A Sheer Gift

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." ~James 1:2-4, The Message

When trouble arrives at the doorstep of life...big trouble...how many of us think of it as a "sheer gift?" Sure, I'll dance a jig while the very fiber of my being is tested. Then again what is faith if it cannot be tested? What good is it to believe in God if it only remains in the realm of theory and conjecture? Is faith sufficient to sustain each of us through life's challenges?

I am learning about the "true colors" of my faith at present. Guess what? God is proving Himself trustworthy. Like I should be surprised!

It's becoming clear that in the midst of the heaviest of life's burdens, an attitude of joy is essential. I mean when the roof caves in, you don't deny reality but you learn to cling to a hope that only God offers. That produces sustainable joy.

What I share with you comes from the present circumstances of my life. This summer, many things came crashing down...a job offer rescinded, leaving us without jobs and most recently a major health challenge in our family with Lori, my wife of 24 years. I can tell you I have tried with everything in me to get out of this trial we did nothing to cause. I want to escape the pain and uncertainty. I want to say, "I believe" and be done with it. However, when I read this verse in James and it cautions to not attempt to end the trial prematurely, I find strength to surrender to it.

It is a sheer gift, for the test is proving faith. Faith in God. Faith that is unmovable. I'll take it.

john