I’ve heard some say that God doesn’t test His people. I have
gone back and forth about this subject most of my life. I see another perspective today. All of life is truly a test. My drinking
years were a huge test. Sobriety has been more much more of a test. Now that my
life is good, there are deeper things being tested. Will I believe? Will I stay the course? Will I shun evil? Will I love others or be selfish?
It seems that there
are natural testings built into life.
Everything that happens to us is, in effect, a test. Everything that God does
to help us and to set us free will eventually be tested. That is the way of
nature. Difficult circumstances will happen again and we will see whether or
not we will respond differently the next time. When I feel like I’ve graduated in one area, there is always
another new circumstance approaching.
I used to think I had
faith, but now I see that faith is a matter of levels, timing, and trials.
The bottom line is that the choice is to keep going and let
God mold me or to quit. Am I going to quit? No because there is nothing else
worth doing. Only what He does is real.
Only what He does lasts and carries me into the next victory - ultimately into
the next life. Actually, the next life starts here and now.
I was complaining to
God about the weather. Really! A blizzard
in November. I haven’t seen the sun in 10 days! You know what He said? “It’s
not snowing here.”
I guess I just failed
the test of self-pity.
