Author’s note: This column was originally published almost four years ago in the Friday, December 9, 2016 Great Bend Tribune. I came across it while searching my files looking for another column, and thought it was just as timely, if not more so, in these days. Let the words lift your spirits and find hope in the message.

Almost two and a half centuries ago, Thomas Paine wrote, “These are times that try men’s souls.”

He penned these words in the heart of a fierce and bloody fight for American Independence. While we might not all be fighting a literal war, no doubt there are times of continuous crisis in our lives when our hearts can relate to Paine’s sentiment.

Those are the times it feels as though we exhaust our strength facing and fighting one trial only to look up and see another looming in front of us. In those times, it can feel as though, as David wrote, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast.” (Psalm 22:14, NLT)

At that point, we are no longer taking confident steps through each day. We, instead, inch along on our hands and knees, sapped of strength feeling beaten down, ready to just lay down and give in. 

In those times, even the most faithful heart can be ready to lose hope. So how do we find that glimmer of light in the times that try our souls?

Peter offered that glimmer to a persecuted first-century church in 1 Peter 1:

“(H)e has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (v. 3-4)

We have hope in the hard times because God has promised that there is something far greater awaiting us beyond the here and now. A living hope that is stronger than anything that we might face.

Because Jesus Christ overcame sin, death and the grave and still lives in Heaven, there is absolutely nothing in those trials which is able to kill the hope we have in His love and His power. Because Christ lives, so does our hope.

But sometimes, seeing the eternal through the blinding fog of our trials can be nearly impossible.

So Peter reminds us what we endure does, indeed, have a purpose:

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Peter 1:6-7, NLT)

Jesus tells us we are pruned by our trials so that we might bear greater fruit. He seeks to strengthen our hearts through trials, not to weaken them. We can rejoice, because as each one passes like the morning breeze, we see the Lord has, indeed carried us through, and He will carry us through again. 

As we are refined, too, by each new trial, we find the opportunity to share the same hope with others walking through the storms through which He has already brought us. Therefore, our endurance can offer hope to those who follow us.

We have hope in the times that try our souls because the One we hope in is stronger and greater than what faces us. What we face is fleeting, but the One we hope in is everlasting.

And the One who is Everlasting is walking with you through the storm.

So when all else seems lost, do not let go of hope, because His hand will never let you fall!

Daniel Kiewel is a reporter with the Great Bend Tribune. He can be reached at dkiewel@gbtribune.com.