Trials = Testing

 

1 Peter 1:6-7

Peter is sharing with these churches and us that various trials are a source of testing the genuineness of our faith.  He goes on to state that your faith is worth more than gold.  Why is that so, because a tested faith results in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  I often wonder if most of us who sit in a pew on Sunday have any understanding of the testing of our faith by various trials.  In no way am I implying that we are not experiencing trials, but do we understand that much of what is called a trial of faith, may be no more than an inconvenience of our life style.

The Scriptures are full of examples of Faith that have been tested; for example, Joshua was ask to enter the battle of Jericho with a rag-tag group of people against a well organized army of mighty men of valor.  The plan he accepted by faith was to walk around the city for six days, and on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times and the priests were to blow the trumpets, and the people were told to shout and the walls would fall down, and they would win the battle.  How many people believed the walls would come down?  I’m not sure, but this I know, one did and his name was Joshua. 

Do you recall the widow who cried out to the prophet Elisha because the creditor were coming to take her children as slaves and she had no means of paying the debt?  Do you recall Elisha asking her what she had in the house and the only thing she had was a jar of oil?  He told her to go and borrow vessels from the neighbors, empty vessels, and to get as many as she could, that was the easy part of the plan, which did not require much faith.  Now go with me to 1 Kings 4:4-7, “Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels.  And when one is full, set it aside.”  So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons.  And as she pored they brought the vessels to her.  When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “ Bring me another vessel.”  And he said to her, “There is not another.”  Then the oil stopped flowing.  She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”  How many would have gone to all the required preparation with no blessing in sight?  This widow did, and like Joshua the outcome was; a tested faith that resulted in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice