Fires of Testing
Peter Storey's book has been so inspiring to me, and I feel like these devotions haven't even begun to touch on how powerful the book really is. So again, I want to encourage you to read it or to watch that video that I sent at the beginning of the week.
Now listen to these words right at the end of the book in the epilogue: “If you want to know whether God is alive, don't go to the places of comfort and ease. Inquire rather in those places where the fire of testing burns most fiercely. Those who look for the real Jesus will find that he's no meek and mild Saviour, but a fermenting and disturbing presence confronting humanity. So it was with me.”
Embrace Faith's Challenges
I wonder if you know Jesus in this way as the one who not only loves you, but the one who calls you, as the one who says “take up your cross and follow me!”
That is a real challenge. And so often in our faith we tend to sit around and enjoy spiritual entertainment rather than going out making a difference in the world.
And it's going to be difficult. In the book of Acts chapter 14, we read about Paul and Barnabas strengthening the believers. And in verse 22 we read this: “They encourage them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.”
A life that is modelled after the life of Jesus is not a lazy life. It's not a life of apathy. It's a life where hardships come because we stand up for the Kingdom of God, because we reach out where nobody else wants to reach out.
Live Challenging Faith
And James, right at the beginning of his letter, famously says that we should “consider it pure joy… whenever we face trials of any kind, because the testing of our faith produces perseverance.”
I feel like for many of us, we only find joy when there's no trials. But Jesus never promised an easy life. He promised a difficult life with much joy, but also with hardship.
And so are we living out our faith in a place of comfort and ease? Or are we going where the fires of testing burn brightly? Are we letting Jesus confront us and lead us into lives of deep compassion?
I know for me, I have a lot of work to do in this area, and I wonder if maybe it's the same for you. Maybe God is calling us not just to sit in church, but to do more. And to find those who are struggling and to help them to see Jesus, the light of the world.
And so may we take up this challenge and go wherever God sends us.
