The School of Hard Knocks

         Approval means a lot.  When you purchase an electrical device, you will usually find a little tag on it that says that it has been approved by the Underwriters Laboratories.  I never knew exactly where the underwriter laboratory was, but it made the product look like it was trustworthy.  Meat products in a grocery store will usually have a little tag saying, USDA.  Our U. S. Navy ship could not take beef from Argentina into Panama because that was an   American possession at the time and the beef did not have the USDA label on it.  So, we ate it before we arrived.  The USDA label simply means that it has been approved by the United States Department of Agriculture.  Medicines are usually cleared by the FDA or the Federal Drug Administration.  Everyone seems to have their own group for either the approval or the disapproval of any given item.  This way, the consumer has at least some small comfort knowing that somebody has taken the time to approve the item you are about to purchase.  As a young boy, we lived near the Studebaker Proving Grounds in Indiana .  Every now and then you could see a new car or even an experimental car dart in and out of the road that made up the proving ground.  A new product was being tested so it was determined if it was satisfactory or not.  God has put you on the proving ground also. James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;   Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.   But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  

        The word “trying” in the above verse is that word which means to “prove.”  When the believer says that they have “faith in God” then He puts that faith to the test.  You see it happening everyday in your Christian life.  It seems that not a day goes by when some area of your life is challenged.  This is when your faith is being “tried” or “tested” or “proven.”   What’s amazing is that once a certain test is completed, then another one begins perhaps even in the same area of your life.  What is equally amazing is the fact that the tests do not often come just one at a time, but several may come at once.  There is a comfort in all of this.  Once you have passed the test, God seemingly stamps you “approved” and then you go to the next test.  To be honest, it doesn't seem like a process that we particularly like.  It's like being tested to see how much pain we can endure before we cry out, "Uncle."  In the end, we simply realize that we have gone through a lot and the pain was worth it.  There is an expression that I am not particularly fond of that says, "No pain, no gain."  We can praise God that He is continually working with us and that we are growing in our Christian experience.  So, no trials, no growth.   So, praise Him today for His working in your life.  Ask God what He has in store for you today.