God refines people in His special way. Sometimes, He puts a man in adversity where he faces all kinds of hardship and obstacles so that he can grow and mature in the process. God may place a person you don't like beside you and as a result, you two will experience a run-in period and progress together.
David, who was chosen as Israel's second king, wasn't enthroned right away. Instead, he suffered from being chased by Saul for over a decade. In exile, he was polished to maturity by God through his enemy, becoming more generous, humble and dependent on God. Meanwhile, he made many friends and knew more people.
Below are ten Bible verses through which we can meditate on God, seek God and wait for God in unfavorable environment and sufferings.
#1, Psalm 26:2 Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;
#2, Psalm 66:10 For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
#3, Proverbs 17:3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.
#4, Isaiah 48:10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
$5, Romans 5:3-5 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.
#6, Zechariah 13:9 "This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.'"
#7, James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
#8, Hebrews 12:5-7 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son."Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?
#9, 2 Corinthians 1:4-6 ...who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
#10, 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Translated by Karen Luo
