06 May Accepting Tests and Trials
Thought for the Day: With Jesus, tests and trials strengthen me!
There is a profound difference between intellectual knowledge and real-life experience. A potential teacher can read books upon books about educational pedagogy and classroom management. But no amount of reading or lectures is an effective substitute for hands-on experience in a classroom with students. An expectant parent can seek wisdom from older adults and buy thousands of dollars of trendy baby equipment. But no amount of this will ever fully prepare that parent for a crying baby at 3:30AM on a work night.
In the same way, faith is not simply knowing that Jesus is Lord. When we learn to live by faith, we certainly will agree with the truth: Jesus is Lord. But, we will also learn to trust by relying on Jesus as the Lord of our lives to get us through the tests and trials. Consider the wisdom of James, the brother of Jesus, a man who served as a leader in the Early Church and faced his share of challenges: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James knew that the difficult experiences which test our faith do not have to destroy us. Instead, by allowing Jesus to take His rightful place at the center of our lives, we will become stronger!
We all have times in our lives when we feel like an unequipped student teacher in front of 30 unruly children. We face times when we feel like an exhausted parent with nothing left to give. At these moments, let’s accept a truth: if we try to grin and bear our way through our trials, we will eventually run out of strength. But, if we continually pray to Jesus and ask Him for help, our experiences will strengthen our faith. With Jesus, no unruly class, cranky baby, or difficult trial will ever truly defeat us!
In Christ,
Pastors Stan and David
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