So often on the Sunday following Easter, I keep reflecting on the power of the Resurrection and all it represents to the world, but today, I am reflecting on why God gives us so many tests and tasks. He gives us tests and tasks to strengthen us; even when we think we are doing the right thing, our lives may still be tough. None of us will ever understand God’s plans for us, but rest assured, all of His plans have a purpose for us.
Why does God test us? He wants to shape and train our character, mature and develop our behaviors, and strengthen our abilities to more fully help others and to conserve the world around us. All tasks, no matter how difficult, will be accomplished if we put our trust in the Lord. I believe God wants us to show kindness when we see others hurting. We need to be able to give both good and bad news to our friends and family members. Out of our own fears can come the ability to hang on for just one more minute of courage.
We are all in training to be better people. Many of us feel that God is not with us as we face our troubles but the opposite is true. He walks beside us, and everything that happens is through His eyes. We should pray that God never stops testing us until He is satisfied with who we are. While we’re being tested and given tasks that seem impossible to do, our job is to keep doing the good work, the small things, so that God’s plans get done. If we ignore His tasks for us, our lives will not be what He wants or what we want. Temptation, Satan, will win out if we chose to diminish our faith in the Living God.
I truly believe that what we are learning from God’s tests and tasks may not be just for us but for others in the future who will face their own difficulties. In God’s “university of hard knocks,” His curriculum will define who we become. God trains us to be teachers for those who see how we are suffering through hard times and who realize that, they too, can overcome their problems with faith the size of a mustard seed. With all those mustard seeds, the world could feed an abundance of life. There would be no need of tears, just millions of loving, kind hands. 2 Corinthians 1:4 (KJV), says, “Who comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
We need to view God’s tests and tasks not as interruptions to our lives but as preparations for life. God is not absent from our lives when troubles come; He walks beside and inside us. By God’s love and power, we will get through all adversity, and His Son, Jesus Christ, light our paths by His sacrifice on Easter morning.
Anna Hartt
