God Shows Off - Martin Wiles

Series: The Truth about Trials

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. James 1:2 NLT

Her greatest trial was her husband.

Joy Davidman was a wife and a mother of two boys who slowly let go of her atheism through the far-away influence of a former atheist, C. S. Lewis. Through a series of events, Davidman met Lewis and shared her struggles. Lewis grieved for her, especially when she had to return to the States and to her miserable situation.

Unable to reconcile things with her alcoholic and adulterous husband, Davidman decided to return to England with her boys and sue for divorce. Two years later, England refused to renew her visa. Not wanting her to return to her miserable situation, Lewis married her in a civil ceremony.

One year later, Davidman fell and broke her leg. X-rays showed not only a break but also cancer … throughout her body. Lewis finally located an Anglican priest to marry them properly. Davidman expected to die, but miraculously her cancer went into remission. Three years later, it returned with a vengeance. She died in the spring.

In his book, A Greif Observed, Lewis, in speaking of his wife’s death, wrote, “Not that I am in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but ‘So that is what God’s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.’”

Though James says to count it all joy when troubles come, getting discouraged, depressed, and disappointed is more common … and easier. Even more difficult, as Lewis discovered, is resisting the temptation to see God as something other than what He presents Himself as. Fortunately, Lewis, and many others, have overcome the temptation.

Trials, when responded to correctly, grow our understanding of God’s grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). Grace doesn’t always remove the trail, but it moves us through it. By God’s grace, salvation comes, and by God’s grace, strength to endure and overcome whatever Satan brings or God allows also arrives.

We may not understand why, but God’s grace can put us into situations, such as Lewis’, that completely confound us. We tend to put God in a box, but trials have a way of showing us that our narrow interpretations or ideas of Him can’t contain Him.

God’s grace is more magnificent than you can ever imagine. Let it carry you through whatever trial you face.

Prayer: Father, we worship You because You are a God of grace—grace that will see us through each and every trouble in life.

Tweetable: Are you letting God show off through your trials?

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