Finding the glimmer in the trial

This week I’ve been looking through past journals and I came across a passage I wrote more than two years ago, which feels like an age ago now, that made me sit up and think. The passage was about trials.

We face trials of different kinds all the time, often from left field right at the point when we think we’ve got it all together.

Whether it’s issues with health, family, jobs, money, relationships or any number of other things, challenges have a nasty habit of rearing their heads either when we least expect it or, at the other end of the scale, just when we think we can’t take any more problems.

In the midst of trials it’s easy to feel alone, like you’re the only person whose life doesn’t smell of roses, the only person who hasn’t got it all together, the only person ever to have suffered difficulties.

In the cold light of day it’s clear that everyone experiences some kind of difficulty at different times. In the midst of the battle, though, it’s easy to forget.

And it’s also easy to forget that trials can have a positive side as well.

Now, I’m not in any way denying the many negative aspect of life’s challenges, nor saying we should seek out hardship or difficulty. What I am saying is, even in the hardest of situations there’s a glimmer of something positive to be found if our gaze lands in the right spot.

The entry in my journal from late 2016 says, “God works through trials as much as through triumphs. Had the authorities in Jerusalem not tried to stop the followers of Jesus spreading the Word, they would not have been spread further out to influence a wider sphere.”

And the prayer written alongside it later says,” May I never underestimate the power and value of each and every difficult day I face in life, may I never be blind to the opportunities they bring to grow me and may I never resent the challenges of life, for I know trials are far more powerful vehicles for spiritual growth and coming to know You better than easy days are.”

When I consider my days before I wrote those words and my days since, it’s clear that the message in my prayer is correct. I’ve been through days, and seasons, I would never have chosen for myself – situations and circumstances which, given the choice, I’ve have probably avoided like the plague. But when I look back, it’s so often been in those times of challenge that I have relied on my faith most, and seen my faith grow most.

It’s easy to breeze through life when things are going well. It’s when tough times strike that we’re forced to reevaluate what we rely on, what we value, what we prioritise and what we truly need in order to get through. And, in my experience, it’s in those times I realise most keenly that the one thing I need more than anything is God, and that all the time I have Him, He will take care of whatever else I might need.

I know trials are far more powerful vehicles for spiritual growth and coming to know God better than easy days are.

Sarah Moore is the author of For the Love of Lentil, A journey of longing, loss and abundant grace, which tells the story of her experience of pregnancy and miscarriage. Copies of the book are available here.