Good morning! God never promised an absence from trouble, but ultimate deliverance in the midst of them. In 2 Timothy 3:12, we see, “All those who live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus even calls those who are persecuted “blessed” because they are in a long line of faithful ones who endured persecution and derision for the cause of Christ.

One of the strangest verses (at least to our ears) is that from 1 Corinthians 16. The Corinthian church begged him to come stay with him. Here’s Paul’s answer.

But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 16:8-9

Henry Law in his wonderful commentary on Psalm 34 noted:

Jesus at once appears. We learn from this particular, to seek Him throughout these hymns. He never is far distant from the eye of faith. When He was lifted up on the cross, the soldiers drew near to break His legs; but He was marvelously dead, and so they touched Him not. He drank to the dregs the cup of sorrow; but sorrow issued in eternal joy.

Adversity does not mean God is absent. Look to the cross. The suffering Christ endured was part of God’s plan to rescue His imagebearers from their own sin and brokenness.

Have you been rescued? If you have, you know His nearness even in adversity. If you have not, come to Christ and know that, regardless of whether you are on the mountain or the valley, He will be with you!