Glory to God! The Lord has been good to us during the past week as He has extended His faithfulness to us time and time again. He has lavished on us His great love and chosen us to be His dear children, as Apostle John mentioned: See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are … (1 John 3:1a). Now, it is our call to live a life that love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-39: Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27). As the season of FIFA World Cup matches are in progress, people must learn to show respect to everyone else who comes across their life without showing any discomfort or favoritism of any kind. Many of us can feel around us the excitement of the sports/soccer lovers for the twenty-third FIFA World Cup and the momentum of 2026 FIFA world cup as the matches between the eligible countries are going on currently in the host countries such as USA, Canada, and Mexico. As the participant countries and non-participant countries celebrate the momentum of soccer game beyond the boundaries of their political and social and religious and cultural and color and class and anything as such. The teams that emerged as winners in their regional competitions will test their ability to defend themselves against other regional winners in the world arena and try their best to defend themselves against any other teams and stay in the game until the last rivalry team is ousted/eliminated and emerge as the defending or new FIFA world champions. The current FIFA World Cup matches started with the inaugural match played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico, on June 11, 2026 and will conclude with the final match played between the two finalist teams that emerged from a total of forty-eight teams from forty-eight countries who participated this year’s FIFA World Cup, which will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, on July 19, 2026. The winner will be crowned as champion and the other team will be crowned as runners-up for the next four years. The preparations for the next FIFA World Cup tournament is already underway and it will be held from June 8, 2030 – July 21, 2030 primarily in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco but Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay would also host at least one inaugural match each as part of FIFA World Cup Centennial celebrations (1930-2030). Also, preparations for the 2034 FIFA World Cup tournament is underway and it will be held in Saudi Arabia, which would become the first single nation to host the forty-eight (48) team tournament.

The Lord has blessed us with a very promising Scripture passage for our SftW meditation this week, which is taken from James 1:12 [mentioned above]. The passage reveals the reality that a person’s life on earth is filled with various kinds of trials [which includes physical trials like sickness, hunger, thirst, restlessness, and so on; mental trials like disappointments, fretfulness, anxieties of different kinds, and so on; spiritual trials like tests and temptations, unbeliefs, faithlessness, and so on] and there is a promise of rewards for those who persist and persevere under such trials, which includes a crown of life (James 1:12). Many of us might have gone through such trials of various kinds in our own life and overcome such situations with the help of the Holy Spirit who comforts and counsels us time to time. Also, we can read in the Holy Scriptures [both in the Old and New Testaments] that many saints who stood their ground regarding their true faith in God and righteous living have triumphantly overcome such trials and temptations of various kinds they faced in life. Although there are many examples to mention, due to lack of time and space, we will note a few for our spiritual encouragement; for instance: Joseph son of Jacob faced trials and temptations in his own house [from his own brothers] and Potiphar’s house but he stood the his ground regarding his relationship with his God and overcame all such trials and temptations and God honored him for his faithfulness to Him (Genesis 37:1-36; 39:1-23; 41:1-57). The Israelites went through so many trials and troubles in Egypt as they were enslaved after hundreds of years after Joseph’s death but God delivered them and brought them into a spacious land of their own that was promised to their forefathers (Genesis 41:1-Joshua 24:33). Daniel faced trials from his Babylonian colleagues for his loyalty to the God of his fathers and was thrown into lions’ den but God protected him and delivered him from the mouth of the lions (Daniel 6:1-28); Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced trials and troubles from their Babylonian colleagues and from king Nebuchadnezzar itself when their faith in the God of their fathers was tested but they too overcame by the power of their faith in the God of their fathers (Daniel 3:1-30). Jesus Himself, the God incarnate, went through trials and temptations of various kinds but He victoriously overcame each time and is now seated at the righthand side of God the Father [the Lord God Almighty] interceding for His people (Matthew 4:1-11; 26:1-28:20; Mark 19:19; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3). The apostles of Christ and early church also faced severe trials and troubles for their faith in Jesus Christ and preaching and teaching the gospel and being Christ’s witness on earth (Acts 5:17-42; 8:1; 9:1-2; 12:1-4). Apostle Paul also faced lot of trials and troubles and test of his faith/trust in Jesus Christ during his life and ministry, as he mentioned while writing to the believers in Corinth, saying:\

As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything (2 Corinthians 6:4-10)

Dear friends in the Lord, we can notice that all of the above mentioned people [as a single person or as a group] who have faced trials and troubles and test of their faith in God during their life-time have persevered in their faith-life and, thus, have overcome all the obstacles that came across their life’s path. Many of us who are part of the present generation also might have had faced trials and troubles of many kinds and have overcome them with the help of the Holy Spirit. James wrote that the one who persevere under trials and troubles and sufferings and prove themselves worthy of their call would receive the crown of life as reward in their life (James 1:12). Therefore, let us hold onto Jesus who gave up His life to save our life  (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16) and live a life that is pleasing to Him. It is His promise to us that He will not leave us alone as orphans (John 14:18) rather He will walk along our side and lead and guide us into the awesome presence of our heavenly Father and reward us all that he promised to us (refer to: Isaiah 43:2; Matthew 28:20). May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!