How To Keep Unnecessary Tribulations From Coming Your Way

I believe there are two types of tribulation that can come our way in this life. The first kind are those that are being “allowed” by the Lord to come our way for our own sanctification in Him and for the testing of our faith in Him as all of the above Scripture verses are telling us.

The second type of tribulations are those that are not coming from the Lord. These are tribulations that are coming our way as a result of something that we may not be doing right in Him.

Since we will all have to go through a certain amount of tribulation in this life as a result of the Lord Himself allowing some of these tribulations to slip through on us, no Christian with half a brain should ever be tempting their fate in this area by getting out of line with the Lord and thus allowing themselves to draw unnecessary tribulation their way.

Here are some of the areas that will draw unnecessary tribulation our way in this life.

1. The Full Surrender

Per the article we have on this topic in the Bible Basics section of our site titled, “The Full Surrender,” this area is without question, the number one reason why so many Christians draw unnecessary tribulation their way in this life.

Bottom line – each Christian can only live their lives in one or two ways. They can either choose to fully surrender their entire lives over to the Lord for His direction and handling, or they can choose to run their own lives, calling all of their own shots and doing all of their own things.

In the above article on the full surrender, I give you all of the appropriate verses from Scripture to show you that this is what God is really wanting from each and everyone of us. He leads and we follow – not vice versa.

Now here is how you can draw unnecessary tribulation your way in this life if you are not walking in this full surrender with the Lord.

If you are walking in this full surrender with God where He is now the One who will be guiding and directing your life in the directions that He will want it to go in – then what this means is that you will now have God’s full divine guidance and protection operating in your life.

The reason you will have His divine protection on you is because you will never make it into the calls and goals that He will have in store for you in this life unless He can first keep you safely in one piece as you journey through this life to complete your divine missions for Him.

If God has calls and goals that He will want you to be able to reach in this life, then not only is He going to have to lead you so that you can reach these calls and goals, but He will also have to protect you along the way so that you can eventually reach those finish lines.

If God does not fully protect you along the way, a lot of the natural adversities that could come your way as a result of the Adamic curse could prevent you from ever fulfilling your full divine destiny in Him.

If you are walking in this full surrender with God where He is now the One who is in total control of every aspect of your life, then what this now means is that if you have any type of adversity coming your way, then this adversity is being allowed by the Lord to come your way for the specific reasons mentioned above.

God is not “causing” some of these adversities to come your way, but He is “allowing” some of them to slip through so that He can then use them to help sanctify you and to also test your personal faith levels in Him from time to time.

As a result of God deciding what tribulations will be allowed to come your way in this life, what this now means is that God will be keeping a lot of unnecessary tribulation from ever coming your way in the first place. This is an incredible perk and blessing that you can receive from the Lord if you are willing to enter into this full surrender with Him.

Now here is what gets so many Christians who are not walking in this full surrender with the Lord in major trouble in this life. If you are not walking in this full surrender with the Lord, then God is not leading your life in the specific direction that He would like it to go in.

And if He is not divinely leading your life in the directions that He will want it go in, then this now means you will not have His divine protection operating on your life. And if you do not have God’s divine protection operating in your life, then you will become an open and easy target for demons, for the other bad and evil people in this life, and for all of the other different natural accidents and mishaps that can occur at a moment’s notice.

If God is not divinely leading and protecting your life, you could end up in a bad car accident that will cause serious injuries, and those serious injuries will then cause a major trial and tribulation to come into your life – and this is all occurring because you did not have God’s full protection on your life to protect you from this car accident in the first place.

If God is not leading you in the chess moves that you should be making in this life, you could end up marrying the wrong person and end up taking all of the wrong jobs – which can then lead to major trials and tribulations down the road.

Half of all marriages are still ending up in divorce, and I do not have to tell you the severe pain and trauma a messy divorce can cause in your life – and again, all of this adversity is coming your way because you simply did not rely on God’s guidance as to who you should be marrying and what specific jobs you should be taking in the first place.

There are a million and one things that can hit you in this life that will cause major trials and tribulations to come your way – and all of these trials and tribulations are hitting you with full force because you did not have God’s full divine protection on your life in the first place as a result of refusing to enter into this full surrender with Him.

There are simply way too many Christians who have drawn unnecessary adversity, conflict, trials and tribulations into their lives as a result of failing to enter into this full surrender with the Lord where He will now be the One who will be guiding your life on a daily basis through the Holy Spirit.

