Introduction: Living Between the Broken World and the Restored One
Every believer lives between two realities: a world that is broken now, and a world that will one day be restored.
Scripture tells us we live in a creation groaning under the weight of sin, fractured since the fall, and marked by sorrow, suffering, and struggle. Yet this is not the final story. God promises a day when He will make all things new—every wound healed, every tear wiped away, every wrong undone.
Until that day, we walk through trials we never asked for. But these trials are not meaningless. God promises to use every one of them—every valley, every disappointment, every heartbreak—for our good and His glory. Our trials aren’t proof that God is distant; they are places where His redemptive work is most active.
This is the tension we live in—the “already” of salvation and the “not yet” of full restoration. And it is on these life trails that God forms us most deeply.
1. Trials Come Because the World Is Broken (Romans 8:18–22)
The Bible does not hide the reason we face hardship: we live in a world that is not the way it was meant to be.
Paul describes creation as groaning—as if the world itself feels the pain of the fall. Suffering, loss, sickness, disappointment, betrayal, and death all exist because humanity is living far from Eden.
Trials are not always the result of a personal mistake. Sometimes we suffer simply because the world is broken.
But even in this brokenness, God is working. The groaning is not hopeless—it is the groaning of childbirth. It is pointing forward to restoration.
2. Trials Reveal What We Trust (James 1:2–4)
In a broken world, trials expose the foundations of our hearts. They reveal where we have anchored our hope—our comfort, ability, health, certainty, or resources.
James tells believers to “count it all joy” not because trials are enjoyable, but because they are purposeful. God uses pressure to produce perseverance, maturity, and a faith that is real, refined, and resilient.
God is not testing to fail you—He is testing to strengthen you.
A faith that has never been stretched cannot carry deep hope.
3. Trials Draw Us Closer to a God Who Is Near (Psalm 34:18)
In a restored world, God’s nearness will be our normal experience. But in this broken world, His nearness is often most deeply felt in suffering.
Scripture promises that God is near to the brokenhearted. He does not step back when the trail gets steep—He steps closer.
Trials strip away distractions and illusions of control. They quiet our souls long enough to hear the Shepherd’s voice again. In this in-between world, suffering becomes the place where believers experience God’s tender presence in ways comfort never could.
4. Trials Shape Us Into Who God Intends Us to Be (Romans 5:3–5)
We endure trials not as passive victims, but as disciples being formed. Paul outlines a progression:
- Suffering produces endurance
- Endurance produces character
- Character produces hope
Trials are God’s tools for shaping us into people of depth, conviction, compassion, and spiritual strength.
In a restored world, our formation will be complete. But in this broken world, trials are the classroom where Christlikeness grows.
5. Trials Equip Us to Comfort Others (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)
Your suffering is not a dead-end—it is preparation. God comforts us so that we can comfort others.
The wounds you carry become the very places where God pours His compassion, so that one day you can pour it into someone else’s life.
Your story becomes someone else’s survival kit. Your scars become someone else’s roadmap. Your testimony becomes someone else’s hope.
God wastes nothing—not even your pain.
6. Trials Lift Our Eyes Toward the Coming Restoration (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)
Every trial reminds us: This world is not home.
Paul calls our suffering “light and momentary”—not because it feels small, but because it is small compared to the eternal weight of glory that is coming.
Trials break our attachment to temporary things and fix our eyes on the world to come. They create a longing for Christ’s return, for the coming restoration, for the day when the broken world will be made new.
Suffering makes eternity more real, more precious, and more near.
Application: How Do We Walk the Trails of a Broken World With Hope?
- Anchor your hope in the world God promises, not the world you see. Let the future restoration steady your present reality.
- Return daily to God’s promises. You need truth more than explanations.
- Pray honestly and often. God meets us in raw prayers, not polished ones.
- Stay connected to the body of Christ. Trials are too heavy to carry alone.
- Look for the ways God is forming you. Journal, reflect, notice the small mercies.
- Remember that the story ends in renewal. You are living between the brokenness and the restoration. The restoration wins.
Encouragement: God Is Using This—Even If You Can’t See It Yet
Your story is not defined by the brokenness of this world, but by the God who redeems it.
Where you see fragments, He sees formation. Where you feel abandoned, He is closer than your breath. Where the trail feels dark, His light is leading you step by step.
One day, you will see how every trial was woven into a greater glory.
Until then, God walks the broken trail with you—and He will not waste a single mile.
Prayer
Father, in a world that is broken, fix my eyes on the restoration You have promised. Strengthen me when the trail is steep, sustain me when hope feels thin, and shape me through every trial. Use my story to bring comfort to others and glory to Your name. Until the day You make all things new, help me walk faithfully with You. Amen.