“Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones.”
Luke 16:10a
Luke 16:10a
Day 5 and 6 go together which is why they are one posting.
The Bible offers three metaphors to explain God’s view of life...
1. Life on earth is a Test: God tests our character, faith, obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty. God is constantly testing us with temptations and trials and watching to see how we respond. “You will be tested by major changes, delayed promises, impossible problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and even senseless tragedies...God tests my faith through problems, my hope by how I handle possessions, and tests my love though people.” I have always believed we can use each opportunity in life to grow and learn and I think that is exactly what God wants us to, to use hardships to develop our character. Sometimes we might not respond in the correct way but we can always learn from it and grow stronger through those experiences.
And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Corinthians 10:13
2. Life is a Trust: things on this earth are not ours, rather God’s. He lends them to us during our time on earth and when we are gone they will be given to someone else. God entrust us with His things and at the end of our time we “will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you.” God gives three rewards in eternity: affirmation of a job well done, a promotion for greater responsibility in eternity, and finally honored with a celebration! God also uses money as a measure of spiritual life.
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12:48
For further reading, here is the story of a man (he was my clinical “teacher” for a semester but quickly became my friend, and an incredible example of how God calls each of us in our own ways) who was blessed to be born into a family of incredible wealth. He realized that this was not his money, rather it is God’s money so it needed to be used to glorify His kingdom. He is now impacting the health of thousands of the working class poor and homeless all over Atlanta. Read more about his story and that of The Good Samaritan Health Center at http://www.goodsamatlanta.org/pages.asp?pageid=19809.
3. Life is a temporary assignment: Two truths to remember, 1) life is extremely brief compared to eternity and 2) earth is a temporary residence. God intends for there to be discomfort on earth so we do not get comfortable and content here rather he wants us to yearn for our eternal home where all of our longings will be fulfilled.
So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4: 18
From a Carrie Underwood song, Temporary Home...
"Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers "Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"
He looks up and says "I can see God's face"
"This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was my temporary home"
This is our temporary home"
http://youtu.be/LraOiHUltak
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