Point to Ponder: Life is a test and a trust.
Insight: Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test. You are ALWAYS being tested.
How we define life determines our destiny. If someone was to ask us how we picture our life, what image would come to our mind? That image is a metaphor. It’s the view of life that we hold consciously or unconsciously, in our mind. People often express their life metaphor through clothes, jewelry, cars, hairstyles, bumper stickers, even tattoos.
Picture by Dave Weide
Our unspoken metaphor influences our life more than we realize. It determines our expectations, our values, our relationships, our goals, and our priorities. For instance, if we think life is a party, our primary value in life will be having fun. If we see our life as a race, we will value speed and we will probably be in a hurry much of the time. If we view life as a marathon, we will value endurance. If we see life as a battle or a game, winning will be very important to us.
What is our view of life? The bible offers 3 metaphors that teach us God’s view of life. 1) Life is a test, 2) life is a trust, and 3) life is a temporary assignment. These ideas are the foundation of the purpose-driven living.
Life on earth is a Test. We can see this all throughout the bible. God continually tests people’s character, faith, obedience, love, integrity and loyalty. We don’t know what all the tests God will give you, but we can predict some of them, based on the bible.
A very important test is how we act when we cannot feel God’s presence in our life. Sometimes God intentionally draws back, and we don’t sense his closeness. When we realize that life is a test, we realize that nothing is significant in our life. Even the smallest incident has significance in our character development. The important thing to remember is that God wants us to pass the tests of life.
Life on earth is a Trust. Our time on earth and our energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, and resources are all gifts from God. We are stewards of whatever God gives us. We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth but we must take care of what he has given us while we are here on earth. Remember the parable of the talents, a businessman entrusts his wealth to the care of his servants while he is away. When he returns, he evaluated each servant’s responsibility and rewarded them accordingly. The one that hid the talent, didn’t get rewarded, actually his master took his talent away. This translates to our God given talents and gifts.
At the end of our life on earth we will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well we handled what God entrusted to us. That means everything that we do, even simple chores.
Most people fail to realize that money is both a test and a trust from God. God uses finances to teach us to trust him, and for many people, money is the greatest test of all. God watches how we use money to see how trustworthy we are, and for many people, money is the greatest test of all.
Jesus said: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
My thoughts: This chapter stated with a quote from Anais Nin: “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.” This quote resonates with me. As I took a trip in memory lane, I realized how many times I viewed life one way to later realize that it was totally different than what I thought at the time. Growing up was one part of it but I have to admit that most of the times that I failed my tests were because I didn’t heed advice from those that had traveled that road before me. I didn’t use my God given talents or I wasted my time trying to have, be or do something else that I wasn’t called to do. Life has taught me interesting lessons, I have learned that “life is truly a test and a trust”, how we do our part will depend if we have to take the test over and over again or if we will pass the first time with flying colors.
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