MARYHILL COLLEGE

HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

RE 221
CATECHESIS ON CHRISTIAN MORALITY

Reflection
Paper
Submitted by:
Ma. Louann Heart P. Lupo

Submitted to:
Mr. Kim Malabatuan
 Faith in the face of trials

The topic that I think most of us can relate is how to have faith in the midst of trials.

The Bible is filled with instances of how God's people have faced difficulties while

maintaining their faith. Doubt is a very human and natural emotion. And the world tells us

that we must manage this life on our own when things go difficult. But God has a better

way for us—the method by which we practice faith. May God grant us insight today that

will produce the results of unwavering trust, even in the face of adversity.

Trials and hardships have the capacity to either prevent us from experiencing

abundant life or help us develop the character necessary to sustain it. We are free to

choose. Will we maintain our faith in the face of adversity or will we switch to a worldly

way of living?

James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various

kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let

steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Allow the phrase, “Count it all joy” to settle in for a second. What trials have you faced in

the past? What trials stand before you today? Is joy the emotion that stirs up within you

when you think about your problems?

When I faced with a challenge, my initial inclination is to flee. I want to ignore the

issues at hand and pretend that they don't exist. But the Bible tells me to embrace my

difficulties and face them head-on in order to grow into a faithful, unwavering child of
God. Trials are not seen by God as a means to damage me or to thwart his plans for my

life, but rather as an opportunity to develop character within me.

In the face of adversity, faith is the best gift we've ever been given. When issues are

staring us in the face, it might be difficult to see past them to the solution that God has in

mind. We must have faith in order to navigate adversities in the way that God wants. We

have to have faith that God will see us through every problem that stands in our way and

produce in us a steadfastness on which we can experience abundant life.

Hebrews 10:35-39 says, “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a

great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God

you may receive what is promised. For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come

and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul

has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of

those who have faith and preserve their souls.” May we not be a people that back down but

rather be a people who stand firmly on the promises of God. May we be faithful believers,

rooted in God's faithfulness.

Spend some time in prayer asking God to give you new insight into your struggles

through his word.