2. Failing to Keep God’s Commandments and Follow All of His Ways

The second main reason why so many Christians draw unnecessary tribulation their way in this life is because they are out directly and deliberately violating the ways and commandments of our Lord. Sin will always have some kind of consequence to it, and sometimes the consequences of a certain sin will bring down severe trials and tribulations.

Hanging out with the wrong people, abusing alcohol, doing drugs, and engaging in criminal activity can all eventually lead to severe adversity coming your way. How many people are serving serious jail time because they got caught up with the wrong crowd? How many people have brought on an early death, or brought on serious illness or tragedy on themselves and other innocent people as a result of abusing alcohol or doing drugs?

Drunk and stoned drivers are still killing thousands of people every year on our roadways and highways. Their victims are now dead, their families are left with dealing with the tragedy of their deaths, and the drunk drivers now have to deal with the trials and tribulation of now having to serve serious jail time – and all of this adversity is occurring because these people were out violating and breaking God’s commandments and the ways in which we should be living in this life.

The Bible makes it perfectly clear on how we should all be living in this life and what sins and transgressions we should be staying away from. Even the unsaved heathen has God’s basic moral laws and commandments written in their hearts.

Most people know basic right from basic wrong. And yet so many people, including some Christians, will still tempt their hand and their fate with the Lord and directly disobey and violate some of these basic commandments and laws. As a result, they end up bringing down a certain amount of tragedy, trials and tribulations on both themselves, their families and friends, and sometimes completely innocent people.

Without question, the second main reason why so many trials and tribulations come into this life is the constant sinning of both the saved and the unsaved. Sin will always have a certain amount of consequences to it – and for some, the consequences of their sins and transgressions could end up leading to a certain amount of trials and tribulations coming both their way and to all of those who may be close to them.

3. Do Not Chase After Trials and Tribulations

Believe it or not, a third way many people bring trials and tribulations into their life is because they are actually looking for it and chasing after it. The stimulation of the trial and tribulation is what they are feeding on.

I have personally met numerous Christians over the course of my life who have brought down untold misery and conflict in their personal lives as a result of always trying to stir up trouble and create conflicts – both in the workplace and in their own marriages.

As a result, they are then forced to deal with the trials of a divorce because their spouses can no longer take them or handle them. They are forced to go from one job to another because no one wants to work with them or be around them.

They are thus always living in a state of constant torment and fear because they are constantly bringing down one trial after another, and all of this unnecessary adversity is coming their way because of their own direct actions.

Bottom line – there is enough adversity that will come your way in this life without having to chase after it, look for it, or cause it to happen by your own direct actions. As Christians, we have to spiritually mature and grow up. Young children like to stir the pot to cause conflict and adversity, but this should not be something spiritually mature and grown adults should be doing. Not only are you drawing and bringing down major adversity and conflict on your own life, but you are also bringing it down on anyone else who may be close to you.

How many Christians are forced to deal with different trials and tribulations all as a result of the immature actions and behaviors of their spouses, their parents, or some of their close friends? Untold misery and adversity have come into this world all because a certain amount of people could never spiritually develop and mature in the way that the Lord would really like from each one of us.

4. God Will Use Trials and Tribulations to Bring You Back Into the Fold

If you are Christian and you have backslidden to any serious degree with the Lord, or have gone too far astray in your own personal walk with Him, or have gone to far into a heavy sin area – many of the times God will use a trial and tribulation to try and reach you and show you the errors of your ways.

God does not like to use severe adversity to try and reach you. He would rather do things the easy way. But if you have gone too far astray, have become too proud, arrogant, pompous, and self-righteous – expect God to possibly come after you with a heavy hand. And one of the ways that He will come after you if you have got too far away from Him is with a possible trial and tribulation.

Many people have been brought down off of their high horses with the Lord as a result of a severe trial that was allowed to come their way by the Lord. Once this severe trial hits them full force, they then all of a sudden see how powerless they really are to be able to control their own life, much less their own destinies.

I have met many Christians who had got too far away from the Lord in their own personal walks with Him, but were immediately brought back into the fold once God woke them up with a couple of two-by-fours upside their heads.

Again, God does not like to use these kinds of extreme measures, but if that is the only way He can reach you and wake you up, He will do it. As a result, you will always have a certain number of Christians who will push the envelope way too far with the Lord and as a result, will force Him to release unnecessary trials and tribulations down on not only them, but sometimes on those who may be close to them, like immediate family members and close friends.

This is part of our series on Trials and Tribulations – The Testing of Our Faith. Here are the other parts: