[Paul and Barnabas] preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

Devotion based on Acts 14:21,22

It makes sense that becoming a Christian improves your life. You go from uncertainty and even hopelessness to confidence in rock-solid promises. You discover what God has done for you and what he thinks of you, which is good.

So why do Christians experience hardships? You might think that difficulties in life would all disappear for disciples of Christ. But it’s not like that. There are disappointments and griefs, challenges and struggles. Sometimes, those even happen because you hold to counter-cultural truths of the Bible.

It’s been like that for a long time. The apostles taught the early Christians that they had to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. They would suffer persecution. They would see occasional downturns in family life and business. They would encounter sin and even death, the wages of sin.

Without pinpointing the exact reason for every difficulty, God promises that all things will work together for good for you in the end. He invites you to trust that your entrance into the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus is secure even when you encounter hardships. Be faithful even unto death, and he will give you the crown of life.

Prayer:

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.