But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10).
I was sitting with the leader of a marketplace organization recently as he described two questions he poses to business people. "What if there were two doors to choose from; behind one door was the complete will of God for your life and the other door was the choice to choose how life could be according to your own preference. Which door would you choose?" The struggle for most lies in the desire to follow God completely and the fear of what might be behind the door of full surrender. Most of us desire to follow God, but few of us will do it at any cost. We do not really believe that God loves us to the degree we are willing to give Him complete permission to do as He wills in us.
If you desire to fully walk with Christ, there is a cost. You may give intellectual ascent and go along with his principles and do fine, but if you are fully given over to Him and His will for your life, it will be a life that will have adversity. The Bible is clear that humans do not achieve greatness without the breaking down of their own sinful will. This process is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change. The Bible calls it circumcision. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal.
If God has plans to greatly use you in the lives of others, you can expect your trials to be even greater than others. Why? Because, like Joseph who went through greater trials than most patriarchs, the calling may have such responsibility that God cannot afford to entrust this calling to you without insuring your complete faithfulness to the call. He has much invested in you on behalf of others. He also wants to speak through your life to a greater degree than to another. The events of your life become the frame for the message He wants to speak through you.
Do not fear the path that God may lead you down. Embrace it. For God may bring you down a path in your life to ensure the reward of your inheritance. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17).
