Trials

Trials come in many forms. Some are simple: the flat tire, the promotion that went to someone less qualified, the temptation to goof off when no one is looking, or the annoying neighbor. Others are more challenging: the wayward child, the lost of a loved one, not knowing where we will sleep or what we will eat, the abusive relationship, and the doctor that said there is nothing else that he can do.
We all have them, some of us it seems more than our share. They make or break us for we will rise or fall to them. They are meant to show us our hearts and what we truly believe for our heart easily deceives us. They are meant to drive us back to God. If we do not learn the lessons, He is faithful to repeat them until we do. It is by this testing that we grow and are refined and purified into the image of Christ. While no one in their right mind welcomes life’s trials, we should not be surprised by them either for we have good company.
Christ faced many trials and showed us how we should come through. His first, would He give up his right to be worshiped as God and become a servant to man and His father? He chose to humble himself and leave heaven. Would he give up his right to be anywhere he wanted and do anything he wanted? He chose to become a helpless babe lying in a manager. Would he give up his right to all the power in the universe? He chose to become man with all his limitations.
Of all the children ever born He alone could have said I know more than you know to his mother and step father and been right. He chose to obey. He offered the sacrifice of a lamb at the temple. Could we have knowing that one day it would be our blood? Would we be willing to give up our right to holiness and take upon us sin and death? Would we be willing to cut off all communication with the Father we held most dear to our heart? He did. Would we be will to follow the Fathers plan, or would we have said there has to be another way and refused? Would we have said that it is just too much to ask and turn our back? He did not.
He did not have to go into the wilderness and fast for forty days. He chose to search for God. He could have cast Satan away with one word, but he chose to be an example to us and use God’s word. He could have accepted Satan’s offer to rule the world for it was His to rule. He chose to follow His Father plan and timing and not His own. Are we not lucky that He is not as selfish and impatient as we are? He had other minor trials. He was hungry when fig tree had no fruit. He was tired enough to sleep on a boat that was going under. One he loved denied him him three times. He saw his friends died and wept over them. Some of his family never accepted him. The leaders of the day and people of his hometown rejected and despised him when he was right. He chose to endure.
Then there were major trials in his life. So many times, I am grateful that the Lord does not show me what is ahead, but Jesus Christ could see Gethsemane and the road to Calvary. He chose to walk it to show his love for me, knowing that I would be the one to drive the nails in him. He chose to do His father will and make a way back home for me to be with God. The pain, the shame, the curse, and the sentence He willing took for me, when He had in His power to call ten thousand angles to take Him from it. I would not have had to think about it for I minute. I would not have laid down my life for me. He faced deaths trial and chose to descend into Hell and set it captives free. He chose a love so great the angles still sing about it and sinners such as I still bend their knee and hearts.
When the flames of the trials that I face are rising higher, and I am tempted to say too much, I cannot stand. I remember Him, and whatever I am facing seems small. I draw upon His strength and love for He is merciful and kind. I run to my rock, my fortress, my deliver, my stronghold for He is my protection and healer. I cling to His word and His promises for He is faithful and true. I believe that it will be all be worth it when I get to the other side.

Kathy Barnes
Copyright 6-13-09