Trials

It’s been a hard week. Academically, the workload continues to pile up, but the end is in sight! Exactly one month from today, I’ll be free! My last final is on Dec. 12, and I certainly look forward to having some downtime where I won’t have to worry about lab reports, upcoming tests, and homework.

God has really tested me this week to see where my heart is, and I feel as if I’ve failed the test so far. Ironically, I finished reading “Desiring God” by John Piper yesterday, but right now I feel no spiritual hunger at all. It’s been hard to pursue the word with vigor, and I’ve often been just going through the motions.

Running is one of the areas where God has tested me the most. This past week, I believed I would resume my training after taking a one-week break from the cross country season, but I’ve been having some pain in the back of my knee. I certainly don’t look forward to cross training in the pool, and I feel this bad attitude has rubbed off in other areas of my life. Right now I’m in a phase of life where I’d love to push the one-month fast-forward button so everything unpleasant can pass without enduring it.

I have been encouraged today by reflecting on the promises stated in James 1,2-6: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

Hopefully I’ll be able to look back in a month and see this as a time period that God really used to make me rely and hope in him more!

In Christ,

Mike