How Do I Handle a Difficult Trial Not of My Own Doing?
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6, 7
Recently my four-year-old son asked, “Is it yesterday yet?” Knowing the context, I understood his question. His excitement about things coming up the following day had motivated him to ask if yesterday was in the past yet. An entertaining dialogue ensued, with our seven-year-old son trying to explain time to his younger brother.
It has rightly been observed that “even a broken clock is right twice a day.” When we are experiencing hardships that really aren’t our fault, what surfaces as most important is the urgency of clearing our own name. But even if your speech is right, your spirit can still be wrong.
Unless we connect time with eternity, we will live as if time is always working against us. But since God created time, it can be your friend. Expectations about the future affect present decisions. If you lose sight of your eternal blessings, all you will see is your present buffetings. Time is either for us or against us.
James states Peter’s perspective as a blessing: “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). Having lived a few years longer than my children, I can appreciate their struggles with time and the blessings of being time tested.
Father, my recent ambitions have been focused on temporal situations. I ask for Your forgiveness. I want to live with balance. As Your said at creation, I want to declare at the end of the day that it was good. You know my day; You even know my minutes. Help me to live the next five minutes for You. I need You, Father, more than I need “Father Time”. Help me, Jesus. Amen.
*Thank you… Dr. Glynn Stone, Longview, Tx