Discipleship

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN TRIALS AND TESTINGS

By Sandy Edmonson

While the world is busy with its “peace talks” and “peace conferences,” hearts of individuals are confused and frustrated as they seek what they desperately hope will bring peace. Both men and nations are looking in the wrong place and for the wrong thing.

What is peace? If you were asked to define it, what would be your definition? Perhaps you would say, “Peace is what one has when everything is running smoothly when things seem to be going my way and there are no trials or problems to give me a moment’s concern.” We think we have peace when the family finances are stable and when we are in good health.

Even though we may be peaceful when everything is ideal, this is not real peace. We recognize all too well that we are not able to maintain these conditions by our own power. Circumstances are often beyond our control, and there is uncertainty because our whole situation may be shaken overnight. Then what happens to our “peace”?

This surface “peace” depends upon circumstances. God has promised us something much better. He offers us an inner rest that remains unshaken regardless of circumstances— completely opposite to what the world calls peace. We see this in John 14:27 where Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Did you notice the contrast? His peace is not the same peace that the world offers. He says, the kind of peace that I give keeps your heart from being troubled and keeps your heart from being afraid. He didn’t say it would be a matter of having no problems, because we see in many places in the Scriptures, that trials will come our way. Those who have trusted Christ as Saviour still have problems, but we have One to whom we may bring them. This is how God’s peace contrasts with what the world has to offer— the world gives tranquilizers, God gives us grace.

And God’s peace (be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace) which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guards over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.— Phil. 4:7 (Amplified)

This peace that comes from God is the kind that the world cannot understand. They look on the situations in our lives and wonder why we haven’t come unglued. They, and even we can’t understand, because this is not a natural kind of peace. This is a peace from God. It is supernatural.

Peace is not just the absence of problems, but it is knowing what to do with whatever may come into one’s life. It is knowing that every situation and every area of our lives are in God’s competent hands. It is a matter of believing that the One to whom I have committed them has the answer and that He has the power to bring it about. Peace comes from utter trust in Him, and His ability to bring me through. It is not my ability to close my eyes to this problem and pretend that it will go away, or to weather it with gritted teeth and with a stoical attitude. Peace is knowing that God cannot fail. Let us examine several promises of His faithfulness. If we are to be convinced to trust the Lord in this way, we need to see it in His Word.

God Knows

The first thing we want to point out is that He knows. Do you ever wonder about this in relation to your situation? Perhaps not the situation that’s in your life today. Maybe one that has been in the past, or one that is coming into your life. God has no blind side, nothing ever slips up on Him. He not only knows the present, but He knows the future, and everything that is coming into our lives. He knows this beforehand. I think we will be convinced when we consider the following scripture:

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.— Job 23:10

You know the problems that Job had, and he says God knows what I am going through. It is not something of which He is unaware— He knows all about it. He has a purpose in it, because when He is finished with this testing in my life I’m going to come forth as gold. This experience is going to be purifying— it’s going to be worth it all after He brings me through. Now turn to Psalm 31:7. Often we say, “Well I know all these external things— the financial problems, the health problems— I know that God knows all these things.” But some times our greatest problem is inner turmoil and unrest. Just utter frustration. Does God know about this? Psalm 31:7 makes it clear. “I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble: thou hast known my soul in adversities.”

The Lord knows all about what’s going on inside us. Sometimes just a deep depression. Sometimes you’re not even able to put your finger on it and diagnose it yourself, but He says I know all about that. Because He knows everything there is to know about us. He knows our every thought. He knows everything that we do, our mistakes and sins. He knows us much better than we know ourselves. The amazing thing is that He loves us in spite of what we are.

O Lord, thou has searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me.
— Psalms 139:1-5

There just isn’t anything that God doesn’t know. He not only knows us; He knows our needs long before we are aware of them. He is all prepared; He is never surprised. We must realize, too, that everything that comes, has first come through His loving hands before it touches us. He has a reason for allowing it and He’s going to teach us something. We will look into that more thoroughly. It is knowing too, that these problems are allowed by God. In I Thessalonians 3:3, He says that we are not to be moved by these afflictions because this trial is not by chance, but by divine permission. He knows.

