their patience and cultivate their obedience. Although believers can
promise to be with them. It is through His sustaining hand that they are able to endure with patience, a strength they could never muster on their own. In this way, patience becomes a living proof to the saints that God faithfully provides the aid He has promised whenever it is needed. Such experiences serve to deepen and strengthen their faith, for it would be ungrateful to doubt that God's truth will continue to be firm and unwavering in the future, just as they have found it to be in the past. We can clearly see the manifold benefits that the cross brings. It shatters the inflated sense of our own virtue and exposes the hypocrisy in which we take delight. It strips away our harmful reliance on our own strength, teaching us to lean solely on God. Thus, when we are humbled in this manner, we neither succumb to oppression nor despair. Furthermore, victory over tribulation engenders hope, as the Lord, in fulfilling His promises, establishes His faithfulness for what lies ahead. These reasons alone demonstrate the crucial necessity of bearing the cross. It is of immense importance to be liberated from self-love and to become acutely aware of our weakness. This awareness should instill in us a deep sense of distrust in ourselves, leading us to transfer our complete confidence to God alone. With heartfelt reliance, we lean on Him, trusting in His aid and remaining invincible until the end. We stand firm by His grace, recognizing that He is true to His promises. And with unwavering assurance in the certainty of His promises, we are fortified in hope, empowered to persevere.
4. Another purpose for the Lord's affliction of His people is to test their patience and cultivate their obedience. Although believers can only yield obedience to God through His enabling grace, He is pleased to provide visible and remarkable demonstrations of the graces He has bestowed upon His saints. He does this so that these graces may not remain hidden and unused. Thus, by openly showcasing the strength and constancy of endurance that He has endowed His servants with, He is said to test their patience. This is why we read of God testing Abraham when He asked him to sacrifice his only son (Genesis 21:1, 12). It is also why Peter tells us that our faith is proven through tribulation, just as gold is tested in the