The Trial of Your Faith

,p>We often wonder about the adversity some people go through in spite of being good believers. There is a common question rising out of many hearts, ‘Why did God allow trials in my life? Is there any meaning to it? Is there any scriptural references?

Why does God allow people to go through test of faith?

1. That we might be found unto praise, glory and honor.
[1Pet. 1: 7 – ‘That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perish, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.’] Once a person becomes a Christian, doesn’t mean that he/she is not exempt from pain and problems. We all experience setbacks in our life. The trial of faith is compared to the testing of gold. As by the action of fire, gold is separated from all alloy and heterogeneous mixtures, and is proved to be gold by its enduring the action of fire without losing any of its nature, weight, color or any property. The trial of our faith does not result in devastation and destruction but results in glory, honor and praise.

2. That we might receive the end of our faith:
1Pet. 1:9 speaks about receiving the end of our faith through the trial of faith. Faith is a journey that has a beginning and end. Everything that begins with faith will come under test. Any time we have faith on something, the initial moments look exciting but it might die down after a while. In fact, God wants us to reach to the last part of our journey. We go through trials so that we might receive/acquire the outcome of our faith. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted!

3. To produce character:
[Rom. 5:3, 4 knowing that tribulation worketh patience] And patience, experience; experience, and hope. Testing of our faith produces patience. Patience produces experience. In word used in literal translation is ‘dokeemay’ that means character. So testing of our faith produces proven character. As the goldsmith casts gold in the fire, he sets it at the ideal temperature. He will have a close watch over the whole process. When he is able to see his face reflected on the gold, he’ll remove it from the fire for he knows now it is pure gold. The purpose of our trials is to reflect God’s glory in our lives and to reflect His character through us.

The attitude of a believer when he/she goes through testing:
having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Even though Christ is unseen, we still believe, love and rejoice in Him.
The attitude/character of a believer when he goes through testing, is he rejoices. The Greek word for rejoice is ‘Agalliao’. It pictures one so filled that they feel like skipping around ‘jumping for joy’, shouting for joy which cannot be contained’, exceedingly joyful. Agalliao is not just experiencing a state of great joy, but often accompanied by audible, verbal expression and appropriate visible body movement.
If we have true joy in our heart, it will be expressed How is it possible to rejoice when we are going through manifold temptations:
• Know that our life becomes a life not based on what we see, but on the promise of God. Though we don’t see Christ, we see Him through His promises.
• We are not kept by our power but by the power of God that holds our life through faith unto salvation. (1 Pet. 1:5)

The character that is produced through trials can be described as-
1) who I am (2) Who my God is (3) How I communicate that to others when it’s all over.
This is depicted well in the character that David produced through his trials as a shepherd boy. He had to face extraordinary situations from the day the anointing oil fell on him. There were other shepherds present, but a bear and attacked David and then a lion on the next day. We are called for an extraordinary life. He killed both bear and lion & delivered the sheep by the power of the Holy Spirit that came upon him during anointing. In 1Sam. 17:34-37 David testifies this to King Saul based on his experience, as to who he is, about the God he serves and about the experience that led him to victory. Experience enables you to face your future enemy and principalities. Your experience will describe who you are and God’s character. David often describes God as his buckler, shield, helmet, refuge, rock, tower that was based on his experiences.

4. To make us mature believers :
The mature believer seeks to use failures as lessons for growth and change. They will acknowledge their failures and refuse to hide behind any lame excuses. Confess any sin to God, put the failures behind them and move forward.