God Cares

We need to know something else. We need to know that He cares. It’s one thing to have someone aware of a situation in your life and it’s another thing to be convinced that that person cares. But God wants us to know that He cares. He has a loving concern for us and He knows what every sorrow or trial means in our life and heart. He knows our reaction, and He has invited us to bring every one of these things to Him.

God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. — Psalms 46:1,2

I want you to notice— where is our strength? It’s to be in a Person. It is God. God is our strength, and then I want you to notice that He is a present help in trouble. Did you ever wonder about that when the testing was pretty heavy? Did you wonder if He was a present help? Turn now to Psalm 55:22. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

What do you do with your problem? Cast it upon the Lord. What is His promise? He will sustain us— He will never suffer the righteous to be moved. This is practically repeated in the New Testament.

Casting the whole of our care— all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all— on Him: for He cares for you affectionately, and cares about you watchfully.— I Peter 5:7 (Amplified)

What an invitation! Can you ask for more? Bring your problems to Him, because He cares. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Are you heavy laden? Have you ever been? Where do you go? Jesus says come to me— I’ll give you rest.

God Is Able

Not only does He know and care, but He is able. We may have many friends who know our problems and they care, but this is where they fall short— they are not able. They haven’t the power no matter how much they would like to bring us through. They just do not have the ability. The Lord is the one with the power and the ability to deliver us. How able is He?

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.— Jeremiah 33:3

He says if you’ll just call on Me, I will answer you— plus I will add “great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.— Psalms 50:15

Have you ever wondered about calling upon Him because it happened to be a day of trouble, and you said “Well, it seems like my prayer life was not consistent enough before this came along and I just wonder if He would welcome my calling upon Him now that I’m already in such great need.” I love this special invitation— even in the day of trouble. This is your appointed time to call on Him. He specifically asks you to come then. How able is our God?

Now unto him, that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. — Ephesians 3:20

How able is He? He is able to do that which we ask. Isn’t that great? He is able to do all that we ask. He is able to do above all that we ask. He is able to do abundantly above all that we ask. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, and as if that were not enough, or even think. Did you know you had a God like that? Do you wonder why you panic when the problems come; when you have access to this One? He is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask, or can even think. Does that not give you rest? In II Corinthians 9:8 we find another marvelous verse to tell us how able our God is. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”

In the first place, how much grace is He able to give? All grace. How often? Always. That doesn’t leave anytime when His grace is not abounding our way. Having how much sufficiency? All sufficiency. For how many things? All things. Again, do you need more than that when you have access to this God? So God not only knows, He not only cares, but He is able.

God Has A Purpose

But do you know that even this is not enough to satisfy our hearts? It gives us great comfort, but an even greater comfort comes from being assured that God has a purpose. If God knew what was in my life and He cared about it and He was able to bring me out, but it had no purpose, then I would just simply stand and endure until I was delivered. But, if I know that God has never done anything without a purpose, and even in this difficulty that is present in my life today, He has a reason for it. Then I am able to hold still while He does His perfect work because it isn’t a useless thing. He never does anything that is useless, and if you have been through testing and it still seems purposeless to you, you’ve missed God’s point. What are some of His purposes for allowing trials and testings to come into our lives.

To Draw Us to Christ

The first purpose is to draw us to Christ as Saviour. This, of course, would be that which comes into the lives of those who are as yet unbelievers. They have never really seen their need of Christ. They have never really known that they were sinners separated from God. They have no access to this God (who has all the answers) until they come to believe that Christ died for their sins, and believing that they receive Him into their life as Saviour. So this is one of the reasons God allows these difficulties to come into lives and especially to adults. As long as things are running along rather smoothly, most adults are rather complacent. They do not know that they are not adequate, but when the problems start and things get rough, they realize that they are not able to smooth them out. Sometimes, for the first time in their lives, they are interested in having Christ as their Saviour.

