Here We Go … Again - 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

“There has been an accident but he’s awake.”

My sister-in-law received the early-morning call. My niece received it next. My brother had been in an accident.

From early childhood asthma to accidents to depression to Parkinson’s and now to this, one trial after another has plagued my brother. But he’s stubborn … and driven. He refuses to give up. Recently, he had deep brain stimulator surgery to relieve some of the effects of Parkinson’s disease. He progressed nicely—until now.

Though disabled, he worked part-time as a security officer on third shift. While on his way to work on a deserted secondary highway, he suffered a seizure which caused him to run off the side of the road. He overcorrected, flipped his small truck, and hit a tree.

No one saw him … until the next morning. For seven hours, he lay trapped in the small cab. Daylight brought a few cars by, and one called 911. The hospital called to relay the message.

By the time we got to the hospital, they had placed him in ICU. Though he had no major lacerations, which could have led to his death, he had multiple internal injuries: several broken ribs, a deep bruise on his lung, three broken vertebrae in his neck, and spinal contusions.

For now, all the ex’s and presents, along with nieces and nephews, gathered around my brother’s side. We put aside the pain of the past; his health and recovery were more important. And we all had a common denominator: our faith.

Trials have a way of refining our faith (1 Peter 1:7). All of us were at various stages. Some had had stronger faith in the past, but had let it wane. Some were skeptics. Others let this trial intensify our faith. The stage wasn’t important; the refining was.

When we respond correctly to life’s trials, God refines our faith … making it stronger … taking us deeper … changing our perspective of Him. My brother, in whatever shape he comes out of this … won’t let it affect his view of God. He will still believe God’s in control and loves him and will somehow use this trial to increase his faith. And God will do the same for you.

Let God use your trials to refine your faith.

Prayer: Father, in and through the trials of life, we depend on You to sharpen the faith You’ve placed inside of us. 

Tweetable: Do your trials seem never to go away?

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