Let me say at the onset this is from a bible study that was conducted in our Sunday night home group over this past summer. There were some questions raised concerning my last article entitled "The Willingness to Endure". I thought this article would be a great follow up to that; and I hope it is also able to add a greater measure of clarity.

Philippians 1:6(New King James Version)

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

One needs to be very cautious when approaching a subject like this. There have been many things written and talked about along these lines.This is a subject that we all have questions about, and something we’re continually faced with in our walk with the Lord.

I’ve heard in articles I have read and teachings I have listened to that the Lord’s “testing” can involve many things. I have heard folks say God will use anything from horrible car accidents to cancer to get your attention just to teach you something. Let me go on record right here and say that is NOT the God I serve. Contrary to some teaching you may have endured in the past, Satan is NOT God’s messenger boy; they don’t work hand in hand. Satan is not required to "run things by God first and make sure that he is allowed to carry out these catastrophes". I get SO TIRED of hearing people say "Well that couldn't have happened if God didn't allow it".

Let me go on to explain what I believe God’s testing in our lives DOES involve through a situation I currently find myself in. First off, I believe God’s testing in our lives involves CHARACTER. Character is conducive to growth, growth cannot and will not happen without character, and character ALWAYS involves testing. Character is something that must be PROVEN to be established. I also believe the things we go through in life are not only for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of others. Let me just inject a simple question here to those of you that still may be hanging around but are a little miffed at my earlier comment. How in the world are we going to help anyone else in a similar situation they may be going through if we’re too weak in our body or racked with pain from emotional scars from God’s “testing” in our own lives? Or God forbid we so failed our test that the Lord just “took us home” and relieved us from our duties? Now THAT’S really going to be a blessing to someone! Especially a non-believer. That type of thinking is dumb to the second power. That’s dumb-dumb.

Anyway, I hope by now you get the point. God doesn’t teach anyone anything by punishing them through some element of destruction in their lives. (Read John 10:10) God’s true testing in our lives involves the building of character. This usually involves the relinquishing of our will to His, and let me say, this can be very painful. Oh we SAY we’re on board with God’s will for our lives and we’re in agreement with what HE wants to do, and we believe His Word concerning that, but when the rubber meets the road, often it’s a different story. The funny thing is, in the midst of these tests (and if you’ll read James 1:3, you’ll see it’s the trying and testing of our FAITH that is the issue) we’ll often find ourselves blaming the devil and accusing him for our plight rather than recognizing the hand of our Father.

We can become very adamant about wanting the things we want, and wanting them NOW. Currently, I find myself in the midst of an outdoor project that just needs to be DONE, and done SOON. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been working out that way. In the midst of the process, the Lord has revealed some things to me.

I’ve found how easily we exalt our needs and desires above the needs and desires of others. I’ve also seen how easy it is for us (Born again, Spirit filled Christians mind you) to exalt things above people. Now I’m not saying for a minute that things inside of this outdoor project haven’t been “up to snuff”, but I think God calls us more to ENDURE rather than call someone on the carpet because our needs are being infringed upon. It’s funny to me how we can call ourselves “King’s Kids” when we’re really acting like “King’s Brats”. We demand (in our hearts and our thinking) that things just roll along smoothly and when they don’t, it’s that dumb devil again screwing things up. I’ve found the problem can be a bad attitude or something deep within me that needs to be dealt with; maybe something God is calling to the surface so He can skim it off my life.

When we find ourselves in this demanding state of entitlement (after all I belong to God, so everyone owes me) do we find ourselves allowing the Lord to deal with our attitudes and motives rather than the attitudes and motives of someone else? We can be so quick to point out someone else’s shortcomings, but what about when God wants to deal with ours? How do we respond?

Can anyone share a similar experience? I'll follow up within the days to come.