that. Because I wanted to say, you know, God's will isn't always easy. But it's more than that.

God's will for our life will not always include ease. And one of the most dangerous ideas that has permeated the modern church, especially the American church. It's not so prevalent in the church in China which is struggling against persecution.

It's not so powerful in other areas. But particularly in America where we have what are called first world problems. You know, like when your cell phone dies in the middle of a conversation. And oh, that's the end of the world.

You know, we have those sort of first world problems. And one of the most dangerous ideas that has permeated modern American cultural Christianity is the idea that as long as I am in the will of God, I will be in a situation of comfort, of ease, and overall prosperity.

Consider what is taught in popular Christian teaching today. If you have faith, you won't experience that tragedy. You ever heard that? Especially people who are facing tragedies. If you have faith, you wouldn't be dealing with that illness.

If you have faith, you wouldn't be in that chair. Right? You've heard that Ms. Sybil? We've talked about that. If you sow enough seed, you'll reap a whirlwind of bounty and be prosperous. I heard a guy this week.

He told his television audience, I need everyone to sow $1 ,000. I remember when they used to ask for $20. I think the market has caught up with us. He said, I need everyone to sow $1 ,000. But I know not everyone has $1 ,000.

So what I want you to do is I want you to take your credit card and I want you to put $1 ,000 donation on your credit card and I guarantee you God will wipe away that debt. If I'm lying, I'm dying. He said, if you put the $1 ,000 debt on your credit card, God will just wipe it away.

You won't even have to pay it. Now that's a scam. That's a pretty powerful scam. Because so much false teaching has permeated the church, many stand confused when they face difficulties because they start beginning to think all kinds of evil things that are wrong.

The reason why I'm facing this difficulty is because I've done something wrong with God. The reason why my child or my parents or my friend is facing this illness or this tragedy is because I've done something that is wrong with God and He's punishing me right now for this thing.

I love the story of Jesus when He met the blind man and the disciples asked that very thing. Jesus, was it this man or his parents who sinned that He was born blind? You see, the disciples thought the same way.

They thought that God only exercises His will in retributive ways. That God only works His will in retributive actions. You do and you get the result. You do and you get the result. So you did bad and so your life is bad.

His parents or Him must have sinned. He was born blind. What kind of life is it to be born blind? It's got to be the result of someone's sin. What did Jesus say? He said it was not His parents nor Him, but this man was born blind so that on this day God would be glorified.

You see, God's will for our lives is that we glorify Him. And that doesn't always include what we would want to make our lives easier or better. This past week I was cleaning out my shed and I came across a box.

And in that box was old paperwork from the church. Some of it I scanned because I knew I needed to throw all this junk away, but it was stuff that was old, handwritten. Like I found notes that I had written, sermon notes that I had written 10 years ago.

I never preached those again. They were really bad. But I figured I did scan them just so I would have them. One of the things I found, I came across a letter that I received, had to have been around 2004 -2005, right as I was beginning to preach here.

And it was from a lady who was experiencing some difficulties. She's not here today so don't look around trying to figure out who wrote the note. But this is what the letter read. This is how it began.

And this is word for word. I have not changed anything. Why does my life have to be so full of pain and suffering? I am by no means even close to perfect. But I am a great person, a loyal friend, and a very hard worker.

So why do I keep getting so much grief? Now, outside of the hubris of saying I'm not perfect but I'm great. That's what she said. But outside of just the hubris of the note, I think many people can relate to her sentiments.

Because when bad things happen, and trials happen, and circumstances happen, our first guttural instinct is the question, Why me? And that's really what her note was saying, outside of the obvious foolishness.

But she was just saying, Why me? And really the answer to the question, as hard as it is for us to understand sometimes, is, Why not me? Do I really believe that my life is to be devoid of pain? And that's what it means to be a Christian?

Is to live a life devoid of trials? You know, the Bible doesn't promise prosperity. And those who say it does have misread. But the Bible does promise one thing to all believers, and that is that we will all suffer with Him.

