Which is better? Are counting the costs and obtaining blessings both necessary? Indeed they are! Trials are essential to our potential for reaching perfection. In order for us to receive the blessings that God promises us, we also need to count the costs and consider trials which we will encounter. This is what we should have been aware of when we answered God’s calling and took the necessary step to become baptized, choosing to live a life pleasing to God. We are to learn and grow so that we don’t keep on stumbling, and when we do, what we have learned is supposed to help us to overcome quickly.

We look around the world and we see many people who appear far more blessed than we are with their riches and success. How then are we more blessed than they? We may not be more physically blessed, but we certainly are more spiritually blessed. We have been selected by God the Father to have the opportunity to be in His Kingdom and receive everlasting life. We have more knowledge than the world when it comes to spiritual matters and what the Bible has to say, because our minds have been opened. The riches and physical things could very well be considered a distraction from what is really important. These physical blessings that the world dwells on now are only temporary, and the time will come when they will mean nothing anymore. Times will get terrible and money won’t be able to buy anything (compare Ezekiel 7:19).

Have we ever tried to count our blessings? Have we ever realized just how very blessed we are? If we live God’s Way and do what God says, there would be no reason for us not to be blessed, right?  We go through trials because God tests us to see just how strong we are and just how willing we are to keep His Law. These trials may be difficult at times but they are definitely not too difficult for us to handle, with God’s help. Remember, if we get through these trials, we get rewarded for them with blessings. This is only the beginning. Ultimately, we will have far more blessings than we can ever imagine—spiritual blessings that no one on this earth has ever experienced so far with the exception of Jesus Christ. How many people in the world today can say that?

At times, it may be a little difficult to comprehend this, but history has shown through the Bible how several people have even been blessed tremendously in their physical lives, and all it took was faith and following God’s instruction. Abraham was given many promises by God in response to what he had done, and God had put him to the test many times to see if he would obey Him (Genesis 12). He passed the tests even though they were difficult at first, because his faith had to grow. We have all been there as well. Haven’t we tried to take matters into our own hands, inadvertently forgetting about God at times? It’s our human nature.

Abraham was well blessed (Genesis 17:1-10). Yet, there were still times after all the things that God had promised him that he still had doubt; for example, when God told him that his wife Sarah would give birth to a son (Genesis 17:15-19; 18:10-15). We may sometimes be in a similar situation, forgetting how God continues to bless us. Sometimes we may even take things for granted but as soon as a trial comes along we start to remember more and more that only God can help us and that He blesses us when we get through those trials.

When Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, he tried to advise Him what He should do. Believe it or not, we may sometimes do the same thing today when we pray (compare Matthew 7:7-11). We may try to reason with God when there is something very important to us which we want God to “understand.” But God knows already what we think about. Still, He wants to see that we have faith in Him and that we have a relationship with Him. Abraham clearly had a relationship with God, and he pleaded with God about saving Sodom (Genesis 18). But he understood that he could only go so far, and even though God was willing to “listen” to Abraham up to a point, He still decided to destroy Sodom as He could not even find ten righteous people there, and we all know that something similar will happen again in the future, but this time the whole world will be affected in a much more serious manner.

Throughout Abraham’s life, he was tested, just as we are continuously tested, and his faith would be confirmed in Genesis 22:1-3, 6-12, 16-18, when he was asked to sacrifice his only son. Yet again, he was blessed for his willingness to obey, and if we follow God by counting the costs, we too will be blessed continuously. Even though Abraham was not perfect, he pleased God in many ways, and he really proved to God just how faithful he was. God does the same with us today! He continues to test us to see how strong we are in our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:4). We should never forget but always remember what blessings we will receive when we continue faithfully in our trials. We will be rewarded!

We are reminded of Abraham’s faith in Hebrews 11:8-12, 17-19. Since we also should follow in his footsteps, God promises the same to us in Hebrews 12:1-2, and also in James 1:12: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation [or trials]; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

This is a tremendous blessing for us, something that we should continue to strive for, and it is indeed God’s plan for each and every one of us to receive that crown of life. We have already been greatly blessed by having the wisdom and knowledge about His plan, before anybody else in the world will be given that understanding. We have the sneak preview of what God has in store for this world and what He has in store for us. The time will come when we will be blessed far more than we, as human beings, could imagine–far more than we could even begin to count now.

The power to withstand something challenging defines the word endurance. This is what God had in mind when He chose specific people to fulfill His purpose; when He called people out of this world to an understanding of His plan that only He could reveal to those who answered His calling.  An everlasting commitment of obedience is the requirement to obtain everlasting life while also ruling with God the Father and Jesus Christ, as part of their Family, here on earth in the Kingdom of God, in the coming time ahead (compare Matthew 19:17; 2 Timothy 2:12; Romans 8:7; Revelation 20:4-6).

