You've heard the radio announcers say it: "The following is a test of the emergency alert system. This is 
only a test." Had there been an actual emergency, we would have been given further instructions, but since it was only a test, we just waited for regular programming to be resumed.
Our daily lives are not equipped with such warnings about a test. We think we know testing when it comes—some difficult person, a distasteful task, a hard-to-solve problem. Testing is often presented in those ways, but sometimes it comes to us in a less recognizable form, and we find ourselves unprepared. "Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised. (Proverbs 27:21) How we react to our "fifteen minutes of fame" is very telling. It is a test.
If you read the newspaper, listen to the news, or even just look around, you can see examples of people who worked very hard to earn their prominent place in business, politics, or religion. Difficulty did not stop them, criticism did not faze them, sacrifice did not discourage them. But when they got to the top, praise and its companions felled them. Adulation, popularity, power, and the money that frequently accompany these, were more than they could handle.
only a test." Had there been an actual emergency, we would have been given further instructions, but since it was only a test, we just waited for regular programming to be resumed.Our daily lives are not equipped with such warnings about a test. We think we know testing when it comes—some difficult person, a distasteful task, a hard-to-solve problem. Testing is often presented in those ways, but sometimes it comes to us in a less recognizable form, and we find ourselves unprepared. "Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised. (Proverbs 27:21) How we react to our "fifteen minutes of fame" is very telling. It is a test.
If you read the newspaper, listen to the news, or even just look around, you can see examples of people who worked very hard to earn their prominent place in business, politics, or religion. Difficulty did not stop them, criticism did not faze them, sacrifice did not discourage them. But when they got to the top, praise and its companions felled them. Adulation, popularity, power, and the money that frequently accompany these, were more than they could handle.
Must we then avoid those things which might make us "important"? No, not necessarily. Just remember, "This is a test." It is, after all, not so much what we have done. Scripture tells us it is God "who brought us out of Egypt," God who "arms us with strength," God who "removes mountains," and God who "avenges us." It is God alone who judges, bringing down one and exalting another. It is God who justifies, God who shows mercy, God who enables us to stand firm. One has only to read the history of the Israelites to see what happened/happens to those who forget the source of their success—and fail the test.
MaryMartha
Scripture quotation taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.
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