Discipleship 101
a beginner's guide to
Christianity
Chapter 9
Trials and faith
Many
Christians have been taught that they are guaranteed a way to escape trials.
They point to biblical promises that God will intervene for those who have faith
in his Son.
However, God not only
promises to help us in our trials—he also promises us trials! Christ did not
come to bring us a trouble-free life. Instead, he warned us that we would have
strife within our families because of him (Matthew 10:34-36), that we would have
trials (John 16:33) and that we would be persecuted (John 15:20). We enter the
kingdom through many trials (Acts 14:22), and every Christian will suffer
persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). We should not think it unusual when trials afflict
us (1 Peter 4:12). The fact that Jesus Christ suffered when he was in the flesh
reminds us that we will also suffer.
Nevertheless, Scripture also
says that if we ask for anything in Jesus’ name, then he will do it for us (John
14:12-14). Well then, some Christians reason, we can ask for a trouble-free
life, and if we have enough faith, then Jesus will make sure that we have no
troubles.
John 14:12-14 says we can
have anything we ask for. Can we claim that as a promise for whatever we want?
No—in a passage like this there are unstated qualifications, qualifications that
are explained elsewhere in Scripture. Consider for a moment this fact: Some
Christians earnestly prayed that a certain person would be
president. Others prayed in Jesus’ name for someone else. Christians in each group prayed in faith, but Jesus did not answer all their
requests in the same way.
The unstated qualification is
that God answers only according to his will (1 John 5:14). God will not respond
to prayers that violate his sovereign will. He often has reasons we cannot see.
We do not know his will perfectly, and it is quite possible for us to believe
something that is not true. Our faith is no guarantee that the answers we seek
will happen, since our faith may be mistaken. I have yet to hear
of a literal mountain moving into the sea.
In various competitions and wars, some Christians ask God to give them victory;
people on the other side ask the same, and God cannot give both of them what
they want.
We
may ask God for a million dollars—many Christians have—but not receive, no
matter how many things we buy “on faith,” confident that God will supply. We can
have full confidence in Jesus Christ—confidence that he saves us—without having
faith that he is a genie performing all our requests made in his name just
because we use the right words and believe.
Faith and healing
Many Christians have firmly
believed that God would heal a loved one. They prayed in faith. Some believed
that they had confirmation from other believers or from other miracles. So they
were genuinely surprised, even dumbfounded, when the loved one died. What they
had believed with such certainty turned out not to be true. Their faith could
not heal the person—only God could heal, and he chose not to, despite their
prayers, their faith, God’s love and God’s promises.
When such disappointments
happen, a new trial sets in. If faith in the healing turned out to be a mistake,
what about faith in Christ? Was it also a mistake? That is one of the dangers of
the “word of faith” teaching—it links faith in our Savior to faith in specific
predictions. Did Jesus promise to heal every disease? He did not heal
Epaphroditus, as least not as fast as people wanted him to (Philippians 2:27).
Even in his earthly ministry, Jesus did not heal everyone (John 5:3-9).
Didn’t Jesus suffer and die for us? Doesn’t that mean that we have no reason to
suffer? Some say so, but we should test this line of reasoning with another
fact: Jesus died for us. Does this mean that we should never die? We already have eternal life
(John 5:24; 11:26). But the fact is, every Christian dies. There is something
wrong with the line of reasoning. We do not yet experience everything Jesus
accomplished for us.
There will come a time when
we will be raised imperishable. There will come a time when we never experience
pain. There will come a time when we receive the full benefits of Jesus’
redemption. But that time is not yet. Now, we share in Jesus’ sufferings (1
Peter 2:20-21).
Jesus promised persecution,
not freedom from pain and sorrow. When Paul was beaten, stoned, and imprisoned,
he felt pain. Paul had great
faith, but also many sufferings (2 Corinthians 1:5; Philippians 3:10; 4:12).
Although Jesus atoned for all sin, Christians still suffer despite their
faith—and sometimes because of their faith.
We suffer from persecution,
and we suffer the incidental pains of living in a world in which sin is still
common. Sin hurts innocent people, and sometimes we are the innocent people who
are hurt. Sometimes it results in early death, sometimes in slow and pain-filled
death. We may suffer physical damage from a burning, a beating, a car accident
or asbestos fibers. Our health may suffer from exposure to cold, from smoke in a
house fire or chemicals in our food. We may be hurt by wild animals, large or
small, or even microorganisms. God has not guaranteed to protect all his people
from all possible problems.
Is it always God’s will to
heal people who have faith in Christ? The biblical evidence is that he sometimes
does, and sometimes does not. Stephen was killed, James was killed. Eventually
all the first Christians died of something. Yet, how many times did God save
them out of danger before they eventually died? Perhaps many times.
Have you ever wondered about
preachers who claim to heal all infirmities, yet they themselves wear
eyeglasses? There is no reason why biblical promises would apply to one kind of
ailment but not the other. The scriptures sometimes cited in support of a
universal promise of healing do not make any exceptions for eyesight, age,
accidents or anything else. Both Scripture and experience tell us that these
verses were not intended as universal guarantees.
Yes, some have been healed,
sometimes dramatically. These are examples of special favor, grace and mercy. We
should not take these examples of exceptional grace and create universal
promises out of them.
And we especially should not
imply that people who aren’t healed do not have faith. Sometimes their faith is
demonstrated through their suffering—they remain cheerfully confident that God
will do what is best for them. Whether they live or whether they die, whether
they have prosperity or poverty, whether they are sick or in heath, they trust in God. There is nothing wrong with
their faith. What is wrong is a teaching that implies that they are somehow not
doing enough.
Purpose of trials
Well, since God promises us
trials, and he promises to help us in and through our trials, what are they for?
Why does God allow any evil? We do not fully know, but we know that God does
allow evil, and Jesus himself was willing to endure it, and he is still enduring
it patiently. The Scriptures tell us about a few benefits of trials:
-
“Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character,
hope” (Romans 5:3-4).
-
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it
produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained
by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
-
“You may have had to suffer
grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater
worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved
genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
In short, we learn things
from suffering that we cannot learn from studying. Suffering shapes our
character in a way that words cannot fully describe. Even Jesus learned from his
sufferings (Hebrews 5:8), and we are also called to take up a cross and suffer
with him. “If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with
Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in
his glory” (Romans 8:17).
Trials are not pleasant, but
we are comforted by the fact that God is at work in our lives, and he is able to
retrieve good from all things. He has the knowledge and the compassion to work
in our lives for his glorious purpose. We do not always understand what specific
lessons we are supposed to learn from a particular trial, but the overall lesson
is always to trust in God.
Often, a trial of faith is
just that—a trial of faith. In trials, we must trust God despite our
physical circumstances, and by trusting God, we are growing in our faith
relationship with him. This is of infinite importance, since in Christ we are
everything we can be, and without him we are nothing.
An untried faith can be weak.
Anyone can persevere when things are good. A tried faith is stronger, and the
bond between us and God grows stronger. God wants a personal relationship with
his children, a relationship characterized by faith, trust and love. This bond
of faith can be strengthened by our trials. Trials teach us to rely on God for
our every need. Whether our trial is health, or money, or relationships, or a
problem in the church, we are to look to Christ.
Joseph Tkach
To
the next article in this series:
Jesus: alive forevermore! |
