Trials: a Path to Spiritual Maturity

By Daisy Maria Iared

Editors Note: 

As you enjoy this glimpse into the lives and faith of our sisters in South American churches, we want you to know that most of these women are writing for us in a language that is not their native tongue. Where possible, we have not overly “English-ified” their writing, so as not to interfere with their own individual voice and to give you a more authentic feel as they share their hearts and experiences with us. Hugs to you all in Brazil and around the world from us at WTI! 

As we face so many trials, so many struggles, challenges and, sometimes, bad news, I keep thinking about the people who have lost loved ones, or who are struggling because of an illness, families that are experiencing different types of conflict and division.

I think of young people involved with drugs, of husbands and wives addicted to alcohol; I keep thinking about the girls and boys given to prostitution, unemployment, the debts that many have incurred. How many fathers are suffering, how many mothers are suffering, how many children are suffering! The apostle Paul, in the first Letter to the Corinthians, gives us great certainty, which strengthens our decision to continue fighting and believing:

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

If we believe in God's faithfulness, if we serve HIM and if we have Him as Lord of our lives, we need to take possession of the promises contained in this Word:

• We are not tested beyond what we can humanly bear.
• We will not be tested beyond our strength.
• Providentially, we will have success in enduring all the trials.

These promises will come true in the lives of all those who believe until the end in the strength of God, in his intervention, in Divine Providence.

Even if it takes a long time, even when we are in great pain and everything seems complicated, we need to take possession of this Word and walk in grace, facing the LORD in all these trials.

The Psalmist teaches us that it is in the Lord that we find strength, protection and the certainty of overcoming everything we have experienced:

Psalms 121:1-8 

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

We need to win these battles.

Our life and everything we are experiencing needs to be handed over, into GOD's hands. Only He can handle it, only He is powerful, only He has the solution and the strength we need to win the battles, to endure the trials and derive a greater good from everything that we experience.

Our help is in the Lord, who keeps us, who covers us with his blessings, who preserves and protects us.

We need to trust our entire lives to GOD.

Don't be afraid to face it, to go through and overcome the ordeal. With the Lord, we are sure of victory.

James comes to edify us with this Word that shows God’s action in response to our trials:

James 1:2-4 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Trials lead us to spiritual growth and lead us to reach a level of greater maturity with God. 

Notice this Scripture in Romans 5:3-5:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Therefore, going through trials helps us grow in spiritual maturity.

In June last year (2023), my mother suffered a fall at home and fractured her femur for the second time (the first time was in 2019). She was immediately admitted to Santa Catarina Hospital and, the following day, underwent femur surgery. After the surgery, the doctor gathered our entire family to announce that, unfortunately, my mother would never again be able to walk.

The impact of these words was so strong that I burst into tears and decided to pray and fast for a week. Trusting in the power of our wonderful GOD, I asked for the prayers of my brothers and sisters in faith. Persevering in prayer, with much pain and suffering, I followed in prayer to our Heavenly Father that HE would extend His powerful hands to help my mother walk again.

After ten months, my mother was already able to walk with the help of a walker and from then until this day, she moves perfectly with this equipment.

This ordeal only made me grow in my relationship with God. I grew in my dependence on prayer and fasting; in union with my brothers and sisters, from the moment they joined me in prayer. This trial made me grow in humility, placing me at the feet of the CROSS OF CHRIST for the healing of my mother.

Therefore, this proves that going through trials allows us to follow a path of greater spiritual maturity, leading us to greater closeness and intimacy with our extraordinary GOD.

1 Peter 1:6-9 

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

To our great Heavenly Father be all the honor and all the glory and forever! Amen.

Daisy Maria Iared is a member of the ICOC of São Paulo. She was baptized on September 27, 1987, and has been a Christian for 37 years. She is single, lives with her parents and has the privilege of taking care of them. Her father is 95 years old and her mother is 91. She is immensely grateful to God for the wonderful life she has, walking in communion with Him.

Editors’ note: 

We couldn’t help but add: if you have been in desperate trials or struggles – or perhaps you are right now – and you find yourself reacting with anger or frustration at some of these trusted Scriptures and wondering what’s wrong with you, we wanted to add a P.S. to this faithful article. Even though every word and promise in the Scriptures is true, sometimes what our broken hearts need first is to be able to lament and express our pain in a safe place, before those rock-solid truths can be heard and take root once again and provide the healing and reassurance God intends. We see this in the healing ministry of Jesus. Lament is also a part of the Word of God. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us there is an appropriate time for everything. Sometimes listening to someone else’s lament in silence needs to come first, before a broken heart is able to drink in again the powerful reassurance of some familiar passages of the Bible.