Trials are not fun. Contrary to the above title, “fun” is not a word normally attached to trials. Trials are those outward circumstances that we encounter which bring difficulty, unpleasantness and even pain into our lives. (Temptation is the inner stirring up of natural desires to go beyond the boundaries established by God. These normally attach themselves to trials). Trials may be minor in nature or major times that disrupt all of life. They are clearly hard moments. From my perspective, avoiding them might be a more pleasant way to live life. If the Lord Jesus were to come to our church and post a sign-up sheet on the Church Activity Board, for those who would like a trial or two in their lives, most likely I would keep my distance from the Church Activity Board. I might even begin entering the church through a different door to avoid the Church Activity Board. After all, it does seem that we could nicely do without such things as trials in our lives.
However, most believers are aware that this is not the perspective of Jesus, who loves us and wants the best for us. He just knows us too well. And since He is all-knowing, all-powerful and amazingly good, we must trust Him on this. In His way of doing things in this fallen world, trials play an important role. We probably wish this was not the case, but it is. Although trials are definitely unpleasant, there are four helpful points from the Scriptures that give us perspective on trials. It’s good to periodically refresh our thinking on this matter. However, I’m not sure that after looking at these we will run to the Church Activity Board and sign up. But as we experience these not-so-fun moments, a biblical perspective is always helpful.
Before looking at these points from Scripture, we really need to focus on the fact the Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. He does no harm to His sheep. He is not mean. He doesn’t make mistakes and bring unpleasant stuff into our lives. He never says, “wow, I never saw that coming into my child’s life.” He knows everything that is actual and everything that is possible. So, nothing is unknown. He is all-powerful so that there is nothing that He cannot handle. And He is very good. These reminders about our Lord as we look at some biblical truths involving trials.
- TRIALS CAN BRING ENDURANCE TO OUR LIVES. Trials that are passed make the believer stronger and better equipped to live well. James 1:3 says that “the testing of your faith produces endurance.” Endurance is a foundational quality in the Christian life. Spiritual endurance, like physical endurance, comes about with effort. It is an active response, not a passive one. Later in his letter (5:11), James states that “we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job…” To be fruitful in the Christian life one must have spiritual strength. And to have spiritual strength one must have trials. A good coach wants his athletes to be successful, and so he requires that they train diligently, spending hours in the weight room and going through drills. A good coach knows how much training is needed to win. The Lord is better than the best coach, and He knows what trials in life will produce the strength that we need to fight against the world, the flesh and the devil and to bear fruit for His glory. And believers want to have victory over these entities. And they want productive lives.
- TRIALS CAN EXPAND OUR ABILITY TO MINISTER TO OTHERS. The Apostle Paul reveals that when we pass our trials, finding God to be faithful to us, then we have a new way to minister effectively to others. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, he says that: “…the God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which ourselves are comforted by God.” When a trial comes our way and we draw upon God’s power and grace to victoriously pass it, then the Lord will use that experience, and us, to help others. Several years ago, a young mother-to-be had a miscarriage. Needless to say, she and her husband were devastated and deeply grieved by this event. It was a hard time. However, they drew upon the grace and strength of the Lord and saw His hand in this situation. As a result, a few months later they were able to come alongside another couple who in a very similar way also lost their child. There was a depth and effectiveness to their counsel because they had gone through the same trial. It is surprising how often this takes place. Our trials, therefore, are not designed just for our benefit, but that we might bring blessing to others. Our ability to minister to others is expanded.
- TRIALS CAN BRING COMPLETENESS TO OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES. God’s great goal for all believers is to make them look like Jesus Christ in their character (Romans 8:29). None of us has arrived at that point, but the Lord is constantly working to head us in that direction. We are like a 1000-piece picture puzzle that is not quite completed. Anyone who has put such puzzles together knows that if the 1000-piece puzzle is almost complete but has 15 pieces missing, it just doesn’t look right. The picture on the box lid may be beautiful, but those 15 missing pieces take away from the beauty of the scene. And it is much like that in the believer’s life. The beauty of the character of Christ just isn’t there. And it is trials that put the missing pieces into place. Bible study, church attendance and singing worship songs are good and profitable, but they by themselves cannot do what trials can do. Trials force us to apply the truth of Scripture to life. We may know a great deal of truth, but embracing those truths into our lives is another step. It seems that often we don’t apply truth to life until we are compelled to do so. Trials are often that great compelling force.
- TRIALS CAN BRING GREATER REWARD IN GOD’S FUTURE KINGDOM. What happens in this life will impact what life will be like in eternity. Successfully passing trials brings reward. James 1:12 states that the believer who perseveres will “receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” While this promise does include our present life, its focus is on rewards in the future life. The Lord Jesus commended His church at Smyrna for their faithfulness to Him and states: Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). They needed to remain true to Him in order to receive this crown. The Lord is not stingy but delights in rewarding His faithful and obedient children. However, because He is just and fair in His dealings, He cannot simply hand out rewards. Passing trials will generate rewards. We sometimes wonder why the Lord allows difficult trials into the lives of those believers who are devoted to Him. Part of the answer to that is His desire to reward. He cannot arbitrarily hand out rewards. There needs to be a just reason for Him doing so. The Lord told Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, and go to Mount Moriah and there sacrifice him (Gen. 22). What a command! What a trial! When Abraham obeyed, God then delightedly declared that He could bless Abraham in a greater way. Passing through that trial made it possible for the Lord to bestow more abundant blessing on His obedient man. This is what the Lord desires for us as well.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS. I’m still not sure that I would head over to the Church Activity Board and sign up. However, these truths from these apostles does help me better respond to trials that come my way. Many of our trials are minor, while those major ones do get our attention. However, all trials need to be correctly responded to. Passing these tests will bring strength, maturity, fruitfulness, an expanded ministry to us and probably a lot more.