Trials, tests and training opportunities

One of the greatest conflicts in our world today is balancing information against understanding. Understanding against application. We are flooded with information on every side. A person can find a tutorial video about almost anything online. It is often very useful information, but if you have ever tried to apply that information in an instance where you sought out the instruction, you too often find that it is more difficult to apply than it initially appears. That is because we try to use the information without really understanding how to apply it. We assume since we “know”, that by default we can “do”. In many instances, people stop at getting some information – which they will never know to be accurate or not, because they do not need to apply that knowledge. They simply like to “know”. So it is in our walk of faith.

Mama and I have been going through a series of trials lately. Those without a Bible understanding of God’s intimate involvement in out daily lives will not understand the application. We can walk through life thinking what happens to us is a matter of circumstances. Life happens. Or we can walk though life with the faith that allows us to see God working in our lives. Believers, as a general rule, call these life happenings, trials or tests. I have come to view them as training opportunities. Each training opportunity, successfully applied, leads to a deeper understanding of God, a more pervasive faith. The Bible tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. We are, after all, as the people of God to walk by faith and not by sight. However, we are people addicted to sight. Averse to faith. So, the only way God can build our faith is by exercising it. Otherwise we become hearers of the Word (Information) and not doers (understanding and applying).

How often have I sat and moped at the onset of a training opportunity? Why me? How could God let this happen if he really loved me? He does love us. Jesus died a cruel death to pay the penalty for our sins. God has proven his love for us. I liken a trial to a time when Walter was with us. He was getting dressed one morning and was extremely frustrated that his shirt was not turned properly. One sleeve was drawn through the neck which confused him as he tried to put it on. He tried several times before he threw himself onto the floor in the kitchen in abject frustration. The shirt half on, half off. I was sitting a few feet away at the kitchen table and offered several times to hep him. He was too mad to ask for help and I was not going to help unless he asked me. When he took the shirt off for the umpteenth time, he saw the problem, corrected the orientation of the errant sleeve and was able to put the shirt on. It was all a tiny lesson from God to me.

There are some circumstances or trials that I cannot handle on my own. For those, it is much easier to ask for help. For those circumstances or trials that seem manageable, it is much more difficult to humble myself and ask for help. Like Walter, a complication to getting dresses -something he did every day – caused him real frustration. He spent a lot of emotional energy figuring it out on his own. I could have saved him so much effort and anxiety if he had simply asked for help. He did not. Did solving the problem on his own help him? Possibly. If he understood what caused the issue and will see the solution easily the next time it happens. If he did not understand the resolution, it will happen again – and it will be even more frustrating. How like us?

If we believe God is omniscient – all knowing – and that He wants to help us. Why not ask? Sooner rather than later. James tells us that in our trails we should ask for wisdom., “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” Upbraideth means to scold or ridicule. God will not think the less of us when we ask for help. In fact, He will be pleased when we do so. As I would have been with Walter.

Perhaps Mama and I are close to the resolution of several of the trials or training opportunities we are in right now. Perhaps not. But I will tell you this, at this point I am earnestly seeking God’s solution rather than my own. God may not make it easier, but His solutions ALWAYS produce the best results. Regardless of the nature of the training opportunity, God will ultimately have to intervene on my behalf.

Why not start there?