CHAPTER 4

"Purpose of a Trial"

What is the purpose of a trial? Life seems to be going along pretty good. There is enough income to make the ends meet. The kids are doing well in school. Friends and family are healthy. God has been blessing everyone around us and it is a pleasure to be in the center of the Lord’s will. From my own perspective I am amazed at how God is blessing our school. Souls are being saved. Families regularly visit our church from the school and several have joined. My life hasn’t been free from disappointment and trouble, but for the most part I am thrilled with the life God has called me to. Experiencing the blessings of God is a wonderful existence.

Suddenly life takes a strange turn. My precious child is lying in a hospital bed stuck between life and death. She is in limbo. Life as we know it is put on hold. Nothing matters quite as much as Andrea’s health and well being right now. I can’t think much about my students and teachers. My attention for curriculum, test scores, future planning, discipline issues, teacher training, financial concerns, organization, and the many things that go into running a school have taken a back seat to my daughter and is this good? Is this really what God had in mind in Romans 8:28?

Someone wrote a book once entitled, “When Bad Things Happen To Good People.” I have preached on this topic many times. There are no good people, Romans 3:10. We tend to have a different measuring stick than God when it comes to the standard of “good”. OK, maybe we are playing semantics a bit. I know what is really being considered. What about someone who is doing their best to live a good life? Why would God allow bad things to happen to them? He is in control so He can certainly prevent bad things from happening.

I read the story of Job and am amazed by the reasoning of his wife and friends. Mrs. Job lost hope entirely and said, Curse God and die. The other guys tried to pin the problem on Job’s sin. Job had a godly perspective – in 7:20-21 he said that their reasoning made no sense for if I am being disciplined then God is not being consistent with His character; God pardons sin and removes iniquity. In other words Job knew he had kept close accounts with God and his sins were forgiven.

There was a much bigger picture than Job and his associates could see. All they could see was the suffering of Job. In the spirit world there was a battle going on. Satan was trying to destroy the glory of God. And that is what it is really all about. If we are doing all to the glory of God our enemy doesn’t like it. He would rather we blame God and turn from God.

How is God glorified on earth? Ultimately He is glorified by us. His creation points to His glory, but it requires a human being to voice His praise or to admire His creativity and power for Him to get glory. God created us for that sole purpose – to recognize and declare His glory. His angels give Him glory, but most human beings do not. The prince of the power of the air has captured the minds and hearts of people and they give glory to everyone and everything but God. Even many Christians are so wrapped up in the world that God’s glory is not very important. I find myself in that struggle. My flesh loves the world. I am by nature materialistic, selfish, self-centered, egotistical, lustful, and just not very good.

I know that I’m supposed to be doing all to His glory (1Cor.10:31), but I struggle to make that a reality 100% of the time. Then along comes a tragedy. Guess what? My focus has been realigned. The cares of “my” life have been placed on hold. I am praying more than I have ever prayed. I am evaluating and re-evaluating my walk with God. I hurt so deeply that I can’t even express my pain in words, but God has moved in and given me a peace that surpasses human understanding. These are all good things!

I think that if God would work a miracle in Andrea’s life He would get the most glory possible. But I don’t know God’s big picture here. What I think would bring Him the most glory is not what’s important. God is much bigger than my understanding and perceptions. What really matters is what God wants to do in my life and in yours to be glorified. We can pray for God to be glorified in Andrea’s life, but we can’t do anything else. How He gets glory in her life is up to Him.

However, we do have some control over making our own lives glorifying to Him. I pray for God to open Andrea’s eyes – that’s an easy and obvious prayer. It doesn’t require any more of me than faith in God. But what about my eyes? Do I really want to spiritually see as I should? What if God reveals that I need to sacrifice more, give more, obey more, and do more for Him? Do I really want to come out of spiritual coma? You see, I don’t know what God is doing in Andrea’s life through this tragedy. I don’t know how He plans to get glory through it. But I do know that He has gotten my attention. He is opening my eyes. I am closer to Him today than I was 22 days ago. And I trust that He is going to gain some glory through my life as a result. I believe that, that is the purpose of this trial for me. I believe that if you are bearing this burden along with us, that is God’s purpose for you as well. Let God be glorified in all of our lives by surrendering to Him. Give Him 100% - not to earn His favor or convince Him to do something for Andrea, but because that is why He created us.

Andrea Pender has a very bad brain injury. The result is that she can't wake up right now. Her body's thermostat seems to be messed up and her temperature jumps up and down all the time. She has a quiver on her right side and she postures quite a bit all due to her brain injury. Her eyes don't dilate as they should. She has to wear special boots and splints on her hands to preserve her ankles, wrists and fingers. She needs special care right now. Nurses help her around the clock. She can't eat on her own and we have to exercise her every day. All because her brain is injured.

The brain and heart are basically the same thing in the Bible. I've had a damaged heart many times in my life. But God is in the business of healing damaged hearts. I see myself in that bed and He wants to wake me up. He wants to fix my spiritual thermostat. He wants the quiver to go away and for me to be still and know He is God. He wants my spiritual eyes to focus properly. He wants to free my feet and hands to worship and glorify Him. I will always need His special care, but He has the power and desire to heal my damaged heart completely. He has given me the ability to reach out and take His spiritual nutrients and to exercise my soul for His glory because He has healed my damaged heart. The only way for my life to bring Him glory is to let Him heal me and nurture me all the time!