Times of Testing

There are occasions in all of our lives when we face what only can be described as "times of testing" (see Lk. 8:13). Even though such times are not easy to go through, they have, nevertheless, the power to help bring us to a place of greater abondonment and obedience to the Lord. Usually they happen when the will of God crosses our personal will, which leads to the need for a decision to be made as to which "will" we will follow. In his autobiography entitled Just As I Am, Billy Graham tells of the time early in his ministry when he was faced with a great challenge as to whether he would trust the Bible. His close friend named Charles Templeton from Toronto had been struggling with his faith over issues like the authority of the Scriptures and the role of science, and was challenging Billy by saying, "you're fifty years out of date. People no longer accept the Bible as being inspired the way you do. Your faith is too simple."

This challenge brought on a crisis of faith for Billy Graham as he tried to face all his doubt and questions. As he struggled with this issue, he went out into the woods one night where he dropped on his knees before the Lord in prayer. Writing later, he said that the exact wording of his prayer was beyond recall, but perhaps it went something like this: "O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. There are many problems with it for which I have no solutions...There are some areas in it that do not seem to correlate with modern science." Graham writes that he was "trying to be on the level with God, but something remained unspoken." Finally, he felt the Holy Spirit free him to say, "Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word - by faith! I'm going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word."

Recalling that time later, Billy Graham says, "When I got up from my knees...my eyes stung with tears. I sensed the presence and power of God as I had not sensed in months...In my heart and mind, I knew a spiritual battle in my soul had been fought and won." What began as a crisis of faith turned into an opportunity for God to do the extraordinary, for now Dr. Graham's faith was stronger than ever! Times of testing are meant to do the same in us, for as James says, "You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors" (Jas. 1:3, The Message). Let us then, stand firm even as we face trial and testing, for we know that God will bring us through all things.