Go for the Gold

But he knows the way that I take;
     when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
     — Job 23:10

When we are confronted with a life challenge, a God-given test, most of us want to run the other way. However, the Jewish sages taught that if we really understood the value of tests, we wouldn’t run from them – we would run to them. As one person put it, in adversity we usually want God to do a “removing job” when He wants to do an “improving job.”

A test is a chance to become better, and that’s why those who understand what can be gained are eager for the opportunity.

In the book of Job, we read, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” God knows what we’ll do in a test. He knows exactly what we are capable of becoming. But we don’t always know. We are all born with great potential, but it takes a test to bring out our best.

As Job said, we will come out of our tests as gold. Challenges refine us and define us. If we are willing to rise to the challenge – and God never gives a test which we cannot pass – we will emerge greater than ever before.

In Hebrew, the word for test is nisayon. The sages point out that the word is intentionally rooted in the word nes, which has two different meanings. Firstly, nes is a “banner.” Just as a banner is held high to relay a message, so, too, does a God-given test announce our abilities and qualities. It takes those hidden treasures buried inside us and raises them up and out for us to see. Through our test, we can raise a banner that says, “I am incredibly strong,” or “I am unusually patient” — things we may not have known about ourselves before our challenges.

The second meaning of the word nes is “miracle.” What do our difficulties share in common with miracles? Everything. A miracle is when God intervenes supernaturally and lines up events so that something wonderful happens. Well, a God-given test isn’t all that different. We may not like it as much, but it’s also in our challenges that God intervenes in order to design a test tailored to our spiritual needs. When we pass our tests, it’s just as wonderful. In Job’s words, we “come forth as gold.”

Just as an Olympic hopeful does everything possible to get into the competitions so that he or she might win the gold medal, so should we welcome the chance to participate in God’s challenges. Next time you are faced with a life test, embrace it. Through God’s test, we don’t just win the gold; we become it.

Such A Time

“Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (NLT) -Esther 4:14
God has given you influence, power, and authority for a reason. No matter if you are waiting tables, raising children, or leading an organization, God’s given you authority, even if you don’t recognize it. You can use your position for your benefit or you can declare it to God. He gave you your influence for a reason. Are you willing to give it back to Him? When a need presents itself today, look for ways you can fulfill the need using your power.
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MANAGE YOUR TIME, MANAGE YOUR LIFE

“Walk in wisdom…redeeming the time.” Col 4:5 NKJV

Your greatest possession—is your next twenty-four hours. How will you spend them? Will you allow television, pointless emails, unimportant tasks, your own impulses, the wrong people, or other meaningless distractions to consume your day? Or will you take control of your time and make today count? Leadership experts say that focusing on the top 20 percent of your priorities brings an 80 percent return on your effort. So when you get up each morning, look in the mirror and say, “Today I’ll live my life according to God’s will, and give my energies to the things that help me fulfill it.” The truth is, there’ll always be things vying for your attention. Advertisers want you to spend money on their products. And have you noticed how people with nothing to do, usually want to spend their time with you? Even your own desires can be so diverse and your focus so scattered that you aren’t sure what needs your attention first. That’s why you need to focus like a laser on your God-given purpose. Whatever you concentrate on, you give strength and momentum to. Your priorities determine how you spend your time, so set them prayerfully and maintain them carefully. Eliminate nonessentials. Those who tell you, “You can have it all,” are misguided. You can’t do everything you want to do, but you can do everything God wants you to do. You’ve got to choose! Success comes from doing the right things right, and letting the rest go. If you’re not sure what the right things are for you, imagine you’ve only six months to live—and you’ll figure it out in a hurry!

Psalm 138:5 They shall sing in the ways of the Lord.

The time when Christians begin to sing in the ways of the Lord is when they first lose their burden at the foot of the Cross. Not even the songs of the angels seem so sweet as the first song of rapture which gushes from the inmost soul of the forgiven child of God. You know how John Bunyan describes it. He says when poor Pilgrim lost his burden at the Cross, he gave three great leaps, and went on his way singing-

 

“Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest rather be

The Man that there was put to shame for me!”

 

Believer, do you recollect the day when your fetters fell off? Do you remember the place when Jesus met you, and said, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a thick cloud thy sins; they shall not be mentioned against thee any more for ever.” Oh! what a sweet season is that when Jesus takes away the pain of sin. When the Lord first pardoned my sin, I was so joyous that I could scarce refrain from dancing. I thought on my road home from the house where I had been set at liberty, that I must tell the stones in the street the story of my deliverance. So full was my soul of joy, that I wanted to tell every snow-flake that was falling from heaven of the wondrous love of Jesus, who had blotted out the sins of one of the chief of rebels. But it is not only at the commencement of the Christian life that believers have reason for song; as long as they live they discover cause to sing in the ways of the Lord, and their experience of His constant lovingkindness leads them to say, “I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” See to it, brother, that thou magnifiest the Lord this day.

 

“Long as we tread this desert land,

New mercies shall new songs demand.”