A shadow casts longest at the end of the day as does one’s character at the start of a trial.
A trial? Is this a post about a John Grisham novel with a courtroom, lawyers, and a judge?
You might be disappointed to learn the answer is “No.” – We’re talking about personal challenges… difficulties.
We’ve all had them and we’ll have them some more. I think it’s safe to say that we really don’t like them.
I love all books in the Bible, but the ones written by the Apostle Paul always seem to hit home with me. I mean, here’s a guy that rejoices even in prison. All I can say is “Wow.”
So, what normally happens when we face “trials”?
We try to escape it.
Another way to say that would be that we try to avoid it. Or we try to make it go away. One of the most common ways to make it go away is to “stick our head in the sand” with the hope that if we refuse to acknowledge it, it will magically disappear.
That rarely works.
But let’s get past the “head in the sand” part. Let’s say you’ve got yourself a trial in life and you’ve decided to deal with it. That’s where the rubber meets the road.
God uses trials to build our faith. Or, He certainly wants to use trials to build our faith. As we know, by our actions, we decide how the trial will be used and how it will affect us. (I’m not trying to start a fight about free will vs. predestination.) And for those Christians that believe God only has His hands in the “good” parts of our lives, I must beg to differ. Remember, God’s plan is beyond the scope of our imagination to understand. He sees the “real” big picture. Our “big picture” is like looking through a straw at the world that God sees.
The Tiny Words. Big Life. approach to dealing with a trial is really simple. First of all, accept it. Don’t do the head in the sand thing. That will not end well. Instead, go immediately to God in prayer and ask for strength to deal with it… ask for wisdom to make the right decisions… ask for understanding to see how it affects others, and finally, be like Paul… thank God for the reminder that you’re still alive to experience the very thing that’s tempting you to do your best ostrich imitation!
On the other hand, if you choose the head in the sand approach, make sure the hole is big enough to get your head out. That wouldn’t be good.
Romans 5:3-5
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.