Tests and Trials

I've been thinking a lot lately about the saying that God tests us. I believe that He gives me situations that help me grow, but I don't think saying God tests us is completely accurate. Look at the book of Job, for example. It is NOT God who does those things to Job, but Satan. Job says "The lord gives and the Lord takes away", but that was his human way of accepting the things that were happening to him. God did not do any of the 'taking away'. As readers we can see more than Job did because we see the background story of the conversation between God and Satan. God allows Satan to do those things without harming Job himself because God knows that Job will pass Satan's tests, but it is not God who is doing it. God allowed it because it made Job stronger, but God Himself did not cause it, He did not need to. God did not need to test Job because He knew already what Job's responses would be. God allowed Satan to do those things, not just to make Job stronger, but to show Satan that a righteous human who is in love with God, is stronger and more powerful than Satan. I can't imagine the sort of fear and frustration Satan experienced as Job continued to worship and praise God throughout all the terrible things Satan did to him, but it must have been a terrible fear, because it made Satan hate Job and all of the righteous.

What frustrates me is when people say after a tragedy that "God does not give us anything we cannot handle". That is well and good, but God does not orchestrate tragedy, that is the devil and Sin's doing. Say that to me when I'm about to enter a new beginning in my life, say that when there is a new challenge and a new calling and I am stressed, but do not say that when it is about tragedy! I can say that to Rocky and Carrie who are having their first baby and are nervous about the new change and the responsibilities that come with parenthood, because that is from God. I can say that to Carissa as she goes from full time student into doing student teaching, because it is a new stage in her life that God is giving her. But to say that when it is something that we have to handle because of some tragedy is wrong. God did not cause my miscarriage, He did not want that for me, He did not want that for my baby, but He allowed it knowing that I am strong enough to face Satan and his doings with praise and worship for my God. He allowed it because the struggle will make me stronger in Him, and in that will make His ministry through me that much stronger and more effective. God is a loving and righteous God, He does not cause harm. He gives me strength to get through the grief and the pain of the loss, but He did not cause that pain. God does not cause pain! As my wise sister once told me, God is a big blob of love, and His love is perfect and never harmful. I'm not certain God would be flattered by being compared to a blob, but I think He gets the meaning of her words.

Now, some might say, why does he allow pain at all? Well, that is because he allows free will. He wants us to choose Him no matter what, and if he took all the pain away then our choice would be easy but untrue. We must be faithful to Him as He is faithful to us. It is in our deepest pain and suffering that we make the honest choice, God or ourselves. God knew what Job's choice would be, but Job still needed to actively make that choice. It is like the topic of forgiveness. God already has forgiven us, He sees us as pure and righteous if we are His elect, Jesus' death made it so. So why do we ask forgiveness? Not because God hasn't yet forgiven us, but because we need to experience that forgiveness for ourselves. In the same way, we need to experience making that choice, a true and honest choice made in the difficult times rather than when it is easy to do so.

God is good, He will not give us more than we can handle, but what comes from God is good, not harmful. When we come to harm or feel pain, it is not God's doing, but Satan's and our own fallen state of being that causes it. God will use it because He can, but He never causes it and He never wants it.