Rise to the Challenge

               Do you rise to the challenge?  I do not mean the challenges you set for yourself.  Those are important for us to create and accomplish, there is no question of that.  However, setting our own challenges usually means that the goals we set are already within the boundaries of what we think we can achieve.

               No, what I mean to ask is about how you meet the unwanted, unlooked for challenges thrust upon each of us through life.  How we meet these is much more telling of our character.  How devoted to God are we when life makes serving Him much less convenient?  Would we rise to the occasion and face such temptations with confidence in God and His plans and promises to us, in that we will be given ways to endure and withstand them?  (1 Cor. 10:13)  During our times of trouble, we have an important choice to make.  Do we despair and doubt God, demanding to know and understand why God has not protected and looked after us?  Or do we trust in God to see us through, seeking the peace He provides (Phil. 4:7) and choosing to do our best to serve him in whatever capacity we are able?  (Romans 12:4, 6-8)

               Trials and tribulations test our faith (Jam. 1:2-3) and tempt us to not fully believe that God cares for His children.  I encourage each of us as we face life’s challenges and difficulties to seek out the new opportunities these situations provide us, and pursue these chances to grow spiritually, benefiting as is described in Romans 5:3-5.  We will reap the rewards of endurance, character, hope, and ultimately, eternal salvation.  These benefits are reason enough to actively step outside of our personal comfort zone, are they not?

               Life can be unkind and unjust.  May God be thanked that we have the knowledge and hope of our Lord being the one who will judge us by our actions and the state of our hearts.  Entrust your fate to God, as Christ did “entrusting himself to Him who judges justly.”  (1 Peter 2:23)