Trials are the best and only way of putting your love for God to the test. Your faith then becomes real. Not just talked about, but real.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and today I’m sharing hope.
Although at first you wouldn’t think so, given this story from the Bible. And you know it well. It’s way back in Genesis 22 where God calls Abraham to Mt. Moriah where he is to offer up a sacrifice to the Lord. But it’s not just any sacrifice; Abraham is to offer up to God his own son, the son he loves; he is to offer up Isaac, the son of promise, the one who would eventually father a nation, actually many nations. And so, Abraham and Isaac begin climbing that mountain. They reach the top, Isaac arranges wood for the altar, and then asks his father, “Where is the sacrifice?” Well, it is Isaac who is the sacrifice, and Abraham obediently binds his son to the wood.
And with his heart and hands trembling, Abraham lifts the knife, but suddenly hears, stop! “Stop!” comes the voice from heaven. Then, God says, “‘Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’” You can almost hear Abraham breathe a sigh of relief; he was getting ready to end the life of his only son. But why would God say, “Now I know that you fear me?” I mean, God already knew what was in Abraham’s heart; he alone knows the hearts of all men. And if God knew the patriarch would pass the test long before Abraham reached for the knife, then why put the old man through the ordeal? Well, for simply this reason: God didn’t lack information about Abraham, but Abraham may have lacked information about himself. And this is why God tests our faith.
Not that he might know what’s in us; that is what we believe, what’s really in our heart, but that we might know. Because we say that we love God, that he is first in our lives, that our marriages are centered around him, that we trust and obey him. But we can easily deceive ourselves unless that love for God is frequently put to the test. God wants us to know the actual, lived-out reality of our preference and inclination for him. Not merely through words [it’s easy to say words] but through gritty obedience. A hard test of our faith forces us to ask ourselves, “Do I love God? I mean, do I really prefer him?” And a faith test will reveal the stuff inside your soul. Its why God tells us to welcome our trials as friends. It’s why he even says that we can rejoice in our suffering. Because suffering reveals, as nothing else, what we believe. What we treasure. It reveals how strong our faith is and if we, indeed, truly love God [or even think that God is important].
One of the dangers of the Christian life is that we too often imagine it. We imagine that we are people of prayer and disciples that obey, but are we in fact? 1 Kings 8:39 says, “[God] alone knows every human heart.” You see, one reason life is so hard is that what we believe must be lived out in reality. So you will face many choices today, many opportunities to show God through your obedience that you prefer him. And trials are the best way, the only way, of putting our love for God to the test. Our faith then becomes real. Not just talked about, but real. And so, from the lady in the wheelchair, join me and welcome whatever test may come your way today. Because I know, I believe that you and I want our Savior to see the depth of our love for him.
© Joni and Friends