But let me stress this point. Though Christ is and has the answer to all problems, He doesn’t come into our life as the answer to our problems. He comes into our life as Saviour. I find so often that people want Him to take their problems and straighten them out, but they aren’t interested in Him as Saviour, as the One who died for their sins. And they say, “Let’s not talk about that now, I just want this situation solved first.” He wants to be the answer to your primary need first— a sinner in need of a Saviour. Only then do we have the right to bring Him all our other needs. If you have not yet trusted Him as your Saviour, this may be the purpose for this problem that has come to you.

To Prove His Sufficiency

Another reason is to prove His sufficiency. You see, we are ready to learn His sufficiency only to the degree that we are aware of our insufficiency. As long as we think that we are able to bring ourselves through, to straighten out our problems, then usually we will not turn to Him. As long as we give our problems to man, we get what man can do. But, when we give our problems to God, we get what God can do. If you haven’t yet discovered man’s insufficiency, not only your own but every man’s insufficiency, you still have a lesson to learn.

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.— Psalms 108:12

Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.— Jeremiah 17:5,7

It takes the Lord; He’s the sufficient One. He allows this adversity that we might be aware of our need for Him. We need to know, not just that He was faithful, or that He will be faithful, but that He is faithful today. He is the very present, faithful One, and He can handle our problem today. We need to be certain of His sufficiency. As the hymn says, “He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater. He sendeth more strength when the labors increase. To added affliction, He added His mercy. To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.” He never allows more than His grace sustains in that situation. His grace is even greater than that.

Our Good And His Glory

We have to know that the trial is for our good and for His glory. How good to know that even the trial that is in your life today can be working to His glory.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.— Romans 8:28

Problems are a part of His “all things” that “work together for good.” Why? How could that be? Because people are looking on. They’re waiting for you to prove the Christ that you tell them about. Are you willing to let Him illustrate in your life that He can be sufficient in all things? Others are not particularly impressed with our words if at the first little thing that comes across our path that doesn’t suit us, we just fall apart. When we react in this way, they are not impressed with how great Christ is. But when the shattering things come, and we are able to stand, and we are able to thank Him as He tells us, “in all things to give thanks.” And we say, “Thank you, Lord, that this has a purpose. You’re going to teach me something of your greatness in this that I would never have known otherwise. And you tell me that this is going to be for my good, and your glory. I thank you for it. Now let the hungry, needy hearts look on that they might see.”

God puts us in the center of a stage, as it were; turns on the spotlight and says, “Let me demonstrate and prove what I am in the life of this child of mine.” So even though it’s a time of testing for us, it’s a time of glorifying Him in a way that the smooth places in our lives could never do.

To Draw Us to His Word and to Prayer

We need to know that the trial draws us to His Word and to prayer. Are you aware of that? He tells us no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. If He sees a testing necessary, He allows it, perhaps just to keep us from growing cold, and straying from His Word. When is the Bible most precious to you? Maybe you only know a few scriptures. But when the testings come, where do you want to turn? Magazines or newspapers cannot help. But if you look into the Bible (even if you are still unable to find your way around) and remember, it’s God’s purpose and responsibility to direct you, if you will pick up His Word and sit down and ask Him, “Lord, comfort my heart.” He will show you. It’s His business. He uses these very things to draw us back to His Word. Not only that, our prayer would become such a formality, (“Lord, bless this one and bless that one; ‘gimmie’ that”) if it were not for the trials and problems that come. But do you know when you mean business most in prayer? It is when pressure is great and when the heart is heavy.

Do you remember when Peter was walking on the water, and suddenly he started to sink. He turned to Christ and he said, “Lord save me.” He didn’t say, “Dear Lord, creator of Heaven and earth, save me.” He didn’t have time. He just called on Him. Have you ever noticed in the Scriptures, and if you underline words in your Bible, underline when Christ responded. Oh, this meant so much to me when I read one time, “Immediately Christ stretched forth His hand.” He didn’t say, “Well, go on down and just before you founder I’ll reach down for you, Peter.” Notice something else Peter didn’t say. Peter didn’t say, “Lord, would you kind of give me a little hand— let me lean on you a little bit.” He just said, “Save me. Lord, it’s all up to you, I’m going to sink if you don’t save me.” So this again is to draw us to Him. He is far more precious to us when we have been through trials. I don’t even know whether I can recall this or not, but there was a little poem that I read one time which illustrates this nicely.

