|
That the trial of your faith, being much
More precious than gold that perishes, Though it be tried by fire, might be found Unto praise and honor and glory at the Appearing of Jesus Christ. 1Pt1:7 The trial of your faith after salvation is the greatest blessing one could possibly have. The trial of our faith is the testing ground, the proving ground, the ground of overcoming. Our faith only becomes real as it is tested. The testing proves that we are the chosen ones, the called out ones, and the begotten of God. It is through faith that we inherit the promises. It is through faith that it might be by grace that we receive the blessings of God. It is as our faith is tried that it becomes vibrant and active and productive. The trial of our faith calls us to deeper conversion. It calls us to deeper prayer, increased reading and study of the word, fasting and almsgiving, and further separation from the world. But not for our trials our lives would be shallow and weak and our faith dormant and flabby. Do not be surprised that after you are born again that storms and obstacles come your way. In fact we are to count it all joy according to the epistle of James. But if we have been called to service then we will have to earn our way. We will have to experience a “partaking of the sufferings of Christ” not only for ourselves but for the raising of the body of Christ. Trials give us an intimacy with Christ who suffered, died, and was buried for our justification. We get to know Christ and in knowing Christ our love and compassion for the poor increases and we get to the place where we know that our natural virtues our helpless to sustain us or bless our neighbor. Only when our backs are up against the wall, where there is no way out, where we can not solve the problem by human means that we learn to put our faith in God. It is as we reach the limit of our own abilities and as our trials reveal our own shortcomings do we begin to obtain the blessings of God. It takes a long time for some of us to exhaust our own giftedness before we reach the spiritual frontiers where God can bless. But if we endure, if we harden not our hearts, if we do not murmur and complain then what will follow is the inheritance of the saints in light. We will be blessed and be a blessing to others. We will be broken vessels divested of self and radiating the beauty of God. It will be all of God and none of me. I will have died and my life will have been hidden with Christ in God. I will have begun to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. I will have lived by the faith of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So my friend: do not despise the chastening of the Lord. Do not be surprised at hardships and trials where all seems lost and forsaken. Do not blink when it seems like it is impossible for there to be a solution to your problem. When you have reached the end of self you have just begun to experience the blessings of almighty God. Then your faith will have become tried and tested and true and you will have done something that you will be proud of for all eternity. You will have pleased God. For without faith it is impossible to please God. So my friend: Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of God. Die to self and live in God. The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, will be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. The trials are the only thing that will allow your faith to grow. Your faith is the very nature of God. To walk by faith is to walk in the Holy Spirit and the personality of God. So do not give up the fight. Pray and fast and study and give and God will not be outdone. He will do more than we can think or imagine and we will enter into glory. We will enter into all the blessing of God. Amen |