“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” Matthew 25: 21
God knows everything, right? He knows what’s in our hearts. He can turn a dirty and wretched sinner’s life completely around. If He foresees it all and knows the faithful-godly person we will become… why does He allow the many trials and crazy situations intended by Satan to shipwreck our faith?
Why do we have to endure so much doom and gloom in our lives if He already knows what the outcome is going to be? There was a time when I wondered that. Many new Christians wonder that.
“And we know all things work out for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes.” Romans 8: 28
Take suffering as an example. If God is going to heal, why go through it in the first place? Just by reading the Bible, we see that God sometimes allows things to happen to teach us about faith and to glorify Himself – He allows something He hates because it accomplishes what He loves. That’s a hard truth to wrap our heads around when we see some of the ugly things in front of us. Even though God knows a beautiful diamond will be the result, we still have to go through the ugly stuff! We need to go through it, because whatever it is… makes us who we are. It makes us strong. It makes us able to endure. We learn to persevere, and we grow in character. We can comfort others.
The person whose faith has been severely tested yet who has come through the battle victoriously is the person to whom greater tests, and more responsibilities, will come.