He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)
It is not uncommon to hear people who are in a season of trial and difficulty say that God is punishing them for something. They are convinced that they have failed God in some way and God is exacting His pound of flesh from them. But this simply cannot be true! The reason I am so emphatic about that is the cross. Jesus hung on that cross and was punished in our place for every sin of all those who will believe — sins past, present, and even those still to come.
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)
OK, you might ask, if God does not send the storms of life to punish us, then what is He doing? The answer is that He is pursuing us! I have said it here many times, but it bears repeating: God’s greatest goal in our lives is to conform us into the image of Christ, and He will use any means necessary to accomplish that goal . . . and one of those means is seasons of difficulty. When I look back at my own life, I can testify that God used storms to draw me closer and closer to Him. When the waves of challenge were washing over me, God was working all of it for my ultimate good . . . and that good is conformity to Christ.
God was pursuing me in the storm, not punishing me! God wanted to deepen my faith walk with Him, and He used those storm winds to do exactly that. Job knew it; you see that certainty in our verse for today. Hezekiah, king of Judah, knew it; he wrote, “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish” (Isaiah 38:17). Christian, I hope you know it too.
Regardless of the difficulties you may be facing today — relationship tensions, financial troubles, health crises, or soul-crushing losses — God is in hot pursuit of you through all of it. God is testing our faith because there is no testimony without a test.
These trials have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7).
It has been well said that a faith that has not been tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. Rest in the truth that God is pursuing you, not punishing you, no matter what difficulty you are facing this day.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 