I walked a mile with Pleasure
She chatted all the way
But not a thing I learned from her
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And not a word said she,
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me.

Have you found that true in your life? When have you learned most? What has been the most fertile soil for growth in your life? When everything was lovely? No, it wasn’t. It’s when the sorrows come. It’s when the problems come. And remember, it’s because He has a purpose, it’s not that you might be miserable. It’s to teach you as His child.

How are we going to know that we have a God who is this faithful? There is only one way, and that is to go through testings. When the problems come, that’s when we learn. How did Daniel know that he had a God who could shut the mouths of lions? Would he ever have known that on the outside of the lions’ den? Never! When was he convinced that his God was great enough to bring him through the lions’ den? When he had been there.

How about the Hebrew children who were in the fiery furnace? When were they convinced that they had a God who could bring them through the fiery furnace and bring them out without even the smell of smoke on them? When they had been in the fiery furnace. And, we need to know this. He doesn’t want us to say, “Now here in His Word, God says that He’s able.” We should be able to say with authority, “God will bring you through. I tested Him. I tried Him. He brought me through times of great need, and I am convinced He can bring you through your problem.” That’s the reason for some of the problems and difficulties that happened to the people that are recorded in the Bible.

For instance, did any of us ever have more testing than Job? Why did Job go through all that? We’re told in Romans 15:4 that the things that happened to them are an example for us, that we might learn from the things they went through. How about Paul? Have you ever read an account of the things that Paul experienced? And all of us stand and say, “One of God’s truly greatest saints.” But the only thing that makes him great to us is that we have a record of his endurance through Christ. There may have been Christians since the completion of the Scriptures, who have gone through as much as Paul, and who have rejoiced as much. It just didn’t happen to be recorded for us to read, though their contemporaries saw it. Think back to your dark ages history. We know very little about the great testings that took place in the lives of those Christians. But do you know what? When they were in the arena, and on their way to be devoured by the lions, what did they do? They sang. Can a man sing as he’s going to be devoured by the lions? No. Not unless he has Christ. You see, all they knew was “It will only be a moment and I will be standing and looking into my Saviour’s face.” And that can put a song in a heart. It can put a song in your heart if you are lying on your bed with a terminal case of cancer. Can anyone lie still and say, “Lord, I praise you, and I want this to be glorifying to you?” Only if they know they are going to be seeing Him face to face, and in the meantime, they have His sustaining grace. Then you can thank Him. Trials are to teach us, as His children, that we might be convinced, and others also, of the kind of God we have.

Chastening

We could not teach all this and not say one word about the possibility of some of the problems that come as a discipline of the Lord. We are told in Hebrews that “Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.” That means He corrects us and trains us. We know that there are times when the very situation that comes into our life is because of our out and out disobedience. However, we need to recognize that unless the Lord puts His finger on this as a matter in which He is correcting, we should not assume this to be the case. We must know that as His children, He’s going to allow problems even when we are in the center of His will. Do you know there is not one word recorded about Joseph that was contrary to his being anything but a godly man. Job was a righteous man; God called him that. Yet, Joseph and Job had problems and testings, so we must see that this can be true of us. Let’s also recognize that there will be consequences to our disobedience. Something that we must never do is to look on the lives of others and because they are having terrific problems say, “Well, they must be really grieving the Lord, or He could never be allowing this to come into their life.” Don’t even make that assumption; that is not ours to do.

To Minister To Others

Another reason that He allows these things into our lives is that we might be able to minister to others. How does God prepare us so that we might be able to minister to others? Turn to II Corinthians 1:3, 4. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

Notice who God is. Who is the Father of mercies? Who is the God of all comfort? God. Where are you going for your comfort? Maybe that’s the reason you haven’t been comforted. Maybe you are going to the wrong source. “Who comforteth us in all our tribulations.” Perhaps you should circle the word “all.” Because you might say, “This tribulation in my life— this might be one in which He is not going to comfort,” but He says ALL of them.

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God.

