Category Archives: tribulations

God is Faithful

Exodus 3:1-15;  Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.   (1 Corinthians 10:13)

In life there are always tests and trials. Our response to those test and trials helps determine the true measure of our character. Do we face these obstacles with faith and hope in a merciful God? If so, there is great reward in our doing so.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.   (Proverbs 3:5-6)

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.   (James 1:2-4)

Let us now turn to what may be a greater test for many of us – the blessings of God. This type of test was certainly a difficult one for the children of Israel when God rescued them for slavery in Egypt and led them towards the promised land. The Apostle Paul writes:

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.   (1 Corinthians 10:1-5)

God blesses us and we tend to lose sight of why we received those blessings. God blesses us for His purposes. With the blessings comes a grace period in which we are expected to respond to his blessings in positive ways. Jesus told this parable to illustrate this very point:

“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”   (Luke 13:6-9)

We are expected to produce fruit from God’s blessings. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees and Sadducees:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.   (Matthew 3:7-10)

God grants us a grace period to respond to His goodness and mercy, but that period is not without limits. God does His part. He waters and fertilizes and tends us with loving care. We must do our part. If we remain in His presence and under His direction we will surely produce the fruit that is required. Jesus gave these instructions to His disciples:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.   (John 15:1-4)