Testing and Trials

Today, as I turned the page in my Bible from Esther, I found myself face to face with my next devotional reading…Job. Immediately, I thought: Oh, no, I don’t really want to spend the next few days studying Job. Thinking of trials and times of testing may not be pleasant. When you study those things, you find yourself wondering: What does God have in store for me?

I then thought about the words trial and testing. They mean examination, experiment, try out, audition, court case, ordeal, trouble, difficulty, tribulation, probation, sample. A few of those words don’t sound too bad. Like the word experiment…it’s fun to experiment with things you’ve never tried. What about the word try out?…that takes me back to Jr. High cheerleader try outs or Sr. High basketball try outs…fun with my friends. Consider the word audition…doesn’t that make you think of American Idol? We should see the trials of our lives as an audition–show that devil you’re bound for heaven in the way you face difficulty.

Then, I read Job 2:9-10. It says, ”His wife said to him, ‘Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ He replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” Although, Satan was the force behind Job’s difficulties, Job knew his life was in God’s hands…God had allowed the time of testing for a reason. Job trusted God!

Whatever God has in store for you and me, remember we need to trust Him. He may allow a time of testing to come my way, but I’m going to use that time to show Him how much I love Him and how much my faith has grown since my last trial. (Wasn’t that yesterday?)

Times of testing and trials are going to come. Will you come out shining like a star or broken, bruised and bitter? A shining star sounds good to me.