PERSEVERANCE WORKS EXPERIENCE Our text is a delineation of testing--putting the saints of God to the test. This is God's way of proving the value of profession--putting it to the test. This is "trial," the manner of the kingdom. The prophets revealed God as a Refiner; One who tests the purity of His people. "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness" (Mal 3:3, KJV). It is God's manner to try His people. This the process through which their faith is approved. I have often heard people ask "WHY" severe and trying times were experienced by believers. Diligence must be exercised to avoid the "why me" syndrome. Our text tells us why stressful times come. Our faith is being tried! Others may take our profession as sufficient to confirm our dependence upon the Lord. It is not so with Him with Whom we have to do.
Devotion 8 of 15
The remnants of sin remain in us, causing conflict in the good fight of faith. Speaking of this condition Paul wrote, "But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom 7:23). The extent of this corrupting influence easily escapes our attention. Were it not for trials, we would blunder through life, supposing we are stronger than we really are. When we are put to the test, two things are discovered. First, unacceptable "chaff" is made more perceptible. Second, the strength of our faith is seen. David well prayed, "Since I know, O my God, that Thou triest the heart and delightest in uprightness" (1 Chron 29:17). The Psalmist even asked God to put him to the test; "Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart" (Psa 26:2, NASB). He sensed this was the appointed way to proven character!
Confronting the Red Sea, the arid desert, and lack of meat brought out the unbelief of Israel (Ex 14:11-12; 16:12; 17:2-3). They failed the test! On the other hand, Paul declared that multiple tests bring approval to those who pass them. "Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches" (2 Cor 11:22-28, NASB).
Paul was not a "servant of Christ" by coercion. Nor, indeed, was he one by mere profession. In arduous labors, he passed the test! In frequent imprisonments he kept the faith. When beaten times without number, he continued running the race. His faith did not waver when he was beaten with rods and stoned. Three times the trauma of shipwreck assaulted his soul, and he stood fast. Twenty-four hours in the foreboding and oppressing sea could not weaken his grasp on reality. Frequent dangers did not distract him, nor did the presence of false brethren! Labor, hardship, hunger, thirst, cold and exposure, could not cause him to swerve from the faith! Even the weight of concern for the churches was carried with spiritual dignity. Do you wonder why the Lord used him to such a marvelous extent? It was because he passed the tests. His endurance produced unparalleled character.
Calamity does not confirm God's displeasure or abandonment. Those who imagine such things betray their abysmal ignorance of God. I realize it is fashionable to be very tolerant of those poor souls who get "angry with God" because things are not going their way. Their purported anger may be "honest," but it is also foolish. They have chosen to ignore the declaration of the Lord. They have thought of the present, and glossed over the future. They have blamed their failure upon the Lord, thereby evidencing their weakness. Such have failed the test of the Refiner's fire! There is nothing good about their failure--no redeeming quality about it. Psychologists may offer seemingly plausible explanations for their anger toward God, but they only evince the foolishness of their wisdom. Those who respond with anger to the testing of the Lord have only confirmed they are not close to God. Their faith needs to be strengthened, and their vision clarified. Like Israel at Kadesh Barnea, they have failed the test. Their response to the situation should be, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit" (Psa 51:10-12, RSV).
Mark it well, the Lord does not willingly afflict the righteous. In their affliction He is fitting them for glory. How succinctly Paul states the case. "We ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering" (2 Thess 1:4-5, NASB).
What God has placed within you through regeneration is good. What is within you my nature is not good. Trial brings out both circumstances. It reveals the greatness of your salvation, as well as your deep need for that salvation.
PRAYER POINT: Father, through Jesus Christ, grant me grace to stand firm in the hour of trial, bringing glory to You before the holy angels who are beholding my responses, and the Lord Jesus who is sustaining me in the midst of the trials.