Opportunities To Grow

Remember taking tests when you were in school? Typically, other than offering some essential instructions, your teacher remained silent. This wasn’t a time for instruction. It was a time to evaluate and observe your knowledge. And the good instructor would use those evaluations to reinforce areas of competency and improve areas of deficiency.

Sometimes, during times of our trials and tests, God seems silent. But those moments are never a sign of absence but of a Divine teaching moment. James tells us, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12 NIV)

He reminds us that our tests are not obstacles but growth opportunities. The word “test” is the word “peirasmos” and suggests a process intended to refine or strengthen. It's in these moments of testing that our faith is refined and our character shaped.

Duke Stone
After 40 years in full-time ministry, I try to see how the little things in life speak big things about God. This blog is an attempt to share with you the many ways I see the love of God in the ordinary things of life.