I recently went through a season of trial a while back. It seemed nothing I did went well, nor did it seem as though God was answering my prayers. Prayers that I had been praying for for quite a while. It wasn’t until a good friend of mine shared some important insights that I realized that perhaps God was answering my prayers, and perhaps I needed to change my prayers. I was reminded that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions right away, that I needed to give myself some time to let my feelings settle down. It really is hard to think clearly with all those emotions surging through ones brain and heart. Once you calm down, God says “Why don’t you invite me into your process of deliberation? Let my presence improve your perspective.”
Yes, if we look at our problems from God’s perspective we can see these trials both as an opportunity (to strengthen one’s faith) and not as a temptation (to allow your feeling to trump your faith). I had done the later. I let my feelings trump my faith. What I knew was true from my past relationship with God and from what I knew from Scripture. In times of trial we must cling to the words of Jesus in Matthew, “With men this is impossible, but through God all things are possible”.
