Testing times: What they are all about

WHENEVER YOU FIND YOURSELF going through times of testing, there is always a reason … a very good reason …

In fact, there are several reasons. Testing times are to:

  UNCOVER something: When God allows pressures and trials, it is so that you might uncover something in your life He wants to deal with. Hardships reveal areas of weakness and vulnerability. God wants to strengthen us in those very areas, and better equip us not only to stand strong in the storms ourselves, but also to be a shelter for others.

  RECOVER something: God allows us to be tested so that we might recover something we have lost over the months and years. Perhaps it is our delight in the Word of God, a habit of daily prayer, or the delight of regular fellowship with those of like-minded faith.

  DISCOVER something: Even though it is a test you may not like or enjoy, you discover that He is your God, you are His child, and that He loves you. He will care for you and see you through.

People talk about this trial and that trial, this test and that test. People will say, “Pray for me, I am going through a trial in my marriage” (or in my job or in my finances or in my relationships at home). But in reality, those are not the things being tested at all. What is being tested is our faith, whether we will really trust Him to work in and through our circumstances.

When the heat is on … when the shadows fall … when disappointment rips through my heart … am I going to trust Him? Am I going to wait on Him, worship Him, and give my anxieties to Him? Or am I going to turn away from Him in my doubt and discouragement? – KneEmail.