Comforted of whom? Of God. Why does He comfort us? That we might be used to comfort others. This word comfort does not mean just to sympathize or to offer empty consolation. According to Webster’s dictionary, the words fort and fortify and the word comfort all come from the same root word fortis, which means strong. So to comfort is to strengthen others with the same strength that strengthened us in our need, that we might comfort them with His comfort. The Scriptures, our testimony, but point them to Him. If you attempt to comfort someone and you point them any other way, you have not comforted. As someone has said, God comforts us, not to make us comfortable, but that we might be comforters. His purpose is that He might use us to convey to others what He has meant in our needs. He has a purpose. When God has accomplished His purpose, He usually removes the testing. He is the one who decided the continuance and the amount of the testing. The same hand that puts us into the oven controls the heat and the timing also. He knows what He’s doing and when He has brought about what He intends in our life, He can remove the trial. Sometimes what He intends is to bring us to a place of just yielding to Him and allowing Him to have His way. If that’s what it is, then the sooner we submit to Him, the quicker the trial can be removed. If it’s for an illustration to the world around us, we may have been submissive all the way through yet it’s still there because He’s not finished with His illustration.

All this sounds so good we say, “Well, I’m real convinced He knows; I’m real convinced He cares; I’m really convinced that He’s able; I’m really convinced that He has a purpose; but there’s always this. Here I am with my problem and there are all the answers. How do I make this applicable to my need?”

How

So we need to look at the how. First, what it is not! This may surprise you, but it is not just praying about it. Then you say, “Don’t you think that we should pray about our problems?” Yes. But, if we just pray about it, do you know what I find? Sometimes when people share their problems I ask, “Have you given this to the Lord?” They answer, “Oh, I’ve been praying about it ever since it happened.” Do you know what they mean? They’re telling God they have the problem, but they are also telling Him how they want it to come out; when they want it to come out, and they are calling all the plays. “The only thing about it, Lord, is that I need You to do it.” But, they have not really turned that problem over to the Lord. When He says, “Casting all of your care upon me,” He means that you put the care on Him to the extent that it is no longer your problem, and if it’s no longer your problem, it’s none of your business how He’s going to work it out. And, it’s none of your business how long He’s going to leave it. That’s His business because it’s now His problem.

Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.— Philippians 4:6

He says pray about everything, don’t worry about anything, but let’s not forget that there is this great point of committing it to Him; putting this in His hands, that it might be wholly His. Now there will be effects present in our life, but it’s still His problem. By faith, you can thank Him right then that He is going to work out the perfect answer. It’s already done. In His accounting it was done before you were on the earth; it’s just a matter of His bringing the answer to pass. So we need to really recognize that all of these things that are in our life are His— there by divine permission. As somebody said, “Nothing ever just happens in a Christian’s life; it comes to pass because God already knows and has it all worked out.” This is not saying whatever will be will be. This is saying that God has a perfect plan for my life and as I allow Him to take over my life, He’s going to bring me through hard places; He’s going to take me through sunny places, and in either one, I’m going to be able to thank Him. God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Remember when Paul asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn that was in his life or in his flesh, or whatever the problem was, we don’t know. Surely the Holy Spirit purposely left it without details that we might be able to substitute our need there and say His grace is sufficient. Paul gives this testimony.

Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am.

I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances, the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and to spare or going without and being in want.

I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me— I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me, (that is, I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency).— Philippians 4:11-13 (Amplified)

This is the conclusion of all that Paul learned through his testings (Job learned through his testing; Elijah learned in his testings.) Remember they were recorded that we might be convinced that He’s sufficient in our testings. Whether well-fed or going hungry; having a sufficiency and to spare; going without and being in want; Paul says it doesn’t really matter to him. I have the same Lord whether I seem to be needy to the world around, or whether I have an abundance. It doesn’t make any difference. I have strength for all things in Christ, who empowers me. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him, who infuses inner strength into me. That is; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency. He says, “Anything that comes my way, I meet it. Not because I’m so strong in myself— I don’t meet it in my strength— but because of Christ, anything that comes, I can meet and not even flinch.” He is the one who is abundantly able! Are you convinced that you have a God like this? Sometimes we must be brought to a place where Christ is all we have, in order that we might discover that He’s all we need.

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