"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:57-58

It is vitally important for us to understand that victory in Christ does not mean that we will be free of troubles. Christ came that we would have life and have it more abundantly so some have come to believe that we are destined to live a pain-free life. The victory here that Paul is referring to is victory from the sting of death. Those of us who have received Christ and have been filled with the Holy Spirit are imparted with eternal life. We may sleep the sleep of death, but the grave cannot hold us because Jesus has the keys to death and the grave and will one day call us forth from the great divide.

Paul taught the Romans that nothing could take them out of God’s loving hand and that in Christ they were more than conquerors saying, -"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, not height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom.8)

But Paul wasn’t telling them that they would never face any perils or hardships. In fact, this statement followed a series of warnings of tribulation, distress, persecution - even saying, -"For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

Eleven of the twelve Apostles were martyred and John was imprisoned. Paul was constantly on the run from persecution, beaten continuously, stoned and eventually jailed and beheaded. After the stoning of Stephen a great persecution broke out against the Church and thousands were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and killed. Yet in all this they were overwhelming victors in Christ Jesus.

 Jesus said "Blessed are you when you are persecuted for that is how they treated the prophets before you." Even today, there are millions of Christians in foreign camps being mistreated and tortured. As many as two hundred thousand are martyred for their faith in Jesus each year. Yet, they are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

Our life is hidden and sealed in Christ and nothing can take us from the Lord. In Christ we can glorify God in plenty and in need, in suffering and in deliverance and in life and in death. The death of one of His saints is precious in the sight of God.

 If we do not understand that we may suffer as many of the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, we can easily become discouraged and lose our faith. If our faith is believing that we will always be kept from hardships and troubles, then it is not the same faith of the saints who have gone before us. Let us lift our hands and rejoice in all things, for God is able to turn what the devil means for evil into something good and glorious.