This tremendous calling, however, shouldn’t be taken lightly and for granted; rather, it requires obedient effort, perseverance and endurance until the end. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12).

We will be blessed when we endure UNTIL the end.  This is a life-long commitment of living God’s Way of Life. If we have chosen to live this Way, by keeping ALL of His commandments, taken the necessary steps to becoming truly baptized, then we are in it for life.

If we haven’t, then even our physical life we are living now could be in jeopardy!  “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 3:10, NIV).  It should be quite evident that we must have much patience in our lives—especially when going through problems and hoping for answers right away.  The test we are faced with is whether we have the trust and confidence in God to deal with our situation and whether we have the belief that God will provide the answer in His due time, IF we let Him.

There is much worry in the world today.  Everywhere we look, what we hear about, what we read about, in some way or another involves concern. Satan is doing his job.  There may be temporary relief of “happiness” but a permanent outcome of joy is not possible without God in our lives. That is why it is highly important that we keep going, doing what is right, not letting distractions hinder us and prevent us from reaching our ultimate goal. The world will soon find out just how awful things will get, with conditions so horrible that if Jesus Christ wouldn’t return to put an end to all this destruction, NO ONE would be saved! Because we KNOW this, blessed are we who endure UNTIL THE END.

We are constantly put to the test. If we have chosen to live this Way of Life, that is, a life pleasing to God based on what He commands, then we face many challenges and our inner strength will also be put to the test. To conquer our weaknesses is the challenge. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Here was Paul, an apostle of God, admitting that he had weaknesses and only through his weaknesses could he become strong. The weakness he had didn’t make him strong, but overcoming it gave him that strength. He knew of course that only through God’s help could he attain that strength. God gave him His strength, because without it, he could do nothing, but with it, he could do everything. This is very relevant for us today since we all have weaknesses that we must fight to overcome. It is nothing that is easily overcome, but only through faith, prayer, and repentance. If we didn’t have any weaknesses, then we would be perfect, and we know that that is not the case, since none of us are perfect.

Every person in the Bible had a weakness, even some of the greatest, who were men of God. They too had to struggle continuously to overcome their weaknesses and they also had to experience punishment by God to make them stronger. Many of them went through trials that seemed impossible to get through, but strength was on their side.

Job had many trials. He lost everything – his family and his possessions, and his health was also affected, but even after all that, he wasn’t angry towards God. However, he did have a weakness and that was his self-righteousness, which he did eventually overcome by acknowledging God’s power, and as a result, received back more than he had before his trials.

Samson had an incredible gift from God, which he took for granted. His weakness was women. They were more important to him than God, and every time he got into trouble, he never looked to God for help, but decided to fight his own battles instead. As a result, he lost his life. But before he died, he realized what his sin was and repented of it. He had finally overcome his weakness.

Moses had a weakness, that of anger. It is very easy to get angry and anger could be very difficult to control. Do you consider yourself easily tempered? Do we sometimes make others angry by what we may say or do? Have we noticed that it is more work to be happy than to be angry? Why is that? Because we are living in Satan’s world, and he is just the opposite of peace and tranquility. Have we noticed how much more of an effort it is to maintain peace? When something goes wrong, what is our initial reaction? Do we have thoughts of doubt, worry and discouragement during tough times? It’s all about how we control ourselves. What would Christ do in this situation?

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously… Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For ‘[h]e who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it’” (1 Peter 2:21-23; 3:8-11).

Unfortunately, there were some who were not strong enough, and as a result, they just gave up completely, like that which happened to King Saul. We have to make sure that we don’t fall into that category. Judas had a weakness that he did not overcome, and that was money. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-15). He was greedy for money, and that was very dangerous because riches had the better of him—just like the one individual who asked Christ in Matthew 19 what he could do to inherit eternal life and when Christ told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor, he didn’t want to do it because money was more important to him.

Sometimes, we may feel that when times are really tough, we aren’t being blessed, but think of it as more of a test that we need to overcome. And remember, we DO have help from God (compare Romans 8:26-27). Each one of us is unique. We all have various strengths and weaknesses. Each one of us is aware what they are and we all know what it is that we must work on. If there is a certain weakness we have trouble with, we should make it a priority to overcome it. Satan is very intelligent, let us not forget that. He will attack us on the very things where we are most vulnerable.

We are called out of this world for a reason and Satan knows it, which is why we need to be vigilant at ALL times. But he can only do what God allows. Think of what happened to Job. God allowed Job’s trials to teach him a lesson! Yes, we are all going through trials, and yes, there are reasons for them. Again, we are the few that God has chosen and Satan knows that too, and the trials that we go through are different than those outside the Church of God because when we have been called to the Truth, we are in a separate category and we are not controlled by time and chance. God is aware of everything we go through, every trial, for our benefit. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We still need to overcome our weaknesses and replace them with righteousness. And once we do that, God will be pleased, and so will we.