Who Are You When the Going Gets Tough? Stayer or Strayer?

Who are you when the going gets tough?  Are you a stayer or a strayer?  Why do we go through tough times?  What do we learn about ourselves and God during tough times?

 Tough times and testing are crucial and necessary times in our lives.  The Bible says God will test us.  He tests us to see if He can trust us, to see how much we love Him, and to see if He can depend on us to stay strong in Him.  Remember, our God is a jealous God.  The first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).  He tests us to see if we will remain strong in Him and totally dependent on Him.  Remember how He tested Abraham with his son Isaac (Genesis 22)?   God tested Abraham by asking him to willingly sacrifice Isaac.  I think God wanted to know if Abraham  loved Him because He is God Almighty and the ultimate source of all we have and all we are—not merely  for the good things He gives us in life.  But testing is never easy.  Proverbs 17:3 says “the crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. Job describes his testing in 23:10 “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”  These are examples of those who stayed the course, who passed the test, who proved their love and devotion to God.  God learned He could trust them and they learned that they really loved God and would follow Him no matter what.  Luke 8:13 says ‘Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they will fall away.”  This verse talks about the strayer s– the ones who fail the test.   God does not care as much about the talents, gifts, blessings, or callings that He has given you as much as He cares about whether you love Him and are committed to Him.  My pastor Bill Purvis says this often, “If God chose not to bless me starting right now for the rest of my life, I would still serve Him. Why? Because the blessings he has already given me, have already been more than I deserve and I would have no reason not to praise Him for all He has already done for me.” 

 God just wants to know that we love Him and will follow Him and He rejoices when we recognize the sacrifice of His son for us on the cross and enter into his eternal family.