Leadership Thought: What God Wants to Teach Us Through Our Trials.

Dear Friends

A test is a difficult experience through which a person's true values, commitments, and beliefs are revealed. 

A college sophomore in anticipation of a notoriously difficult final exam in his ornithology class- that's the study of birds-made what he considered the ultimate effort in preparation for his exam. 

He was then stunned when he walked into the classroom to take the exam and found there was no blue book, no multiple-choice questions, no text booklet at all- just 25 pictures on the wall. They were photos, not of birds, but of birds' feet. The test was to identify each of the twenty-five birds by only their feet.

"This is insane," the student protested. "It can't be done."

"It must be done," said the professor. "This is the final."

"I won't do it," the boy said, "and I'm walking out."

"Go ahead and fail me," the boy said, heading for the door. 

"OK, you failed. What is your name," the professor demanded?

The boy pulled up his pantlegs, kicked off his shoes, and said, "You tell me."

Yes, tests do reveal a lot about a person's true value. 

It has been said that "Christians are a lot like tea bags- not much good until they have been placed in the hot water. It is only when we find ourselves in the hot water that our true colors are revealed. 

In one of my favorite devotional books, Steams in the Desert I read the following message regarding trials and testing.

"We must win the victory in the furnace.  It is there that our faith is truly revealed. It is in the fires of affliction and adversity that our character is able to shine.

A person has only as much faith as he/she shows in times of trouble. 

The three men who were thrown into the fiery furnace came out just as they went in- except for the ropes that had bound them. 

How often God removes our shackles in the furnace of affliction.

These three men walked through the fire unhurt. Their skin was not even blistered. Not only had the fire not harmed their bodies, but not a hair of their heads was singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them" (Daniel 3: 27)

This is the way Christians should come out of the furnace of fiery trials- liberated from their shackles, and untouched by the flames.  

When it is dark enough, men see the stars. Adversity, affliction, trials and temptations all provide the backdrop against which our character may shine as stars in the night.

When we find ourselves in difficult situations, the world is watching to see how we respond. Our faith is on trial. What they see revealed in us- light or darkness- may have a profound bearing on who they become, both now and for eternity." Streams in the Desert, April 3. 

Peter writes. "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, which though perishable, is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1: 6-7).

We may question or complain about why God puts us through suffering. 

"God, you already know what's in my heart, and how I am going to do, so why do you put me through this?" 

But Peter tells us the truth. God tests us not for His benefit, but for our benefit. He doesn't put us through the test so that He can find out how we will respond, for He already knows. He tests us so that we might know how we will respond. The test is for our benefit, not His.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P. S. "Calamity is the perfect mirror, wherein we truly see and know ourselves."  William Davenant