115. THE TESTS OF TIME
(The Faith Forum Series – Batch 3)
The true character of a man always comes out either in him having too much or too little. These two circumstances are the greatest tests and temptations of all time.
For with abundance, there is the temptation to trust in riches and self and to stop depending on God and with too little, there is the temptation to turn on God through trials and frustration.
There are countless examples of people who professed faith at one point but then God allowed one of these circumstances to come to test them and they failed…miserably. That is why Agur in Proverbs 30:8-9 said to the Lord:
- “…give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; Lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.”
Paul, having mastered the art of contentment, stated in Philippians 4:11-13:
- “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.“
Blessed is the man who remains unmoved and unfazed, humble and faithful, in good times and in bad, in times of plenty and in times of little, in times of great successes and in times of humiliating defeats, in times of good news and in times of bad, in times of highs and in times of lows, in times of smiles and in times of woes, in times of God’s great ‘YESes’ and in times of his disappointing ‘NOs’.
How about you? All of heaven is looking on. Will you pass the test?
(Written on 21st December, 2013)
