When I was a new Believer I thought that my life was going to be one giant blessing after another. Surely, I thought, after receiving God’s forgiveness all the bad days were gone, and from the moment I repented I would be on easy street with nothing but good things to follow such a radical shift in my life, right?
Imagine my surprise when just about a week later I was hit with a test of my faith. It shook me a bit, but after leaning on God I managed to get my feet back underneath me and moved on, thinking to myself, okay, now that that’s over, NOW it’s nothing but smooth sailing.
Until the next test came…and the next…and well, let’s just say that I’ve been walking out my faith for 32 years and still have yet to find that smooth and easy street I naively dreamed about in the beginning!
What I did learn, and am still learning, is that God doesn’t shield believers from difficult circumstances or challenges. The Bible says in Psalm 11:5, “The Lord examines the righteous…”
He allows every human being to go through trials and tests and challenges, not for some kind of sadistic fun, but to stretch our faith and help us grow. You see, God tests the heart to see if we are truly walking by faith or not.
For some, God’s tests become a refining fire, drawing out the bad parts and replacing them with a stronger faith, or character. For others, God’s tests become the method of our destruction, an incinerator in which we allow the fire to consume everything we are, whether good or bad.
As a believer, especially, I cannot defy or ignore the tests and challenges that come my way. While they may not always be pleasant, or seem important, they really are a big deal to God. What I do with them shows God how serious I am about our relationship. Do I love Him enough to trust Him? Do I believe that whatever I am going through is meant to help me, not hinder me? Will I allow the refining fire of the Holy Spirit to work through me, and in me, so that at the end of it I come out stronger, better than I was at first?
Tests are going to come, but what will I do with them? Shake my fist at God in defiance or anger, or see them for what they are, an opportunity to grow closer to the God I serve?