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January 8

Trials and Testing

Growth in the Christian life does not happen only in fair weather. The testing of our faith more readily occurs in times of uncertainty and difficulty.

Throughout the long history of the Christian church there have been those who have given their lives for their faith. They faced the great test: faithfulness at the threat of death. They found grace in martyrdom.

Most of us on the journey of faith face other tests and trials. These may be coping with life’s difficulties, broken relationships, financial or health issues. But it may also include various forms of relinquishment, including voluntary downward mobility.

Whatever may come our way on life’s journey, St. Cyprian is

convinced that “God wills us to be sifted and proved, as He has always proved His people, and yet in His trials help has never at any time been wanting.”8

Invited to live this strange dialectic of the wounding-healing hand of God, we are called to trust God’s strange way with us. Blessing and testing. Support and challenge. Growth and pruning. Presence and absence.

While we would like only to know God’s hand of blessing, we also need to know God’s hand of correction and guidance. While we would like the smooth path, we need to know the God who faithfully accompanies us on the rocky road.

Thought

In wounding us, God’s purpose is to bring us to greater wholeness and to deepen our understanding that God’s ways with us are different than our expectations.