"The difficulties we face in life can trip us up and tempt us into doubt and despair...but blessed is the man who endures these trials and tribulations...because when he has passed the test, he will receive the magnificent crown of life, which the Lord our God has promised to all who love Him." (Knowing Jesus)

"Trials, if properly understood through the gift of God's wisdom, will grant a new perspective, in which riches are seen for what they are. Riches have the capacity to dull our sight until we fail to see the image of God in those around us. They have the potential to woo us into an uncritical acceptance of the standards of the world as the rightful standards of the church." (NIV Application Commentary)

"God does not answer the prayers of presumptuous people who do not even believe their own prayers. He is not under obligation to answer anyone, especially those who seriously doubt His ability to answer prayer." (The Bible Exposition Commentary)

" 'Nothing doubting' should be the Christian's motto in prayer. The petitioner must not shift backwards and forwards between faith and doubt like a tumbling billow of the sea. He must not swing like a pendulum between cheerful confidence and dark suspicion. It must be his fixed persuasion that God is, and that He is the Hearer of prayer." (The Pulpit Commentary)

"God used the trials Joseph endured to bring about something good: 'the saving of many lives,' including those of his brothers who had hated him so much. We can learn a lot from the patient endurance of Joseph during the hardships he experienced in Egypt and trust that God is using all situations for His and for our good." (Got Questions)

Who are you? How do you identify yourself as a Christian in today's world? Many in the church today are facing unnecessary problems and difficulties in life because they don't know who they are or whose they are. They are experiencing an identity crisis. The answer is to get your identity straightened out first. Settle it in your heart that you are first and foremost a servant of God and of the Lord JESUS Christ.

"It is a disease which has never ceased to prevail all over Christendom. It is a soul-ruining plague, which is continually sweeping away crowds of Gospel hearers down the broad way to destruction. Open sin, and avowed unbelief, no doubt slay their thousands. But profession without practice slays its tens of thousands." (J.C. Ryle)

"Many, like the Jews, do not say, Never, but not yet. Conscience will not let them say, We will never be religious and work for God; but they procrastinate - put off till to-morrow what should be done to day, and thus leave the great work of life undone. The time is always come to him who wishes to do right. In HIs providence and by His prophets, God calls now. The present is the opportunity to respond, undertake, and finish the work which God has given us to do." (The Preacher's Homiletic Commentary)