A CUP OF COLD WATER

 The Tests and Trials of Life

Of His teachings to His disciples, Jesus Christ said: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When we face tests and trials in life, it is comforting to know that because Jesus overcame the world on our behalf, we too can overcome our tests or trials. 

God may allow trials to test our faith in Him, and as we overcome them, we develop spiritual maturity. God may also allow trials to reveal our spiritual state and teach us to rely on Him more. We do not face our tests and trials alone because God is with us to help us through them, and He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but will give us a way of escape to endure it. The strength and patience we have in trials is evidence that God is with us. Therefore, we can be confident in His deliverance and restoration afterwards.  

In Psalm 66:10–12, we read: “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfilment.” 

God tested Abraham’s faith in many ways. He asked him to leave his country and journey to a place he did not know, allowed him to wait twenty-five years before the birth of his promised son, Isaac, and then asked him to sacrifice Isaac to Him—the very son he had waited for so long to have! Abraham passed the tests, and this pleased God who called him His friend, because of his faithfulness.

Job, a man God Himself called righteous, faced trials of a severe magnitude, recorded in the book of Job, through no fault of his. He suffered the loss of his children and livelihood and endured so much suffering that his wife told him to curse God and die. However, his encounters with God during his trials, gave him a better knowledge of God and in Job 42:5–6, he said: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” At the end of his trials, God restored all he had lost, blessed him with more than he had before and gave him a long and satisfied life. 

God allowed Joseph to go through trials as he waited for his dream to come to pass. He was sold into slavery by his brothers who hated him because of his dream, accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife and imprisoned, forgotten for two years by the cupbearer whose dream he interpreted while in prison, and “until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him” (Psalm 105:19). Joseph passed all these tests and became the governor of Egypt, and when there was famine throughout the land, his brothers came to Egypt to buy food from him, whom they did not recognise, and bowed to him, thus fulfilling the dream God had given him.

The apostles faced repeated beatings, humiliations, and imprisonments for preaching Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world, but that did not deter them from spreading the gospel. In fact, when the Jewish leaders told them not to preach in the name of Jesus they replied: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). 

Tests and trials are part of our life’s journey as followers of Jesus. They are meant to increase our faith in God, our knowledge of Him, and our understanding of His greatness and power. Our initial reaction to the test or trial may be one of shock or worry, but we must come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help us. By praying, worshipping, keeping a positive attitude, patient endurance, and resisting fear and anxiety, we can go through the test or trial with God’s help. 

Having said that, no test or trial is pleasant at the time but in James 1:2–4, we read: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Therefore, we should see our tests and trails as culminating in spiritual maturity and not as abandonment by God. We should ask God for strength to overcome, patience to endure and faith to abide in Him during our trials. It is our faith that keeps us when we cannot see God in our trials or when it appears He is not there. As we mature spiritually, we get grounded in our faith and nothing or no one can move us away from God. We are then able to help others who may be going through similar situations.

There have been times in my life when tests and trials have persisted, despite praying. With everything I tried—fasting, praying, giving, vowing—the situations did not improve, and some of them even went from bad to worse. At such times, the words to pray failed me, and I could only manage to pray the shortest of prayers. After doing all I can, I continue praying with thanksgiving and wait to see what God will do. He always came through, even if it was not in the way I expected.

You may be facing tests or trials in your life right now. Be encouraged that God knows what you are going through, that He is with you and that He will help you though it and, in the end, deliver and restore you.