Word for the Day May 22
By: Evang. Cascille Hammack
"But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold."
Job 23:10
Dr.
Miles Munroe said it best in his sermon this past Sunday at his church in the Bahamas, "A test is not sent to destroy
you, but to prove you." A friend of ours was there and brought us the Word back. Praise God for His faithful
servants. God is faithful.
A test proves your faith. If your faith was never tested, it could not manifest. Dr. Munroe said,
"If you have faith, only tests prove it exists." If you are alive and you have faith, you will be tested.
Be careful when someone else is going through a severe test and you judge them, because your test is just around the corner!
Keep living and your faith will be tested. That is why someone who has come through severe testing and relied on God
and survived in victory is not quick to judge. Instead, the compassion of Christ rises up in them and they reach out
to those in the trial, now able to tell them from experience, victory is coming if they hold onto their faith.
Sometimes God strips everything away so
that only what faith you have may be revealed. It is all that matters. It is easy to talk and speak words, but
faith is truly shown when you are in the fire. How do you go through it? God gets all the glory when you stand
on your faith that Jesus has bled and died for you and the victory is already won! You can walk through confidently,
knowing He is more than able to deliver you and if He does not, you will continue to give Him glory. But He is faithful.
He will get glory if you stand on your faith. When all is stripped away in your life, what remains?
The only way to avoid testing is
to quit. But Jesus said in Luke 9:62, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for
the kingdom of God." You will suffer now and forever if you quit. Those who are bold and confident have
faith. They know the outcome is that they win. The fearful do not have faith. Hebrews 10:35-39 says,
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have
done the will of God, you will receive the promise. For in just a little while, "He who is coming will come and
not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Going through trials does not prove
you are failing, it proves you are in faith. If you are in the faith, it will be tested. The test proves you are
faithful. Some people want to judge when they see you going through, but put your seat-belt on, God will reveal
what faith they have in due time, if it is faith at all, by the test he sends them. Then you will be standing firmly,
having successfully gone through your test to stand by them in compassion and tell them to hold on firmly that God is
faithful and He will make a way for them. Joseph thrown in the pit, lied on, then put in prison, the three Hebrew boys
in the fiery furnace, David defeating Goliath, in each of these, the test came before the promotion and purposes of God manifested
in their lives. They passed their tests and God received all of the glory and they are still encouraging us to
hold onto our faith today! God is faithful and He will do it! Can God trust you to do the same today? Have
you passed your test? Will you say like Paul said, in 2 Ti 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith." Will the Lord say to you when you stand before Him, "Well done,
good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your Master's happiness." Mt. 25:23