Are you asking why, believer? Why all this trouble? Look up at your heavenly Father. See him in all his purity and holiness. Do you realize you are destined to become like him? Do you imagine that transformation will come easily? Will you not need intense refining in the furnace of affliction to burn away the dross? Will it be simple to strip away your corruption and make you perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect?

Now, Christian, turn your eyes downward. Do you understand what enemies lurk beneath your feet? You were once a servant of Satan, and no king willingly releases his subjects. Do you think Satan will leave you in peace? Never! He will always be at you, prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. So expect trouble when you look beneath you.

Then look around you. Where are you? You are deep in enemy territory, a stranger and an exile. The world is not your friend. If it is, then you are not God's friend, for whoever is the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Mark this well: you will find enemies everywhere. When you sleep, remember you are resting on a battlefield. When you walk, suspect an ambush behind every hedge. Just as mosquitoes bite foreigners more viciously than locals, so the trials of this earth will strike you with particular fury.

Lastly, look within yourself—into your own heart. What do you see there? Sin and self still dwell within. Ah! Even if you had no devil to tempt you, no enemies to attack you, no world to trap you, you would still find enough evil within yourself to cause you endless grief. For the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

Expect trouble, then. But do not despair because of it! God is with you to help and strengthen you. He has promised: "I will be with you in trouble; I will deliver you and honor you."