IN TIMES OF TESTING, ARE YOU LIKE THE WAVES?
We have all heard the saying, "there are two things in life we cannot escape - death and taxes". I would go one further and add to this saying trials and tribulations. When things are going fine in our little world we seem to think more clearly, know what directions we want to take our life in and we tend to lean more to our own understanding on everything. Then out of the blue we are suddenly faced with trials and tribulations we didn't expect. Within five or so minutes we loose all sense of reality, direction, faith, wisdom, common sense and our once composed and controlled emotions are now going crazy. Sounds familiar?
Yes I will be the first to admit I have been guilty of loosing faith and temper when faced with trials and tribulations during my life time. Why it was only yesterday my emotions ran high when I found out my integrity was being questioned by someone I had never met before who was living in another state, yet they felt they knew me well enough to try and destroy my reputation.
I was sharing with our daughter what transpired. My daughter asked me about my bible, but I didn't really pay too much attention to her question. A few minutes later she comes and sits down at the table and says, "Mum there is something I want to read you from James 1." So I sat and listened to what she had to share with me.
"Consider the pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tosseed by the wind." James 1:2-6 (NIV)
It is a chapter in the Book of James we are famliar with about trials, tribulations and testings, yet it took my daughter to get me back on track again and remind me in a respectful way that what I was experiencing was developing my perserverance - yes my perserverance.
After hearing these words again, I sat back for a moment and then realised there was something I had to learn from this testing. Inspite of what was happening, I needed to display a level of both phsyical and spiritual maturity in order for God to do His part. For some reason, God was helping me mature my perserverance.
As a way of encouragement, when we are faced with a trial and loose all sense of reality, don't ignore Godly advise even when the message is being delivered by someone God has chosen even if it is your son or daughter. Why? when you need it the most, God in His infinite wisdom will always make away for someone to speak wisdom into your life - we just need to be open to receive it when it comes.
When trials and tribulations come your way, are you like waves of the sea being blown and tossed by the wind?
