In today's devotional from Oswald Chambers he says,
"God will lead you straight through every barrier into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself; but there is always this point of giving up convictions and traditional beliefs. Don't ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did - "I will do anything, I will go to death with Thee." Abraham did not make any such declaration, he remained true to God, and God purified his faith."
The scripture reference was in reference to Abraham offering up Isaac as a sacrifice and how God helped him to better understand himself through that process. Not that it was a process that Abraham asked for or wanted. Nor do we get to pick our trials that God allows into our lives in order to test us and purify our faith. Not that God brings everythign into our lives himself, for sometimes we make our own bad choices and suffer the consequences. But, even in that, God can bring something good out of it if we allow him to. Romans 8:28
So, what traditions or barriers to understanding God could be removed by trials? Isn't it also true that sometimes trials can create new barriers? For example, if I trust someone who claims to be a committed christian and then hear them gossip about me or break a confidence. Or what about the christian Sunday School worker who everyone thinks highly of and then she turns out to be a child molester or some sort of wierd pervert. These things also rock our faith. But, maybe also in the rocking of our faith it removes some things? Maybe it helps us to realize that no matter how great a person must be not one of us measure up?
The thing is that this life is filled with disappointments. No sooner will you exalt someone in your mind than they fall off the pedestal you place them on. Perhaps it is because they do not belong there. In fact, that person could be considered an idol if they are exalted to an unhealthy place in your mind or heart. It reminds me of the passage where God says that he is a jealous God. We normally think of jealousy as a bad quality. But, what is God jealous of? God is jealous to be first in our lives. When we place someone or something ahead of him he may have to remove it or humble us to get us to realize that we are exalting someone or something that does not belong.
We may also come to think more of ourselves than we should. We may think we can withstand the smallest storm without God's help or that we are a teacher and have reached some sort of milestone that others have not. That was one of the sins of the gnostic. Those who thought they had secret knowledge. The fact is, that none of us are above failure when it comes to sinning. Humility is always the order of the day. God alone deserves to be exalted.
