The Trial Of Faith
Without fail, every child of God will endure trials that would seem too much for the believer to bear. At times, we may not quite understand why we are going through these tribulations, and we question God as to why these things happen. Many times the Lord may not really give us an answer as to why these things happen, so we try to find the words to express our sorrow. Through the struggles and trials—and with no answer coming from the Lord—we tend to think that the Lord is being unfair, and that He’s placing more upon us than we can handle, or so we think, and, once again, the question why looms overhead. I want you to know that I do not hold the answer as to why these things are happening to you, but I can assure you of some things regarding your trial.
EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO US IS CAUSED OR ALLOWED BY THE LORD
First of all, we have to understand that everything that happens to you, the child of God, is either caused by the Lord or allowed to take place by the Lord. This simply means that God is in control, and at times He will use Satan, sickness, disease, or circumstances to show you what is on the inside of you, and bring it to the forefront. There are things on the inside of every one of us, even the choicest believers, that are not pleasing to the Lord, and many times we may not even know that these things are present within us. But He will use situations, or allow Satan the latitude, to bring those things to our attention. This is not an easy thing to go through, but we must go through it as a part of a process that all believers must go through—a process known as sanctification. It is in this process that the Holy Spirit works to make us more like Christ. However, we must consider that in order for the Holy Spirit to work, He demands that our faith be anchored in Christ and the Cross. The Holy Spirit, who is God, wants and desires to work in our lives to a degree that only He can work. But His work is not automatic, meaning that He will not work just because you are a Christian. If that were the case, there would be no immature Christians, and we would never fail the Lord again. No, that is not the case. He does work in our lives, and wants to work in our lives, as long as our faith in anchored in Christ and the Cross, and He will not work through any other means.
THE WORTHLESSNESS OF SELF AND THE WORTHFULNESS OF CHRIST
All of this is to show us the worthlessness of self and the worthfulness of Christ. This means that we have to constantly deny ourselves, which means that we have to come to the place where we realize that we cannot do this on our own and through our own abilities. Our righteousness is as filthy rags, but His righteousness is perfection. We are not perfect, but He is and everything He did at the Cross was for us. Until the believer comes to this realization, then we will never come out the way we think we should. Every believer must come to the place where we recognize the worthlessness of self and the worthfulness of Christ, which can only be done by our faith being anchored in Christ and the Cross. And until then, we will never know the victory that the Cross can bring.
SATAN CAN ONLY DO WHAT GOD ALLOWS HIM TO DO
Secondly, we must understand that Satan is on a very tight leash, and that there is a hedge of protection built around every single child of God that cannot be removed except under special circumstances. These special circumstances are unconfessed sin, self-will, or the will of God. We see this in the life of Job. In the first chapter of the book of Job, we see Satan telling the Lord that there is hedge built around Job, and Satan cannot penetrate that hedge. It was the Lord who opened that hedge for a time so that Satan could afflict Job—all to test Job and his faith. There is an old saying: “Faith must be tested, and great faith must be tested greatly.” All faith must be tested to see if it is legitimate faith or something else altogether. Satan wanted to attack Job, as he does us, and the Lord gave Satan certain latitude to do so with the warning that he could not touch Job’s life. Every attack of the enemy is not so much against us, but really against our faith—to destroy or severely weaken our faith. However, as Satan wants to tempt us for failure, the Lord tests us for our victory.
TRUST
The third reason as to why trials come, and this may be the most important, it is to teach the believer trust, which does not come easily. We have to believe that God has everything under control; that He knows exactly what He’s doing and that there has never been an instance where He didn’t know what He was doing. We may not know, but God does know, and He allows trials to come to teach us to trust Him. This is what faith is all about: to trust Him even when we cannot see what lies ahead and even when we cannot seem to take another step for fear of failure or attack.
When it seems that all of hell is against us, and friends and family members have turned their backs on us, then we can rest assured that Jesus Christ will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us. He will come to our rescue every time and always right on time. He may not come when we want Him to come, but He’ll be there right on time. Why? Because He is an on-time God, yes He is! Through your test and through your trial, never look away from the Cross, but keep your eyes and your faith in what Christ has accomplished for you. Even when it seems that you can’t make it, remember that Satan is on a leash and can only do what God says he can do, and that there is a hedge built around you that cannot be penetrated unless God deems it necessary.
Lastly, remember to trust Him for He has everything under control. He loves you, and He will never do anything to destroy you, but will build you up and try you that you may come through as pure gold. Keep pressing through. You are going to make it, and as long as you keep your eyes on Christ and the Cross, the Holy Spirit will see to it that you come through.
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