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As a young boy, I learned early the fundamentals of climbing trees. One of my favorite trees to climb was an old cherry tree in the backyard. My brothers and I would spend hours climbing this old tree. The crook in the branches became a fort from which we repelled borders from our imaginary pirate ship. The rope hanging from one of the branches provided us with the opportunity to practice our Tarzan swings. In the summer, we would rest on the big old branches and eat cherries. In the winter, we would haul up abandoned Christmas trees, to add foliage to the barren tree. The tree was familiar to me and I felt secure in my ability to climb the tree.
On the Friday before Easter, when I was about seven years old, I found myself again climbing in the old cherry tree, doing what I had done on countless other occasions. For some unexplainable reason, I lost my grip and fell to the ground, breaking my arm. When I loudly announced to my mother what had happened, she immediately placed me in the car and began the drive to the doctor’s office.
During the long drive to the doctor’s office, I pleaded and wailed, "I don’t want a broken arm", over and over, in the hopes that my mother would undo the damage done. Naturally, when we arrived at the doctor’s office and x-rays were taken, I still had a broken arm.
What makes a Christian exempt from the trials, tests, and problems of this world?
As Matthew 5:45 aptly states:
"For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
As Christians, no matter how close our relationship with God, sometimes when trials come our way, we often lift our voices to God and plead, "I don’t want this trial" or "I don’t want that trial." We want things to be smooth. We only "want" times of joy and times of peace. We "don’t want" the unfamiliar, we "don’t want" sorrow, and we "don’t want" trials and tests. Why do we need to endure trials?
As 1 Peter 1:7 encourages:
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
As I had grown comfortable in my own abilities in climbing trees, only to discover the painful reality of falling, sometimes, God needs to wake us up to the reality of this life: We live for God.
In this world, we are often driven to either accomplish or dismiss a specific task on the mere basis of what "we want." Psalms 23:1 states:
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
While the "want" in the above scripture is usually interpreted to mean that the Lord will provide all of our needs, it also points out that Christians, like lambs, should follow where the shepherd leads. In meeting our needs, it is the Lord that leads us, rather than us leading the Lord to what it is that we "want."
Nobody wants a broken arm, nobody wants sorrow, and nobody wants tests and trials. It is because God’s will is perfect that broken arms, sorrow, and tests and trials can serve to increase our faith and/or bless another.
Copyright 2001by Bruce
