As calamities, atrocities and disasters of all kinds continually emerge throughout different parts of the world, the need for peace becomes progressively amplified. The inescapable truth is that the same peace which humanity has sought repeatedly throughout the last two millennia is still not found in anything under the sun. In fact, as mere mortal beings we are utterly incapable of ever attaining this life-transforming peace because we ourselves are spiritually-depraved. Like Romans 3:10 tells us,
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Today I feel that the Holy Spirit is guiding me to start a new series about perhaps one of the most ubiquitous topics that we face on a day-to-day basis. Specifically, this topic focuses on both suffering and perseverance and their critical importance in our lives, particularly as Christians living in an increasingly broken world. Throughout this first entry (1 of 4 in series) I will attempt to provide linkages between suffering and perseverance, relying on God’s Word, in order to emphasize their respective levels of significance in the Christian life.
Unequivocally, those with faith in God must contend with doubt from time to time (Mark 9:24). What is most important is how we respond to doubts particularly when they target our salvation. Casting doubts into the believer’s mind is easily one of Satan’s most effective weapons as evidenced in Genesis 3 when Satan introduced Eve’s mind to doubt. Think about it for a minute…if Satan is able to cause us to doubt our salvation, or to create a lack of confidence in His Word, then his spiritual attacks are able to gain traction, which cause us to become more vulnerable to temptations.
Perhaps one of the biggest stumbling blocks towards those entering into a relationship with God through Jesus are derived from religion. From my personal observations, a consistently communicated message towards this topic of discussion is, “I’m not religious, but…”. It appears that being religious is very stigmatized throughout an increasingly pluralistic western society. This is a real tragedy particularly for those living their entire lives afraid of entering into a personal relationship with God under the false impression that religion is somehow a necessary step in doing so. 
Theological Reflections 