Testing the Mundane Tea Leaves

God tests your faith in all times, even in the times you don't realize. God tests us when life is hard - and this is when we most notice His tests. He tests us when we are sad and struggling to keep our heads above water. And here's the two most craziest tests of all: when we're happy and when faith seems boring. I know what you're thinking... "God tests us when we're happy or bored with Him? What? No! That's crazy." Actually, it's not as crazy as you may think.

I notice that when I'm happy, it's a lot easier for me to forget about God then when I'm going through a really hard time. I find that the happier I am, the less I feel like I need God. In hard times, God is my rock, but in happy times, when there's people around me and other things to distract me, I don't feel like I need God at all. At least, that's what I used to think. Think about this and compare it to your own life - do you fall away from God when life is good or do you cling to Him like when life is bad? Hayley DiMarco made an excellent point when she was talking about God and our happiness: "Because when you have all kinds of people to comfort you and everything you need to be soothed, then you don't really need God, do you?" What she's saying, is that when life is good and you have people to meet your needs, your God needs seem to fade away pretty quickly. The times that I fall away from God the most, are when I'm on cloud nine and life is happy-go-lucky. When it seems like nothing can go wrong, that's when I would pull away from God. I have had to learn this the hard way, instead of the easy way.

The same can be said about God being boring. How could we ever think that the God that created us, designed the Earth, painted rainbows in the sky and sent His son to die for us on the cross, be considered boring? He is exactly the opposite! But sometimes we go through dry seasons, and it feels like God isn't around and that He's not being bold enough with us, so therefore He is considered boring. But He's only considered boring because we make Him appear that way; if we built Him up on the towers we built up the people we admire, we would no longer look at Him and think He is dull.

So what exactly is it that can keep us tethered to God when we're testing the mundane tea leaves? Our handicap. Paul writes:

"Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

   My grace is enough; it's all you need.
   My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

The "handicap" Paul was given was the only thing that kept him tied to the Lord. In the first part of the verse, it talked about how so he wouldn't get a big head, he was given the gift of a handicap to keep him in touch with God. Because Paul was given a handicap, instead of it thrusting him away from God, it pushed him to his knees in front of the Holy Spirit.

When we are happy or bored with the Lord, we are actually weak instead of stronger. Our handicap was made to bring us closer to God when we were running away from Him. I want you to remember that even when you're happy, or bored out of your mind, you must worship God, take heart in your handicap and show the world just what kind of a Jesus Freak you are.