Learn to Test or Test to Learn?
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” - James 1:2-4
When life hits you with a storm, the easiest thing to do is try to get out. Face it, it is not a comfortable place to be in, and anything we can do to get back to comfortable is what we try to do. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we know deep down that the storm is often worth staying in. Perhaps the relationship is worth fighting for, or the job is worth staying in. Perhaps the friendship is worth preserving, or the degree is worth completing.
I know that in the logic of the world, you learn so that you can take a test. But with God you take the test so that you can learn. Take David, who will stand his ground and hold on to his trust in God, and declare in Psalm 119:71, “It was good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.”
You might be wondering why God has not allowed you to circumvent your current crisis. Why won’t He deliver you from your current storm? The answer is simple: God wants to use your present predicament as a part of the core curriculum for your future success. He wants you to learn what David discovered, that you cannot always run from the challenge in front of you because sometimes the challenge in front of you has been designed and positioned to get you to your promise.
Don’t run from this challenge of faith. Stand your ground and hold on to your faith. Remind yourself He that begun a good work in you and will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus. Keep trusting in God and tell yourself, no weapon formed against me will prosper. Look your troubles in the face and declare like the psalmist, “I’ve been young and now old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken…”
In your walk with God, He allows you to be tested so that you can learn what it is that He has for you. Understand this framework, and know that when you are tested, it is for your own personal growth and your ultimate purpose!
When life hits you with a storm, the easiest thing to do is try to get out. Face it, it is not a comfortable place to be in, and anything we can do to get back to comfortable is what we try to do. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we know deep down that the storm is often worth staying in. Perhaps the relationship is worth fighting for, or the job is worth staying in. Perhaps the friendship is worth preserving, or the degree is worth completing.
I know that in the logic of the world, you learn so that you can take a test. But with God you take the test so that you can learn. Take David, who will stand his ground and hold on to his trust in God, and declare in Psalm 119:71, “It was good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.”
You might be wondering why God has not allowed you to circumvent your current crisis. Why won’t He deliver you from your current storm? The answer is simple: God wants to use your present predicament as a part of the core curriculum for your future success. He wants you to learn what David discovered, that you cannot always run from the challenge in front of you because sometimes the challenge in front of you has been designed and positioned to get you to your promise.
Don’t run from this challenge of faith. Stand your ground and hold on to your faith. Remind yourself He that begun a good work in you and will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus. Keep trusting in God and tell yourself, no weapon formed against me will prosper. Look your troubles in the face and declare like the psalmist, “I’ve been young and now old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken…”
In your walk with God, He allows you to be tested so that you can learn what it is that He has for you. Understand this framework, and know that when you are tested, it is for your own personal growth and your ultimate purpose!
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