A cloud threatens to bring wind and rain to us this morning. The weatherperson threatened us with another 'hundred' last night. The storm, the heat, or both for our morning? We don't know until it happens, and the same goes for the length of our trials. God does not send out a schedule or project plan for our development into the image of Christ. We don't get the date a trial or season of testing will come to a close. The length of a trial is: just long enough for God to complete His purpose in our lives. The season that seems to us so difficult to bear is just difficult enough to make us cry out to Jesus. Great! The next time this happens, I'll cry out right away and avoid a whole lot of suffering. Sorry, God is not a human that he can be so easily fooled. Your suffering, my trial, his testing, her tough time, whatever we want to call it will last just the right amount of time. All along the twisting trail into and out of this dark valley, God will send His Son to be with us every step of the way. Along that way, we will often cry out for our Savior, and He will always be there before the cry ceases to quiver on our lips.
What if the trial does not end in this lifetime? Many of our Christian brothers and sisters have suffered long in this world before going home. Are we to be like them? Maybe, we do not see the end at the start of our descent into the dark valley of testing. What better reward for our endurance than to wake up in Heaven and see the smiling face of our Savior? How much easier would the current test be if we knew it was our last? We might leap down into the valley of testing too quickly, trying in our haste to rush God's timing and grasp our reward before the effect of our trial is complete. Trust in God's wisdom. If we cannot see the end, it is because God knows that it is better that we do not see at this time. The length of the trial is in God's control; we have nothing to fear.
Bucky
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