"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.  You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.  So don't try to get out of anything prematurely.  Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."  (James 1:2-4, The Message)

I don't know about you, but I don't like tests.  Oh, I don't mean mid-term exams or finals, standardized tests, multiple-choice, true-false, or even essay tests.  I can live with those any day.  No, I'm talking about those tests that God sends us to help us grow.  You know, those tests.  And, yet, James instructs us to consider it a sheer gift when God sends us those kinds of tests.  Personally, I prefer a nice bottle of lotion from Bath and Body Works or a new book, maybe a pair of earrings.

A gift.  A gift?!?  I still find it hard to see it as a gift, but I have to admit that after the test is over, I can look back and see that, yes, I have grown, usually in ways I never imagined.  But I still find it hard, when I'm faced with this particular test-gift, not to struggle.  I have to admit, I usually want out of that situation-- as quickly as possible.  But this particular gift of God usually requires time to do its work.

I personally don't really like it when my faith-life is forced into the open to show its true colors.  Because I rarely like what I see.  You mean I still haven't got any more patience than that??  You mean I'm still grumbling and complaining like the children of Israel in the wilderness?  Sometimes, I feel rather despondent when my true colors show through--because those true colors are usually the ugly stains of a sinful and selfish heart.

So, here I am, God, sin-stained heart and all, offering it all up to you, and asking you to bleach out the stains as only You can.  Help me to "...do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that I may become blameless and pure, ...[and] will shine among them like stars in the universe." (Philippians 2:14-15)

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