Tuesday Brief
General Superintendent Max Edwards & Judy
October 20, 2026 “The Christian Life is Not Painless, But Trials will be Overcome by Joy!” “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold.” “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.” 1 Peter 1:6-7, 4:12 nlt We men are often accused by, well, you know who, of having selective hearing at times, and I am honor-bound to agree that I am sometimes guilty. I might offer reasons or excuses for it, but the fact remains that I don’t always hear those things that frankly I’d rather not. At this point, I must add that while this “gendered” criticism makes for a fun opener - - taking a self-depricating jab at us gents, the fullest truth is that we all do it, men and women alike. We are equal opportunity offenders when it comes to listening to the voice of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Two years ago, our word for the year was “listen.” God laments that his people do not fully listen what he is saying. One example is on the issue of hardships or facing difficulties in this life. Over and again Jesus told his disciples that he would have to suffer, but their selective hearing kept them from really hearing what he was saying. Luke 18:34: “But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.” But Jesus did not only talk about his suffering. He spoke over and again about hardships that his followers would endure. (Cf. Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25; Luke 9:23; John 15:18-20). But in spite of his clear voice on the subject, some of us seem to be hiding our heads in the sand, refusing to believe it. We hear some preachers that seem to only talk about God’s favor and manifesting blessings. But we cannot just blame the “prosperity preachers” for this error - - it seems to be a pretty consistent reaction to suffering for us to accuse God of being absent, disinterested, or maybe even powerless. None of those things are remotely true. Peter’s message is clear about suffering … we’ll have some. Paul declared the same thing to Timothy: “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12). But Peter is just as clear that God’s purposes are not lost when we suffer, AND the promise is also clear that JOY lies ahead of us on the other side of it. Friends, we mustn’t lose heart … Jesus is with us. Pain is temporary, but in Christ, joy is eternal.