Yesterday we started talking about the reasons God calls us to the desert.  The tests come in the desert because God wants to bring about change.  He wants us to know what is on our heart.  Another reason God tests our faith is because He knows the best way to cause faith to grow is to put it under pressure.

Evidently, God sees the quality of faith as being more important than the quantity of blessings in our lives. God loves to bless us, but he values faith more than fortune.

 

• How could faith grow if we never had to wait on God?  
• How would we ever learn to trust him if he met our needs before we realized that we had a need?

 

I love reading about the “faith exploits” of great men and men who walked with God.  It excites and motivates me.  The truth is though, we only learn about real faith when we have to exercise it. We would never learn how to trust God if every prayer was answered immediately and in obvious ways. This is not exercising faith muscles.

If we never tasted failure and only had successes, how would we learn and grow?

 

 Fred Astaire was one of the greatest entertainers of all time. He could sing, dance and act like no one else. In his famous movies like Top Hat and Swinging Time, he danced and crooned his way into people’s hearts all over the world.

But when Astaire was just starting out in 1932, a Hollywood talent judge wrote on his screen test: “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Can dance a little.”  But that review did not defeat him. It was a test of his determination.

 

We have all heard stories like this…people who persevered beyond all hope.

You will face many times in your life when others tell you what you can’t do. They will say that it can’t be done, even with God in the picture. They will discourage you and tell you that you are dreaming to wait on God and trust him. They will make you think that you can’t live by faith.

But it is only a test to see if you will be defeated or determined — whether you will have fear or faith. This is the real test that causes faith to grow.

 

 

God knows best!  He is not trying to hurt you.  God loves you and seeks to promote growth and maturity in your life.  He has your best interest at heart.  His timing is always best, even though when the tests come, we believe it is absolutely the worst time ever.

 

Last week bad storms were rolling through our area.  The truth is I really don’t like experiencing tornadoes in January.  Anyway, these were happening at night.  Around midnight we were under a tornado warning.  At midnight the Emergency Broadcast System thought it was a good time to issue a “test” of the Emergency Broadcast System.  Wow!  It couldn’t have been a worse time for a test of the EMS.  Hopefully the system was working correctly!  The time for testing needed to be complete. 

 

Listen, real storms eventually hit us all.  God knows the day will come when you will need real faith for real problems.  He prepares us early and often to be able to handle all scenarios.  Let Him have his way today, while it is still today.  He loves you and is seeking to bring growth.  The only question is will you participate fully in His process.

 

Blessings,

Pastor