On Sunday Pastor Ken presented us with a question about if something is a blessing or a test. Ken started out with a humorous story of two guys hunting, and they find really expensive binoculars. Both of the men could never afford such nice binoculars. Is this a blessing or a test? Then they hike up the hill and see another hunter looking for his lost binoculars. Now is it still a blessing, or is it a test?
This story made me think about blessings and tests we encounter in life, and what is the difference? This brought me to the book of Job, which is probably the most famous book in the Bible on the subject of testing/trials. In this book, we are introduced to a man named Job. He is described as an upright man that was extremely wealthy and always gave to the poor and stayed away from evil. God allowed Satan to test this man, and Satan slowly stripped everything away from Job, But still did not curse God. Some friends of Job and even Job’s own wife were convinced Job committed a great sin, but he did not. In the end, God restored and brought great blessings upon him. Job 42:12 says, “So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.” Through all the tests, God brought blessings in the end. This biblical story tackles the tough truth that even if we do nothing to deserve it, sometimes we encounter trials. There is a lot more to the book of Job. I highly suggest checking it out. The bottom line is Job lived righteous through the trials or tests, and God brought blessing in the end. So, in our own lives we may encounter trials that end in blessings, or they simply are blessings in disguise.
Hey, Pastor Matt here. As we are digging deeper into Paul’s letter to Titus, we can see Paul instructing Titus on how to teach the men and women and young adults to live righteous lives. We discover when digging into Titus chapter two, It’s not just about right thinking, but it’s about right living. Not because we have to live right but because our father, who is in heaven, loves us. We in turn get to live right to show our love back to him. We die to our old ways (or sins of our past) so we can honor God. 2 Corinthians 5:17 States this fact clearly “For if a man belongs to Christ, he is a new person. The old life is gone. New life has begun.“
Titus has to teach the men, women, and young adults to live in a way that honors God. For the men, this looks like being wise and having a strong faith and being filled with love and patience. For the women, this looks like not gossiping and not getting drunk. For our young adults this looks like being wise and loving your spouse and your children. These were not the only issues, but they were a huge start to living in a manner that honors God. In a letter to the city of Corinth, Paul states this: “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Back to our first question: is it a blessing or a test with what I’m going through? I don’t think this is the right question to ask. I think the proper question to ask is “Do my actions honor God?” We are always going to deal with blessings and tests, both big and small, but are we honoring God through them all? The great news is we as Christians have the amazing freedom from the ties of this world. Jesus died for us, so death is not the end for us. This life is short, but in this life we get to take the blessings God gives us and help someone out. Similar to our story, we all have a choice to make when we find something great. Do we keep it to ourselves, or do we share it with others?
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