Consider it pure joy... whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. James 1:2-3
People may have the wrong image of God. They may see Him as a powerful, loving God who would never let any pain or suffering come to His children. Then when their faith gets tested, they don’t understand why God could allow this to happen to them. It may surprise them to learn that God may negotiate my failure for my success (or His success).
We tend to get what we expect out of life
We tend to see what we expect to see. We tend to hear what we expect to hear. We tend to feel the way we expect to feel. We inevitably accomplish what we expect what we’re going to accomplish. You can obey God, do the right thing and still not be pleasing God because you’re not doing it in faith. It’s important to learn how to live expectantly as you learn to live by faith. If my expectations are wrong and I don’t get what I think I should get, I feel that God has failed. The truth is I may have an improper expectation of life and view of God.
How do we grow in our faith?
In Luke 17:5 the apostles said to Jesus, "Lord increase our faith." Here’s the secret: God builds our faith by testing it. Faith is like a muscle and when it’s stretched and it’s pulled then it develops. When you test your muscles against weights then your muscles develop. And your faith develops as it is tested. But if we had our way, our faith would never be tested…and God would never have the chance to prove that faith worked.
Did you realize that God is testing you every moment of your life? Every day we have faith building opportunities. The problem is most of us don’t recognize them when they’re there. We flunk the test because we don’t even realize it is a test and that God is trying to help us grow. A test is when our concept of God and the reality of our lives conflict and we can’t understand why something is happening.
Four Ways That God Tests Our Faith
1. God tests our faith through demands (Obedience) - He asks us to do things that are seemingly impossible or illogical to our way of thinking. If I want to learn to live by faith I must learn to not only rejoice continually. I have to learn to obey immediately.
2. God tests our faith through difficulties - The trials, problems and difficulties that come into your life come to test your faith and to prove your faith. Nothing ever happens by accident in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. Everything is Father-filtered.
3. God tests our faith with dollars - Few people understand how God uses our material possessions as a test of character and a test of faith. For many people finances are the greatest of all. Giving not only tests my faith it also tests the sincerity of my love for God.
4. God tests our faith through delays - If every prayer were immediately answered, if your every need were automatically met, if every problem were instantly solved, we wouldn’t need faith and our faith wouldn’t need to be stretched. But it is not that way. We have to wait on things. God is not going to snap His fingers and give instant answers to our every prayer. Why not? Because He wants us to grow in faith.
It pays to be patient. Just remember this: while you are waiting God is working. You’re not waiting alone. While we are waiting in faith, God is working. God is doing things behind the scenes, in your heart and other people’s hearts that you cannot even see.
Scripture to Claim:
For a little while you have had to suffer great and all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7
For a little while you have had to suffer great and all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7