Romans tells us. It tells us in Romans 8. In fact, if you want to go and just look, I'll show you a quick passage. Romans 8 .16. Is this what we read this morning, Roy? This is what we read this morning.

Okay. This is our opening passage. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. That is an internal, conscious impression that the Lord makes on our hearts, that we are children of God.

And how that works out, it says,. And if children, then heirs? Rather, excuse me. Above that it says that we cry out, Abba Father. That's verse 15. But it says, The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. Provided we, what? Suffer with Him. In order that we also may be glorified with Him. Beloved God only had one Son that was without sin.

But He has no sons that are without suffering. One Son was without sin, but no sons or daughters are without suffering. And I mean, we could look at passage after passage after passage. We're not only told that we will suffer, we're told why.

James chapter 1 tells us that we count it all joys when we meet various trials. Because we know that those things, those testing of our faith produces maturity. Romans 5, 3. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that our sufferings produce endurance.

Endurance produces character. And character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame. Because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. God's will will not always include ease.

Some things we can avoid. And some things we should avoid. And we see this in the life of the Apostle Paul. Paul didn't go running headlong into every mob or every situation ready to have his head removed.

Just for the sake of running into a mob. There were times when he was led over the side of a wall in a basket. There were times when he vanished into a crowd. There were times when he went from city to city to avoid persecution.

But sometimes difficulty and sometimes suffering cannot be avoided. And it must be faced as we see Paul doing here in Jerusalem. And be expected as part of what we will experience as believers. If you think the Christian life is meant to be lived without any hardships.

Without any persecution. Without any rejection. And without any pain. You have a very shallow view of what it means to follow Christ. And that is what a lot of people think. And that is why the church in many areas of America is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Thousands and thousands of people converge on these entertainment centers that are called churches. To be told how great they are and how great their lives can be. If they will just give more money and give more faith.

But I will tell you this. I am promising you nothing but Christ. I don't promise you a happy marriage. As Jesus said sometimes believers are married to unbelievers. And that's tough. And sometimes believers can be hard headed too.

Don't you look at me. I am not promising you barns filled. Jesus said if our barns are filled we ought to give that away. If they are over filled. If we don't build new barns we learn to share. I want to show you something.

I have been teaching through Amos on Wednesday nights. Turn with me to Amos real quick. I just want to show you very quickly something that is so. It's one of the thesis passages in the book. But Amos chapter 6.

And Amos is right in the middle of all the minor prophets. So it's a small book. If you have a pulpit translation it's 975. It's the page. That helps you get there. If you have your own bible I can't tell you what number it's on.

Amos chapter 6 and verse 1. I have talked about this for the last two weeks. Because this passage is so important. When Amos is prophesying to the northern tribe of Israel. He is prophesying to a people that are very well off financially.

They are very well off. They are prospering. They have military might. They have all the world's goods that they could really need. They are very well off financially. But they are spiritually dead. They are worshipping idols.

They are worshipping golden calves at Bethel. They are far from God. And this is what he says in Amos chapter 6 verse 1. Woe to those who are at ease in Zion. And those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria.

I don't have time to go into all of the background of that. But basically he is looking at these people who are living their lives in absolute comfort. In absolute prosperity. In absolute indulgence. Later on he talks about sleeping on beds of ivory and drinking wine from bowls.

They had so much wine they are drinking literally out of bowls filled with wine. He said they are living decadent, indulgent lifestyles. And they are at ease. But they are under the woe of God. Not in the will of God.

They are under the condemnation of God. Not His blessing. We become convinced that an easy life is what means we are in the will of God. It is not always what means we are in the will of God. Sometimes when we are at ease in Zion.

It is because we have gone far away from God. And one of the things that the devil loves is to make people happy in being away from God. What did the devil promise Jesus? Follow me and you will have people worship you.

Follow me and you will have prosperity. Follow me and all the kingdoms of the earth will bow down to you. Do not become convinced as the world has that ease is what God's will is always going to be for us.

