Tests in school get progressively harder. And this is not a mark of failure, but one of growth, as more is expected of seniors than freshmen. The same is often true in our spiritual life. It’s tempting to believe we’re blowing it when faced with more trials and testing, but perhaps God has just enrolled us into his advanced curriculum for our spiritual formation.
On the one hand, we should consider the possibility that our sins and shortcomings are bringing unnecessary suffering into our life. There is a way life works, and our ignorance or willful disregard to these basic principles does not change reality. The brick wall of reality does not discriminate, and is not personal. There are no deeper lessons in our suffering to learn here other than to align ourselves with the foundational truths of God’s world.
But many times the cause and effect of our suffering does not have a simple answer. Perhaps, like the man born blind, this is part of how God will reveal his power and glory through us. Or maybe, like Paul’s thorn in the flesh, this will keep us humble and very attuned to God’s grace in our life.
Whatever the case, when there’s not a clear cause and effect to our suffering, we can trust that God is still using them to refine us and conform us into the image of Christ. And this is not a point of shame, guilt, or despair. This might be the necessary suffering required in our advanced curriculum of formation. We’re not doing anything wrong per se. God has simply enrolled us in our next series of testing. And remembering this allows us to continue facing our suffering in faith and not give up.
In the end, don’t lose heart when the tests of life keep coming, and even get harder. This is often God’s advanced curriculum for the formation of your soul. You’re not blowing it or doing anything wrong. He’s just growing you up.
