What is it with Christians having to “test their faith” repeatedly? Could it possibly have something to do with their fantasy god belief being difficult for even themselves to believe? They must force themselves to believe things that they know deep down is absurd and illogical, blind “faith.” Of course, some Christians of the fundamentalist variety will say that it’s the “devil” testing them, while God stands by and watches as a voyeur to see the outcome (when he supposedly already knows how things will turn out).
Tom Brown of Tom Brown Ministries writes:
Trials come to test your faith. This means that trials BATTLE your faith. And if your faith is not fighting back, you are not winning.
If your not winning, you’re not becoming stronger. God wants us to become stronger by resisting the devil who sent the trial.
Now why would a loving God want to put his special creations through such ordeals? This is a weird and sadistic god to force his beloved followers to keep in line and follow the straight and narrow.
I do not need to test my husband’s, children’s, parents’, grandparent’s and friends’ love for me, nor do I need to test my love for them. I don’t need to put them through terrible trials and tribulations in order that they believe that I exist, and vice-versa. I would not want to cause them any sort of suffering, and they would not want me to have to endure suffering just to prove that I love and care about them. I do not need to be made more faithful to my husband or loyal to my friends via resisting temptations and “battling my faith” in them.
We do become stronger because of the experiences we have gone through, the difficulties and hard times that living brings to most people at one time or another. But it’s not some sort of “trial”, no sort of “test” that intentionally is some sort of “battle” to win. It’s just life, it’s how things are. Good things happen, bad things happen and how we deal with these things shows our character, our will, our determination, our desire to survive sometimes against all odds.
3 comments:
I use to have the belief that life's hardships were a series of cosmic tests designed to teach me something. The belief was apparent when something traumatic happened and I would say "My God is testing me!"
But like you, I don't think that a loving God would test my character or faith. Life just happens, and sometimes it hurts. Life can be terribly painful at times, but I don't think that pain is inflicted on me by God anymore.
Here’s a story to go along with this post:
Wis. father saw sickness as ‘test of his faith’
A Wisconsin man accused of killing his daughter by praying instead of seeking lifesaving medical help considered her illness “a test of his faith,” a prosecutor told jurors Saturday.
Scary how many people actually believe that illness and disease etc are "tests of their faith".
Belief about illness and disease:
These vary with different groups, varying from illness and disease being a test of faith, to their being a curse, or brought on by living outside the laws of God and therefore retribution for personal evil. Most of the church organizations that run skilled nursing centers believe that illness and disease are a test of faith, without evil attachment, and since this can happen to anyone regardless of piety, it is the religious thing to care for those who have more problems. Illness, disease, and disability are not unnatural, but a part of the living body.
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