The rigors and pressures that God puts His people through are not to crush them but to shape them over time so that they can share in His holiness. Such an outcome is not something that can be brought about on their own. Their lives absolutely require divine pressure and godly tribulation to transform them from carnal to spiritual. Experiencing hardship without compromising will produce perseverance or patient continuance. As they become practiced in this constancy under pressure it becomes a part of their characters as part of the new man that they are putting on. That tempering process of building character produces hope. The only way that the hardship will end up producing hope instead of bitterness or despair is if they are actively inviting God to be a part of the situation. For the hardship to produce good fruit God and His Spirit must be the dominant factor. In approaching God they should not seek Him simply to take away the pressure that is vital for their change although He can and does deliver them at times. What is worth even more and what is true spiritual gain is walking through the anguish and the affliction with Him. When and where He is involved there is always good. Thus in His presence there is fullness of joy and in His right hand which is the symbol of His outworking there is eternal pleasure. As they experience His goodness through His involvement with them they develop that expectation of future good because they catch enough glimpses of Him that they come to know that their lives could not be in better hands. They know that as long as God is involved good things will happen. It means beginning to experience life with God right now even before the silver cord is loosed and they finally put on incorruption in the resurrection. Such hope will not disappoint because they are already experiencing the love of God. It is a matter of awareness that can only be developed through surrendering to God in whatever pressure He applies trusting that the Creator knows what He is doing with them and that He is doing it perfectly. Do not be dismayed at the presence of tribulation in whatever form. It does not have to mean that something is wrong. Such pressures are the means by which they are transformed from the image of the man of dust into the image of the heavenly Man. God will supply enough pressure to accomplish His magnificent work. He is faithful to perform it and precise in the affliction He uses. If they seek Him in their anguish and invite Him into the mortar and pestle of their lives they will begin to experience Him and they will grow in hope. The hope comes from a growing understanding of this Creator God in whom they live and move and have their being. They will have tribulation. But if they go through it with God it will yield priceless fruit that can be produced in no other way.

The parable employs a scorching sun to illustrate tribulation or persecution. The tribulation mentioned is general. The word simply means affliction, trouble, or pressure. Through many tribulations one enters the kingdom of God. The road is not only difficult but also long. Deep roots are required to survive spiritually through the long weeks in the sun. Typically the major catastrophes of life are not what overwhelm God's people and cause them to suffer spiritual collapse. Instead it is the lighter repeated relentless blows of tribulation that pummel one to the breaking point and make one want to throw in the towel. God promises that He will not allow the temptation the trial to go beyond what one can bear. It is entirely possible for a tender plant to survive the scorching sun. Doing so depends on the condition of the heart whether it is stony and hard or whether it is pliable and conducive to God's work in one.