Three Friends

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12, NASB). “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6, NASB). “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2 – 4, NASB). “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulations brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured our within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3 – 5, NASB).

Several months ago a great ordeal, trial, or tribulation began with my first friend, Buzz, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer, which lead to surgery, chemo, and radiation treatments. The two weeks following radiation were the worse. The radiation shut down the saliva glands forcing him to eat through a tube to his stomach. For those two weeks he was so weak and tired that he slept nearly 24 hours a day and wanted no one to come to visit.

Shortly after Buzz had his operation, Larry, was on his way to work and hit a patch of ice, formed on the road from a lawn sprinkler that was left on, causing his truck to spin and roll over, breaking his neck and damaging his spinal cord. The doctors didn’t know if he would ever regain the use of his hands and feet.

A short while later I learned that Lisa, a coworker in China, was diagnosed with colon cancer and would experience chemo treatments and surgery in a Chinese hospital. Without family there and not knowing the Chinese language, she had to rely on her Chinese friends and students to care for her during this time.

Now, put yourself in the shoes of my three friends and consider the above verses. How do you think you would react? Maybe some of you know because you have been in a similar situation. Just as certain as physical death is for each of us, so are trials, which may at times be intense enough to be rated as tribulations or even fiery ordeals. It also appears, from the above verses, that trials are an actual benefit for us because of the refining process that takes place as we go through them. I see this in my three friends.

I believe trials are a necessary part of the life of a Christian and as a result it would be wise to prepare for them. We must not fall short of the grace of God or a root of bitterness will form in us (Hebrews 12:15). We will need wisdom from above to properly make wise choices and gain the greatest benefit from our difficulty (James 1:5). We will need to apply God’s love that is being poured into our hearts as its characteristics are “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22 – 23, NASB). We will need to sharpen our focus on Jesus, the source of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), which opens the door to a living hope and allows us to make sense out of these seemingly horrible times in our lives. But are they horrible or is that determined by our walk with the Lord?

How should we pray when the pathway of life intersects a tough time in the valley of the shadow of death? As I have grown in my walk with the Lord, I have come to realize that I should not pray for the removal of the trial, because if God were to answer that prayer and remove the trial then the benefits of being transformed into Christ-likeness would be eliminated. Is life for the Christian about comfort or about spiritual growth and preparation for eternal life? As you try to answer that think about Christians living under conditions of a third world country. As the transformation process takes place then one of the side benefits may be the relaxing of the difficulty. What I am suggesting is that we should better understand how trials fit into God’s plan for our benefit and seek wisdom on how our prayers are to fit God’s plan for the trial.

Transformation is evident in the lives of my three friends and so is the process of physical restoration. Going through a trial without realizing spiritual benefit seems to be a waste of a golden opportunity. What do your prayer request and your prayers reflect?