Training Through Trials

Have you ever wanted something for your life, and time just keeps passing by without the thing happening? If you’re like me, you begin to wonder why? You might find yourself asking questions, and trying to rationalize the reasons.  It isn’t as if it is something materialistic, and it might even be a desire that God placed in your heart, so why then does it not happen? It isn’t as if the thing that you desire is not God honoring. I have had quite a few of these things in my life. I also have found myself getting very tired at times in the petition. Mathew 7:7-11 says,  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”  Then why is my knocking not heard? 

This might seem strange, but there are times I viewed my faith walk, almost like maze. Sometimes the access doors are open, and sometimes I meet a dead end. Those long halls of open space when turning a corner are so freeing, but when I hit a dead end, I can really become quite devastated by the feeling of defeat. A rush of emotional temptations come flooding in that I thought I had already dealt with. These times are a reminder that I am not a finished product, and they make me go back, checking to ensure that my desires are actually aligning with his will for my life.  I also think of that maze. It seems that the maze was a whole lot less complex when I first started my walk with the Lord, but as time went on, and my relationship with the Lord became more sincere, I found the maze getting a little bit more complex. Why is that? 

I personally believe this is a growth process. It’s sort of like when you first become a Christian, you might be asking a lot of questions about who God is, and he shows you. It is a gradual process of learning. As your relationship grows, the questions begin to change.  He allows trials in order to train us, and we question those things because we don’t have a full understanding of God, and his ways. Just like a child questions their parent’s discipline process at times. 

God knew Job well, and called him his servant, but even Job questioned God’s actions. Job went through a variety of terrible things, and he didn't understand God’s purpose in it at first.   God used Job’s trials in so many ways. It was used to glorify God, to defeat Satan, and to test Job’s faithfulness. Job did have to repent because when it was all over, he could see  the Lord’s purpose in his trials, and he had spent a lot of time questioning it all.  In the end, God is God, and we need to be faithful to him no matter the trials, no matter the end result. He is still God, and his ways are higher than ours. The word reverent comes to mind here. This word is often used along with the phrase, “the fear of the Lord,” throughout the Bible. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10).  

In those times of questioning, we just need to remember that the Lord has his purposes, and the reverence to the Lord needs to overcome any questions we might have.