The Lord has been giving me a lot of lessons through the blessings He has given me. It feels a lot better than the lessons learned through the trials. But I’ve also come to see that the two, the blessings and the trials, are closely related.

God is Lord over the trials. He sends the storm on Jonah, and prepares the fish to save him. The Lord sends the flood and makes sure the boat is finished first. He sends the locusts, and He restores the years they have eaten. He sends the tribulation, but He delivers His children out of all their troubles.

The trouble sets up the miracle. And the deliverance can be its own trial, like all that time stuck on the ark.

When we are in the trial, we see the blessing. We give thanks in all our circumstances and rejoice, always. God is being good. He’s ordained this for His glorious purposes and is working it for your good. We can see the trial as a blessing. It’s from the Lord. His intentions are always good, His motivation only love.

And when we are in the blessing, we have to always keep an eye on the trial. Joseph was in a position of power, wealth, and married into an idol worshiping family. Any one of those corrupts people. He had to live in all three. God had used the trial to prepare him to live in the blessing. That long trial was a blessing. If he had gone right to this position, I do believe it would have corrupted him. I don’t think he could have held onto integrity. But God used the trial to prepare him to receive the blessing and to be able to live in it without it harming him.

We give thanks for the blessing too, but keep an eye on the trial, keep an eye on what wants to get you. Keep it in your sights. You need God’s sustaining grace in the blessing just as much as in the trial.

In the trial we look to the blessing, which keeps us looking to our Savior. In the blessing, we look at the trial, which keeps us looking to our Savior.