What Trials Teach Us About Ourselves

What Trials Teach Us About Ourselves

Many times we think we know ourselves. Especially in our walks with the Lord, we think that we are doing really well. Then, trials come and someone says ‘Oh, God is just testing me to see if I love Him. To see if I really do love Him. I’d gotta pass this test’. This might be so far from the truth. 

 

For instance, Teacher Sada has a student who she loves really well- Sandra. Sandra loves Teacher Sada but she has a problem- overconfidence. Sandra could be a ‘too-knowish’ girl! She boasts about everything, and wouldn’t allow Teacher Sada to ask a question before she’d be up answering. 

 

The teacher, trying to make her understand that she was still the teacher and that Sandra would need to know her true self and condition, decides to give a test. Sandra then thinks ‘Oh, the teacher wants to really know if I know things, right?’ but that’s not it. The teacher is only trying to make her know that there are so many things she doesn’t know yet! 

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Does someone come to mind? Well, Peter should! Very confident of his love for Christ, a test came not to prove to Jesus to what extent Peter loved him but to prove to Peter that he was flesh after all and if he doesn’t lean in into the everlasting arms, he’d never last. He saw his clear picture when after the third time he realized he had terribly fallen. Ah, he was inconsolable! He then realized that it is not by mouth, not by self-determination, not by resolutions, but by the Spirit of the Lord. By Grace!

 

God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t.”- C. S. Lewis

Such a profound quote from C. S. Lewis! 

 

God, being all-knowing, is fully aware of the depth and quality of our faith and love. He does not need to “test” us to discover what we are capable of or how strong our relationship with Him is. He already knows our hearts completely (Psalm 139:1-4).

 

What Trials Teach Us About Ourselves

Trials and challenges are not for God’s benefit but for ours. They reveal to us the areas where we are strong and where we need tremendous growth. Often, we think we are more faithful or loving than we truly are, but difficulties bring our true character to light- for us, not for God, to see. 

 

God’s intention is to take us through challenges, to see the reality of our faith and love, and thereby push us into leaning more on Him, grow in humility, and strengthen our relationship with Him. As James 1:2-4 says, trials produce perseverance and maturity in us.

 

May the Lord help us to see ourselves as He sees us and recognize that every trial is an opportunity for growth and transformation. May we learn to depend not on our own strength, wisdom, or determination, but on His grace and Spirit to sustain us. When tests come, let us remember they are not for God to discover who we are but for us to discover who He is—and who we are in Him.

 

May we humbly embrace His refining work in our lives, trusting that He is drawing us closer to Himself, shaping us into vessels fit for His glory. And as we persevere, may our faith, love, and dependence on God be deepened, bringing us into greater alignment with His perfect will. Amen. 

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