My Need to Trust God in the Midst of Any Crisis
One sure way to test my maturity is not in times of ease but times of difficulty. I confess I've seen my immaturity not during the times of ease but times of crisis. I observe that I only became more humble after I've been afflicted - not before I'm afflicted. As the Psalmist writes in Psalm 119:71 that it's good to be afflicted so I can learn God's statutes. Charles H. Spurgeon also warned that times of pleasure leads to backsliding. I'm not saying I should seek to suffer all the time. Rather, I should welcome it. I'm not to seek to enjoy the suffering but to enjoy the fact that God had a purpose for it.
I could think of how suffering reveals to me my immaturity. How do I know I'm not mature? It's when I'd rather whine over the crisis than think God has His way. It's when I choose to react like a madman over insults than to hold my tongue. It's when I choose to get defensive when the wicked is before me. It's when I choose not to pray as the first resolve. It's when I prefer instant solutions than God telling me to wait. Sometimes, patience is confused with procrastination. Procrastination means putting something aside what you can do now for later. Patience is doing your part all the time while not expecting instant results.
How can I practice what Jesus says if bad times don't come? How can I learn to turn my other cheek on insults if I don't get insulted first? How can I learn to be kind to the wicked if I don't meet wicked people first? How can I learn to hold my tongue in the presence of the wicked I don't get into their presence as God wills it first? How can I learn to wait on the LORD during difficult times if I don't face difficult times? What's the use of reading the Bible on Christian behavior towards ungodly people if I don't meet ungodly people? What's the use of reading about God's comfort in times of affliction if I don't face affliction? The Bible becomes only all theory if Christians aren't allowed to face any crisis.
But God is good to let them face any crisis by throwing them into it with a reason. It's like the parent who lets their child face a certain degree of hardship. The parents know that hardship will produce better children. A real loving parent would not let a child be pampered. How much more can a loving God allow those who are His to be pampered? No such promise is written. Instead, Hebrews 12:5-7 says that Christians can expect a lot of spanking from their loving Father because they are His.
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