(Part 2 – Trials – the Secret Ingredient to a Full Life)
For you know when your faith is tested, your endurance has a change to grow. James 1:3
How did I miss this lesson—that trees need wind for their roots to deepen? Regular, pounding winds cause the roots to thrust downward into bedrock earth, strengthening them to withstand increasingly harsh storms.
Like a tree, we need trials to strengthen our weak and flabby souls. Without them our shallow security rests on calm conditions. Easily uprooted, we doubt God’s love every time gale winds blow.
God used trials to sculpt my faith while I paid my way through college.
Weekly, I carried my waitress tips into the finance office.
Weekly I fought discouragement due to the daunting balance.
I would walk out of the office, head to my dorm-room, and drop to my knees, desperately in need of God’s help. I knew I’d be leaving soon if I didn’t see a miracle.
Then one day—a humble farmer drove onto the campus, hauling a load of apples. (Note: You never know when One Day will be The Day God shows up and reveals His power in your circumstance!)
The farmer expressed his desire to aid a struggling student. ‘Struggling’ must have had my name beside it. They selected me. Continue working hard at your grades and at your job. I will call the school EVERY semester and will take care of any remaining balance on your account!
That financial storm was instrumental in sculpting endurance in my faith. My roots deepened. Muscle-mass in God’s care thickened. When future winds blew against me, those anchored roots were confident of God’s yearning to involve himself in my troubles.
He wants us to rely on His power when we are powerless!
So, the next time we find ourselves in the middle of a storm, let’s drop to our knees, give every worry to Jesus, and allow the winds of adversity to become instruments that sculpt our hope and grow our spiritual endurance in God’s love.
An Anchor of Hope: 1 Peter 4:12-13
Wow. Thank you for this reminder. I tend to forget this truth. If life was all a bed of roses, I would not need HIM. Well, I need HIM every single day. I need HIM when life is good, I need HIM when life is so-so, I need HIM when life is hard. He truly has never let me down. I pray I life my life in a way that pleases HIM.