The testing of your faith: A perspective on trials

James in his epistle has a perspective on trials that we don't immediately see in the natural. He tells us that trials are there to test (and hence strengthen) our faith. To James' Jewish Christian audience, this would be a familiar theme from the old Testament. For example God tested Abraham concerning his son (Genesis 22:1), and the Israelites were tested in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2).

The stated purpose of the long drawn out wilderness experience the Deuteronomy passage refers to, was to humble and test the Israelites so as to know what was in their hearts. Most of us do not know our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9), but our hearts are revealed many times in our response to the trials of life. Israel had blown it at the beginning of the 40 year period of their wanderings. These wanderings would not have been necessary if they had responded to their challenges with faith. We too can save ourselves long drawn out wilderness experiences if we learn to respond to our circumstances in faith. In the end the Lord will have His way with us anyway, and it is surely better to quickly submit rather than to be humbled and then finally, in the end, to come kicking and screaming into acceptance.

I don't pretend that is it easy, in the midst of the trial, our focus tends to be on the trial itself, and the pain we are suffering. Because this is so, we may not immediately recognize that our faith is being tested, nor the value of such testing. When we see that our faith is being tested, and that God has purpose in allowing it, the Christian can perhaps see more clearly that he or she is in fact given a choice.

For many years in my own life all I could see or feel was the pain of my trials. I did not see my circumstances as an opportunity to put my faith in Him, rather I tried to work it all out in my own strength and wisdom. In fact things had to get very much worse before I finally got a hold of the truth being discussed here. Only then did I start to respond in faith to the trials and tribulations that He had allowed. With 20/20 hindsight I am also painfully aware that, like unbelieving Israel, my own unbelief resulted in my family being dragged through the wilderness with me. And I can now say clearly from the School of hard knocks that we need to enter this process of becoming whole (for that is what it is) not only for our own sake, but also for our families and those over whom we have influence.

What I am trying to say here, is that unless or until we start to understand that the trials we encounter are in fact testing our faith, we are unlikely to choose to respond to them in trust and faith, and so by His grace learn to rise above them. We do need His help for this (I do). Someone put it this way. “We need to learn to stop fighting the people and circumstances that God allows in our lives with the purpose of making us more like Him.”