Worth Repeating - July 9, 2017

Genesis 35: 3 “Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” (NIV)

He will be with you in trouble all day and through the night.*

In this verse, Jacob says that God has been with him wherever he has gone. Does the thought of God being with you wherever you go make you uncomfortable? Haven’t we all been places where God would be uncomfortable and unwelcome? Perhaps if we gave some thought to the fact that we carry God with us wherever we go we would be more selective about the places we take him.

But now let’s talk about the places where God takes us – places that are sometimes worse than uncomfortable. Places that make us feel that God isn’t there but, as Jacob testifies, even in our distress he is with us. These are the places where God tests us and allows us to be tested. Hebrews 11: 17 states clearly that God tested Abraham.

A test has been described as “a difficult experience through which a person’s true values, commitments, and beliefs are revealed.”* God allows us to be tested in order to reveal the validity, not the weakness, of our faith.* According to I Peter 1: 7, when our faith is proved to be genuine the result is praise, glory and honor to Jesus Christ - in other words: “The test becomes a testimony.”*

As you face testing, find strength in knowing that God only tests his people and that it is for our good and his glory.

Hardships and suffering is where God gets the best out of you. In the valley of suffering is where the fountains of blessing will open.*