Have you ever wondered why life seems to be an endless stream of tests, trials and hardships? Try to get over one trial and almost immediately another one (or two) takes its place.
Last Monday in the weekly group session I've been attending in Globe Telecom to study Rick Warren's book "The Purpose Driven Life" (Chapter 5), our group discussed about different metaphors to answer the question "How do you see your life?"
Here are some answers we got from the group:
- Life is a circus
- Life is a puzzle
- Life is a symphony
- Life is a journey
- Life is an adventure
- Life is a battle
- Life is a race
- Life is like climbing a mountain
- Life is like a game of cards
- Life is life a roller coaster that goes up and down
- Life is like a "Gulong ng Palad", sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, and sometimes you just go round and round
In the same chapter, Rick Warren pointed out that "Life on earth is a Test".
These tests are given to us for a reason:
- To develop character
- To reveal weaknesses
- To prepare us for more responsibilities
Tests can come in many forms: major changes (i.e. relocating our office), delayed promises (delayed revenues for the company), seemingly impossible problems (we lost our biggest client last December), unanswered prayers (lovelife-less dexter?), undeserved criticism (hanggang diyan ka na lang) and even senseless tragedies (oh my cellphones, my cellphones!)
Having realized that God, in His infinite wisdom, allows these tests and trials to happen, I have come to welcome and accept these with an open heart. Instead of complaining and asking "Why me, Lord? Why do I have to undergo all these tests?", I have learned to ask "Lord, what do you want me to learn from these tests?"
Each test was a growth opportunity to deepen my character, to demonstrate Love, or to depend on Him. God's answer was simple... "Simply Trust Me."
Some tests seemed so overwhelming while others I didn't even notice at all. The good news is that God wants me to pass all the tests of life. I can always rely on what 1 Corinthians 10:13 says in the Bible: "God keeps His promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out."
Tests in our lives are like the heat and extreme pressure experienced by a lump of coal trapped underneath a mountain. Over time, the extreme heat and pressure transforms the lump of coal into a hard lump of rough diamond. Once unearthed, with careful chisel strokes, a jeweler makes big and small cuts to give the stone just the right facets to reflect the light. This is true of us human beings too. We don't have to love the painful chisel cuts that God subjects us to. But it is crucial to remember that if God seems to allow pains in our lives, it is not to destroy us, but rather "to make us perfect."
Diamonds don't glow on their own. They don't have luminescence of their own. But put these diamonds in light and they sparkle with fiery luminousity. In the same way, God created us for the express purpose of reflecting into this world His very glory, the radiance of His character and the beauty of his transforming power. This reflection happens only if we remain in His Light.
Tests and trials are God's way of transforming us into perfect diamonds, so that when we are put into His Light we are able to reflect His glorious radiance.
James 1:12 puts it so nicely: "Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."
And what a crown it will be!
Ain't God wonderful? :-)
~florent flora
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