Trials by CHARLES E. NIXON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 14, 1915

Trials

By CHARLES E. NIXON

CHARLES E. NIXON

A STUDY of the Scriptures reveals a threefold purpose of trials: First, by trial God proves us. The Hebrew word rendered “trial,” or “temptation,” is used in Ex. 17:7: “And he called the name of the place Massah, . . . because they tempted the Lord.” The word massah means to test or prove, as shown by Ex. 16:4: “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”

There is a prevalent notion that a temptation is an attempt to cause us to sin; but this is not the primary idea of trials; there is a vast difference between proving and attempting. This thought is further illustrated in Gen. 22:1: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.” In other words, God did massah Abraham, that he might prove him. Thus we have the first purpose of trials—that God may prove us whether we will walk in his law, or no. God does not tempt or try men in order to ascertain their characters, as if he were ignorant of them, but to give them an opportunity to exercise their virtues and to receive grace from heaven.

Second, by trials God seeks to strengthen us. The tree that grows in the sheltered cove is weak and an easy prey to the storms; but the sturdy oak that has grown where the winds could beat upon it, has become deep-rooted, and there it stands, a century old, conqueror over every storm. So we, if sheltered from the storms of adversity, become weak and unresisting; but as we overcome the trials which come to us day by day, we gain strength to be victorious in the great crises that come in the life of every one.

Third, we are purified by trials. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” 1 Peter 4:12. Literally, as elsewhere rendered, “think it not strange concerning the burning which is to try you.”

Fire is a symbol of purification; so in our experience, trial is the fire that purifies and changes us.

Though nothing is blacker and more contaminating than lampblack, yet let the chemist put some of this black, unpromising soot in a clay crucible and subject it to a temperature of several thousand degrees under enormous pressure for several days, then break the crucible, and there will be seen little glittering points. Take up one of the larger and examine it under a lens; it will be found to be a diamond.

Great is the likeness between the soot and the sinner; both are unpromising; they sully that with which they come in contact; in their present state they are of no value; but both are capable of a wondrous change, one into the pure sparkling diamond, the other into a righteous soul among the great throng of the redeemed. As we are tried and afflicted, there is great comfort in the experience of the three worthies in the fiery furnace—“and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” So, as we withstand the burning, there is ever with us the Saviour, who was tempted in all points.

When we are tried, it is often difficult for us to see God’s purpose in allowing us to be afflicted; let us then remember that he is thereby proving, strengthening, and purifying us, and let us say with Job, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

“There is no path in this desert waste, For the winds have swept the shifting sands; The trail is blind where the storms have raced, And a stranger, I, in these fearsome lands. But I journey on with a lightsome tread, I do not falter or turn aside; For I see His figure just ahead, He knows the way I take—my Guide.”