Test? Battle? Or both?

My lovely friends from Jersey came to visit yesterday.  We hadnt seen them for a couple of years -their three boys are the same age as my three boys and they have all grown up together.    We have missed them since they have moved away and were all super excited to be getting to spend the whole day with them.  But as soon as they walked in through the door it became apparent that all was not well.  As soon as the coats were off and the kettle was on the boys disappeared upstairs to play and in response to my ' So how are you?' there were tears and we were straight into the nitty gritty of a crisis.   That is the mark of a good friendship.  No frills and pretences, just raw straight down the line, tell-it-as-it-is reality.  They had come over to see parents but also to finalise the sale of their house here in Northern Ireland.  A house which has been rented out for the past couple of years because they couldnt find a buyer.    But in November a buyer turned up really keen to move before Christmas. Papers due to be signed yesterday.   Only problem...... existing tenants refusing to move out.   Aaaaarrrrrggggh

So instead of a nice cosy afternoon in front of the fire exchanging stories about kids and church and the happenings of the past couple of years we spent all day on the phone to various people asking advice, trying to sort out the nightmare which was unfolding - the last minute fall through of a sale on which they are depending for the purchase of their property in Jersey.

This is a story of Christians at their very best and their very worst.  Cos of course the tenants are Christians...... missionaries in fact, who have been living pretty much rent free in my friends house on the understanding that when a buyer was found they would be given notice and would have to leave.   And they haven't.  They don't even see that they are being unreasonable.  But on the other side there are so many people who have offered help and give great advice and been prepared to put themselves out two days before Christmas to try to find these folks a new place to move to.   It has been impressive and humbling.   People are both incredibly awful and incredibly brilliant.  In the middle of it are my dear friends who after two years of living on a shoestring and trusting God for everything now face the challenge of trusting Him in this impossible situation.  Will the purchaser stay with them or walk away?  Will the tenants move out soon or might they still be there at Easter coming up with excuses why they cant leave?  Is God going to pull something miraculous out of the bag after the midnight hour has passed - is this a test or a battle or both?

 It is easy when you are on the outside of a situation like this looking in, to feel confident that everything will work out OK in the end and to trot out the cliches -  God is in control.....all things work together ......etc etc.   But when you are the one in the thick of it and answers are not forthcoming, when God seems to be ignoring your pleas or doing the exact opposite of what you think you need..... well then its a whole different ballgame isnt it?    But the bible tells us our faith will be tested as with fire.  Circumstances wont just be a tad uncomfortable, they will be ferociously, destructively , searingly hot.   The testing fires will destroy stuff.  It's uncomfortable reading - the sort of passage we tend to skim over and not dwell on.  Because what it is saying is that all the things we build up around our lives which are not God are going to perish.  We shall lose them.  They will be taken away.   Finances, relationships, jobs, homes, churches, positions, ministries..... anything not rooted and grounded in love, in Him.  Someone once told me its better to be judged, tested and tried here and now than at the judgement seat.  And I think that's probably right.  But it doesn't make it easy or pleasant.

And then again we are in a battle.  We have an enemy who seeks to destroy us.  Physically, emotionally. spiritually, in any and every way he can.  He wants to upset our peace, shift the focus from God to our circumstances or ourselves and introduce doubt. ' Did God really say....?'  is still his favourite opening line.  

Did anyone tell you this when you signed up?  LOL  Probably just as well they didn't really isn't it?

And yet...... and yet..... every now and then one is privileged to get a glimpse of what faith tested by fire really looks like.  And it is SO much more amazing than mere gold.   Sometimes we have the honour in life to meet people who have come out of the other side - or are perhaps still in the furnace - and have a quality of faith and relationship with Jesus which is just glorious.   My friends Bill and Janice are like that.  Every single person who meets them will tell you what amazing people they are and what an inspiration.  Their faith is beyond platinum, they are so close to God and yet they have struggled though horrendous physical and emotional pain as Bill has slowly been consumed over the past ten years by a vicious and horrible wasting disease.     It seems cruel of God.  But Bill would tell you that if he had his time over again he wouldn't do it differently.  Because what he has learned of God and experienced with Him through the fire has been more precious than diamonds.   Amazing

Lord, the times of trial and testing come to us all at some point.  We struggle as we see things stripped away from us and we sometimes find it hard to know what is Your testing fire and what is enemy gunfire.  But You have promised that at the end of the testing there is gold.  Imperishable and glorious.   So as You stood in the furnace with Shadrach Mesach and Abednego, stand through the fire with us and bring us out the other side with a deeper love for you and a stronger faith in You.   Amen