Trial by Fire

There was a young man whom we’ll call Alex. He had come out of a

very troubled youth: drugs, violence, even some time in jail. But then,

through the kindness of a local church member (whom Alex had stolen

from), Alex learned about God and gave his heart to Jesus. Though he

still had his problems and struggles, and though elements of his past

still lingered, Alex was a new person in Jesus. He loved God and sought

to express that love by obeying His commandments (1 John 5:1, 2). At

one point, Alex felt impressed that he should be a minister. Everything

pointed to it. He was answering God’s call, no doubt about it.

At college things went well at first. Then one thing after another

went awry, and his life began coming apart. His source of money

started to dry up; a close friend turned against him, making accu-

sations about him that were false but that damaged his reputation.

Next, he kept on getting sick; no one knew what it was, but it

impacted his studies to the point where he was afraid that he was

going to have to drop out of school completely. On top of it all,

he was fighting fierce temptations with drugs, which were readily

available in the local community. At one point he even fell in that

area. Alex couldn’t understand why all this was happening, espe-

cially because he was sure that the Lord had led him to this school to

begin with. Was Alex wrong about that? If so, was his whole experi-

ence with God a huge mistake? Even the most basic elements of his

faith were coming under doubt.

Imagine that, amid this crisis, Alex comes to you and asks for advice.

What would you say? What experiences of your own have you had

that could help someone like him? What Bible texts would you

use? How helpful might the following texts be in such a situation?

Proverbs 3, Jer. 29:13, Rom. 8:28, 2 Cor. 12:9, Heb. 13:5.

Almost all who follow the Lord have had crises during which

they’ve been tempted to doubt the Lord’s leading. The important

thing in such situations is to cling to the promises, recount God’s

leading in the past, and pray for faith and endurance. The Lord

will never give up on us. The question for us is: How do we not

succumb to the temptation to give up on Him?