Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4 NASB
Trials set up testing.
A harsh word from a friend or family member tests whether we retaliate or turn the other cheek.
An unexpected lustful scene in a movie tests our mental fidelity.
Unfairness in any form is a hinge which turns toward forgiveness or holding out for justice.
Testing is nothing more than a learning experience. Oh, for sure, the default for most of us is “pass” or “fail.”
That’s not how God looks at it.
“We do not kick little children if they fall down learning to walk.
Even if they know better than to fall, we are patient with them, reaching down a hand to help them up, knowing that eventually – if we are patient – they will learn.
So it is with God. He never kicks His people when they fall. (Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20) He reads our hearts and makes a clear distinction between the mistakes we make, even sometimes willfully, and whether what we do is the result of confirmed rebellion on our part.
God knows what to do with those who have confirmed their wills in rebellion. But He is very merciful to those of His children who fall frequently while learning to walk.” (1)
PRAY
I am way too hard on myself, God. “Pass- fail” is embedded in my heart and it’s killing me. It’s killing my marriage. It’s teaching my kids to be unrealistically hard on themselves. It’s a poor witness to friends. It stunts my growth and I’m tired of acting childlike as an orphan Christian. Help me learn to become self-aware when I am operating out of “pass-fail” and redirect to the grace of “it’s a learning experience.” Amen
(1) Charles Kraft, Christianity with Power