Last night I prayed that God would bless my life and, as well,
that He would give me a break from trials.
I felt uneasy asking this because I know that the Lord works good things
in us through trials. Also, I daily see
my short-comings and sinful nature. However, I told the Lord that I often feel
hopeless because there would never be a reason for Him to not give me trials .
. . I’ve never been perfect.
The parable of the ten talents came to mind. The third servant whom the Lord had entrusted
talents to did not use them, but rather, he accused his master of being unfair.
The servant said “I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out
what you did not put in and reap what you did not sew.” (Lk 19:21). This
servant did not trust his Lord.
I became aware that it is hard to trust the work of the Lord
in myself when I never see perfection. When we face our weaknesses, and our
tendencies towards sin, chastisements seem due us. But just as the servant did not see what God
had “put in” or “sewed” into his life, we also can miss what God has put into
us. He put His Holy Spirit into us, and when we bear the fruit of His nature,
that is what our Master comes for.
In reading Jesus’ parables, we see the contrast between
those who serve Him, and those who do not.
Some He asks to forgive, others to walk a second mile. Some are to watch over their fellow servants,
and some are to labor in a field for the Master. But there are no parables where those who
fail are upbraided for not being perfect, nor those who succeed have mastered
perfection. We cannot accomplish our own
salvation, and though trials work good in us, they do not make us sinless.
In Revelation we see a multitude of people dressed in white
and waving palm branches. They came out
of a great tribulation, during which they washed their robes in the blood of
the Lamb. They sing “Salvation belongs
to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev 7:10 & 14). The purity expressed by their white robes
wasn’t accomplished by the multitude; it was purchased for them by Jesus’
sacrifice. They were not acceptable
because of their own efforts, but because of His. And though all men are weak,
His nature makes us strong. If we sin,
His blood covers our sin and we are acceptable to God. This takes faith, the very thing God looks
for in us during our trails.
Paul writes about finding himself to be a “wretched man”
(Rom 7:24). He then shares that choosing to walk in the Holy Spirit (what God
put into us) brings us into righteousness, and out from under condemnation (see
Rom 8). Self-condemnation,
self-contempt, and self-denial cannot do what walking in God’s Spirit can. Paul did not hide his talents, nor accuse God
of being unjust. In fact, Paul thought
that all the things he had lost helped him to know Christ. Paul considered
those things which had been valuable to him were as “rubbish” and that the loss
of them helped him to “gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a
righteousness of my own . . . but that which is through faith in Christ – the
righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” (Phil 3:8-9).
Our theories, own wisdom and logic will not lead us into
perfection, nor will they lead us to become acceptable to God. But trust in
God’s ways, and faith in Jesus will accomplish in us all that God is looking
for. Our trials lead us to daily accept grace from God, and to give grace daily
to others. God loves to inhale the sweet aroma of Christ’s sacrifice coming
from our lives.
