I wonder if there’s a reason we have so many different words for difficult times. Just a short list would have words like “distress,” “anguish,” “agony,” “affliction,” “trouble,” “sorrow” and “woe.” There are quite a few more that could be added. Do we really need so many? Maybe not, but it likely shows difficult times are a very common experience since we talk about them in such a variety of ways.

Another similar word is “tribulation.” Mentioning “tribulations” is not so common outside the church, and even for us it’s not an everyday word. (However, Google Books has an application that shows how frequent a word was used over time. “Tribulation” was more common in the 1800s, took a dip through the 1900s, and now has seen somewhat of a comeback since the 1990s/2000s).

Whatever way we choose to express the idea, our big wish is to get out of it. The great news is that we will! No matter what difficulty it is. We will get out of it. The apostle John is given a vision . . . . in which he sees those who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

Some see the “great tribulation” in this verse as a time of special trial for Christians near the end of time like what Jesus describes in Matthew 24:21. That could be the case. Although it’s true John is already a “companion in suffering/tribulation” with his readers (John 1:9) in his own times long before the end of the world.

This vision is for all believers who have experienced tribulation. You may well have your own story of tribulation. Just about everyone does. Persecution or criticism for your faith. Health or relationship tribulations. You may well “get out” of them for a while during life on earth. They have a way of returning, often in different forms.

We ask for deliverance now in God’s goodness. But the great deliverance is what John sees. If those in great tribulation have made it to the place of perfect peace, we will too. With our clothes washed in the blood of Christ. For those who believe in him, there will be a certain escape by God’s grace from any trouble to the great multitude in heaven. See what John sees and rejoice in hope!

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:13-14)