Hi how are you all today? I am well and am at present on holidays in the South Pacific on a cruise ship. It is relaxing and good for me as I have had a lot of stress around my life lately. How are you going?
In this post I want to look at trials through trails. In my younger years I did some cross country running as well as ran around tracks on the oval at school. Both types of running are different. One is endurance and the other is over in a short time. Thinking about this, I wonder if that is what we think our trials look like.
Some don’t take long but others it feels like we are settled into them like we are in a cross country run. I like the quick trials but not the long ones. How about you?
So let’s look at when we run a short race. In school most times we don’t even train for them unless we are really good. We line up at the start line, and hear the word ready. On that command we position our feet. Then we hear set- we lean down and get ready to run. Then go and we start running. Depending on the length of the race, most are over in 5 to 10 minutes or even 30 seconds.
When we experience trials like this in our lives and get through them- we call them quick wins. They don’t teach us much but act as a hope that we can run longer and harder races.
However for endurance or cross country races, the start and end may be the same as a short race but the middle certainly isn’t. It is in the middle section that we develop what is outlined in James 1. Verses 2 to 8 in the Message Bible states:
2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
So what does these verses say that trials produce-
- Faith life shows its true colours. It is only when we are in the midst of a trial that we can clearly see how deep our trust of God is and how much of His Word we have hidden in our hearts.
- Don’t try to end the trial prematurely. When we run out of patience in the midst of a trial, we will find ourselves getting angry and upset. We can get angry with God, with ourselves, with others or even with the trial. We need to have patience to not lose hope and endure the trial.
- A trial that’s long helps us to mature in God and be well developed in God and His Word.
- A long trial will always cause us to seek God more. Long trials cause us to draw closer to God whereas short trials don’t usually.
- Don’t worry. I have a tendency to do this in the midst of a trial. Do I trust God enough? Will He really come through? How long will this last? What am I missing or supposed to be learning? Trials are not meant to break us but to strengthen us.
So this week if you are going through a trial, seek God. He wants to show you how to move through it. God is more interested in our endurance than our comfort. He loves us and because of this wants to see us grow. This can only happen through trials.
Just a note of encouragement- you can do it but with God.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you
Karen
0 Comments