These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:7(NLT)
Faith is the substance of things hoped for… Hebrews 11:1. The substance of something is what makes that thing. The substance of a man or woman are those invisible inner qualities in them that make them who they are that no matter what challenges they face and go through they remain unmoved. Such qualities include integrity, faithfulness, confidence, diligence. These qualities or substance can only be seen and put to use through testing.
Faith can only be seen and of use when it’s put to the test. Just like the saying that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. In other words what has been cooked can only be tested and proven by eating not talking or lab analysis.
Like fire tests and brings out the purity of gold, the trials, challenges, and demands of life test our faith or trust in God and his Word. For instance when sickness attacks, it’s not God who has sent it to test our faith. It’s the enemy and it’s also because we live in a fallen, imperfect, hostile world where things go wrong. So instead of panicking or asking why God why or even blaming any one including ourselves, or condemning ourselves, or being passive doing nothing leaving everything to fate, we take this as an opportunity to stand in Faith in God and his Word relentlessly stubbornly holding our confession that He is the Lord our healer and health, he sent his Word and healed us, by his stripes we were healed. We stay in there regardless of what we see and feel in our bodies and mind until we see the healing and health manifest in our bodies.
The testing of our faith is the testing of our stay with what God’s Word says. Whatever challenge you are facing the million-dollar question is are you fully persuaded that what God says is the truth in that situation or are you going to side with what you physically, mentally, emotionally see, feel, reason? Therefore, life’s troubles are fuel for Faith’s triumphs.