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Life can be difficult,” wrote Amy Carmichael, missionary to India. “Sometimes the enemy comes in like a flood. But then is the time to prove our faith and live our songs” (Candles in the Dark, 51).
A faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. Peter compared the Christian’s trials to the testing of gold in the furnace (1 Peter 1:7), and the patriarch Job used the same image: “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10 nkjv). God’s purpose in allowing trials is not only to verify our faith but also to purify it and remove the dross. God knows what kind of faith we have, but we don’t know, and the only way to advance in the “school of faith” is to take examinations.
Like Abraham, as you progress in the “school of faith,” you will face three special tests: circumstances (Gen. 12:10), people (12:11–13:4), and things (13:5-18).