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I don't think there are many who cared for taking tests in school. And I don't think there are many of us who enjoy going through tests in life. Nonetheless, if we believe in God as our Father, and the one leading the show, we must also figure out that the hard times in or lives are tests. For the same reasons as when we were in school, to see how much we've learned, and to teach us more. Heartache must be over the parts we haven't learned yet. Apparently that is the way of God's World. We all need to evaluate who we are now and then, and make sure we are doing our best, and not slacking off.
How is our patience? Our appreciation of life and the people we love? Are we taking care of our responsibilities? Are we kind to those we know, and don't know? How about our honesty, are we telling the truth or our version of it? What shape is our inner strength in at the moment? Are we in touch with God on a daily basis? Are we respectful and considerate? What happens when a situation arises that blindsides you? Can you handle it? Do you learn by it and move on with the lesson tucked inside your head? When all these ducks are in a row, we feel strong, and if things happen that we think of as God's tests, we deal with them in the best way we know how.
When He makes us wait for something, we can add to our patience, or begin it! When He tests our honesty, we have to tell the truth. When He tests our resilience, we have to be strong. If we aren't, we will either suffer, or learn how to live a good life. If we fail in these tests, we will be approached by the same problems over and over again. If we aren't checking ourselves and our character flaws, therefore, not changing them, we will continue living in pain. And wondering why. Each new problem is an experience to get us to think and change our minds if we need to, and do something in a more positive, calmer way.
The more we apply ourselves to our healing journey, the less we will suffer. To do this we have to take a moral inventory of ourselves, pick out the characteristic that could use some work, and work on them. If we need assistance, a test will be presented, no doubt. If patience is our pick of the day, some situation will occur in which we will have to wait. During this period of time, we can either be angry and frustrated, and take it out on everyone else, or we can find things we enjoy doing, to keep us busy until our test from God passes, and we have learned what was intended. If lying is our character flaw, we will get hurt when our lies are exposed. Someone will deceive us that we trusted, and we will know what it feels like to be lied to.
It will hurt so badly that you may not ever lie again. That part is up to you. You either learn by your mistakes, or you keep making them. It's so much more peaceful and calm when you do what's right, act accordingly, and deal with what comes your way. Sometimes, we have to focus our whole being on something, and to do so, we need strength, and that comes from knowing who we are, and where we've been. We need to know that we are honest, humble, caring, and that we are children of God. When everything is in check, it's easy to be strong. When we are balanced, and our mind, heart and soul are in line, our light is bright from within. When we aren't doing what we should, our lives can become chaotic. The light has been dimmed by lies or stealing or anger.
These flaws have to be realized, first, and then worked on in some fashion. There are plenty of books about anger or self help books that can guide you to a better, and happier way of life. There are certain skills we can use to improve our lives, and if we are not familiar with those skills, we need to get familiar, and we can do so by buying a few books. There will be many tests in our lives, I'm sure everyone knows of a specific time they feel they were being tested. What will Joe do if I throw this at him? He doesn't have much patience, he could blow it. Or he can find the help he needs to learn the calmness he has yet to feel. We needed to prepare for tests in school. We had to read and make sure we understood the information. The same goes for life, if you want to be happy.
When we need to be more tolerant, a circumstance will happen that degrades us or puts us down. We will learn what if feels like to have the shoe on the other foot, and we won't like it. Will we simply be more belligerent, or will we practice better self control, and compassion? The choice is ours, the outcome is of our choosing. If we take advantage of the circumstance, learn through it, learn by it, and become a better person because of it, then I believe we are doing God's work, and what He wants us to do. And I also believe He will protect us and ours, for getting the picture, and trying to improve ourselves. Our lives will be humble and kind and compassionate, and we will have passed yet another test.
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