Growth Though Trials

First, the opposite of your promise happens. I tell you this so you will be prepared rather than shocked and dismayed, which will cause you to turn back and thus forfeit your promise.

 

The opposite happens so that we will embrace the pain and allow it to change us. Like growing into a beautiful set of too-large clothes is the growth process into your identity in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Father does this to grow us, not to hurt us. Over time and through these experiences, like David, we grow into our God-ordained true identity and then the “kingly clothes” fit.

 

Isaac Newton, a faithful man of God and scientific genius, defined laws of motion. His first law of motion, sometimes referred to as the law of inertia, states that “an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”

 

What that means is there’s a tendency for people and objects to keep doing what they’re doing, even if it’s not working or growing.

 

Problems or trials follow the promise in order to press us to trust in our Heavenly Father and to not put so much stock in what we shouldn’t—persons, places, and things. As we allow the trials to change us, to press out of us the things we shouldn’t trust, the fruit of our sin nature such as bitterness, jealousy, greed, deceit, selfishness, etc., then our character is prepared for the position that comes from the identity Father gave us, that He promised us, with which He sparked our hope so we would move forward through the “problem” that causes character growth.

 

Second, sometimes the problem phase, or trial, seems to drag on for an extended period of time, as we see with David. He endured the problem of being a national fugitive and king-to-be in hiding for somewhere between thirteen to sixteen years. When trials threaten to exhaust you, remember this: Something much bigger is happening. In fact, the bigger the calling, the longer and more intensive the training phase of the problem is.

 

Regarding David, Father was not just preparing a shepherd boy to be a good leader. Father took the time with David through the crucible of circumstance to forge his character and his identity into a man who would accurately represent Father God to the people–a king who would rule in justice, righteousness, and mercy rightly intertwined. That was David’s God-given, new identity. Father prepared a king who would preside over Israel, ushering in the Golden Age of Israel and prepare the way for the Messiah to come in his dynasty. In fact, Father wrote David’s story as a prophetic type and shadow, a symbol of the Messiah who will reign as King in justice, righteousness, and mercy over all the earth and its people.

 

A massive global, generational calling rested upon David’s life. In light of this massive calling, the length of time he endured the problems and trials was not so bad. However, Jesus, who suffered in our shoes, knows that while we are in the problem, the time does feel long and hard, as it surely felt to David.

 

The Apostle Paul speaks about this perspective: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (NIV, 2 Corinthians 4:17).