Confidence in God's Will Is Not Fatalism

So now the second point if we can go back to Acts. The first point again, God's will for our lives will not always include ease. Number two, and it is only a two point message. Which makes my ADD act, or my, not ADD, what is it?

Obsessive compulsive disorder, my OCD act up. Because if I don't have three points it really blows my mind. But I only had two today. But the second point is just as important as the first. Because the first point, God's will for our lives will not always include ease.

That is true. But the second point is this. Confidence in the will of God is not fatalism. It is optimism. It is not fatalism. It is optimism. Because I often hear people say this. Well, we are just going to trust in God's will.

Why do we got to add the word just? We do it all the time. When we are unable to get something we want. We say, well, I guess we can't go where we want to go. Guess we will just stay here. Or we can't get what we want.

Well, I guess I will just settle with what I don't want. Or we can't restore a relationship. Well, I guess we just have to separate and go our separate ways. We use the word just as a way to use a settlement in a conversation.

We can't have what we want so we will just settle. Right? That is not the way that we should look at the will of God. Trusting in God's will is not a settlement. And it is not fatalism. I get tired of people saying Calvinists are fatalists.

First of all, you don't know English. Because that is not what it means. But just in case you don't understand what I mean. Let me explain it in English so that you can. Fatalism says that all events are mechanically predetermined and inevitable.

Calvinists or Christians, mind you, who believe in the will of God as sovereign over all things, are not fatalists. Because we do not believe events are mechanically predetermined or inevitable simply because of cause and effect.

We believe that our God is in control of all things. And God is not some unthinking machine or supercomputer. We believe that God is actively working all things together for His purpose. And He does determine what ultimately happens because that is what it means to be God.

But He is not some type of automaton or some type of algorithm that's running. He is a living, loving Creator who is intimately involved with His creation. Saying and praying God's will be done is not fatalism.

Saying and praying God's will be done is not doubt. It is a statement of confidence that yes, God knows what He's doing. And He's perfect. That's why I don't like it when people say just. Because we're not just going to rely on the will of God.

We're going to confidently rely on the will of God. We're going to thankfully rely on the will of God. We're going to joyfully rely on the will of God. When you go back to verse 14, I do think there was, in the sense of these people when it says, well let the will of the Lord be done, I do think that there was a sadness in their words.

But I don't think there was a fatalism in their words. I think that they were saying what we need to say. Yes, hard times will come. Yes, difficulties will arise. But when they do, we can look at them with confident expectancy and say, yes, let the will of the Lord be done.

And I've got to say, this message may not send you out of here feeling like yahoo, like great. Because I have basically reminded you over the past 45 minutes, that all of our lives will have difficulties.

Sometimes our lives will really be difficult. And that the Lord's will includes those difficulties. And yet we must trust in Him. But here's what I want you to remember as we begin to draw to a close.

Life's difficulties can be and often are what open doors for us to proclaim Christ. Because we're going to see in the weeks to come, Paul goes into the situation of persecution. And from there, he gets to speak to the Sanhedrin.

From there, he gets to speak to governors. And even before a king, he gets to proclaim the gospel of Christ. The most important thing in this life is not our suffering. The most important thing in this life is the word of Christ.

And it's Christ Himself. And if God can use my suffering to further the cause of His Son, it is worth the cost. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Father in Heaven, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the Apostle Paul who sets an example for us in how to face suffering. And Lord God, we know that this life can be hard, sometimes gut-wrenchingly hard.

And I am not seeking, Lord, that anyone would leave this place today thinking that I have tried to downplay anyone's pain or to downplay anyone's trials. If anything, Lord, this sermon acts to remind us that sometimes our trials are overwhelmingly difficult.

And yet, as Job says, yet even if He slay me, though I will trust in Him. Father, I pray that our trust in You would increase, our confidence in Your will would increase, and that we would see in our own hearts and in our own lives a strengthening of faith and a maturing of faith that when our trials come we can look at them and know that those trials have a purpose in our life to bring us to maturity in the Son.