Potholes are holes in the roadway that vary in size and shape. They are caused by the expansion and contraction of ground water after the water has entered into the ground under the pavement.
Lately, our local news network has been featuring stories about the potholes in our city's roads, and the damage they cause on vehicles. The other day I had to run an errand. I was in an unfamiliar area. I was so focused on trying to locate a particular business that I wasn't watching the road, itself. So, I didn't see the pothole, and my car hit a huge one. I felt the thump, and I definitely heard it as it scraped my left rim.
As we journey through the road of life, we will experience many potholes. The potholes are unavoidable and inevitable. These potholes will manifest itself whenever it pleases, wrecking havoc in our life. They come in all shapes and sizes. From miniature, to the giant size like Goliath. Just like a human being, a pothole has a beginning and it has an ending. Unlike human beings, it has no parents, but they have relatives, like affliction, hardship, distress, adversity, and so on. There will be potholes that will negatively affect you. Deep in its cavity you will find grief, heartache, misery, and misfortune. Just when you think you have cleared all the potholes, out of nowhere, you will hit a bump in the road full of trouble, problems, challenges and difficulties. There are no ways to skip over them, to avoid them and no ways to go around them.
The Bible tells us that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). But we often wonder, why does bad things always happen to good people? We have to learn, and the only way to learn is through experience. We need to view "bad things" as "good things in disguise." WHAT? Yes! Our God is Sovereign. Nothing can happen to us unless He allows it to happen. If He has allowed it, that means that He wants His children to develop into our spiritual maturity.
You see, when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, a supernatural work began transforming you into the image of Christ. To mature your faith, God will use trials and tests to develop your character. Through the grace of God, when you respond to those trials and tests, you experience the power of God's Spirit, which manifest in your life through the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23).
Scripture says, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:12-13).
Every child of God will probably have to face many tests. These are just a few examples:
* Fiery Trials: Intense encounters or struggles; bursts of anger, grief, or lust.
* Temptations: Opportunities to yield to our sinful nature.
* Distress: Disappointments and deep hurts.
* Infirmities: Physical limitations and illnesses.
* Tribulations: Unusual pressures and challenges.
* Persecutions: Harassment and oppression due to religious convictions.
* Necessities: Wear and care of daily responsibilities.
* Reproaches: Ridicule and rejection on account of faith or holiness.
As I said earlier, God will not allow anything to happen to you without His permission. Our trials and tests are opportunities to grow spiritually. We must choose to trust God and accept the grace that He gives us, and Christ's character will be formed within us. Trials produce maturity. "We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:3-5).
Believe it or not, the trials and tests in our life are for our good. You can be assured the trials are in accordance to God's will in our life. They are part of His perfect plan for us. God will give you everything you will need to get through those trials and tests, victoriously. They are meant to make you into the person God wants you to be. One day you will look back and see the growth from those trials and test.