The Gold Standard Test of Faith

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Whether we like it or not, life demands some type of tests, to meet requirements or standards. For example the education system requires us to pass standards of learning to graduate, employers evaluate our performance, and some professions administer fitness tests to check our physical and mental stamina in order to serve. And the reality is that some tests are not fair. Educational testing standards have biases.  Supervisors set-up employees to fail. Now also, a test is defined as a means of trial, those events which ‘challenge our mettle, the core of who we are.’ Tragedies happen, illness and suffering, abuse and violence abound. Then there’s the ultimate unfair test, a confrontation with evil or an attack. As this is Black History Month I’m reminded of how The African American story speaks of this type of trial, beginning with slavery, an excess of evil, permeating mind, body and spirit. Our faith gets tested as well. In the scripture, Job was someone who faced this type of trial; with loved ones, livelihood, and livestock taken away to see if he would remain faithful to God. His body festered with sores, friends of comfort turned into purveyors of their own brand of theological blame. Even sometimes others may blame our trials on ourselves. When I was diagnosed with cancer 12 years ago, some folks said I must’ve done something wrong to incur this horrible disease. My faith waivered. As the ancestors did, I did, we all might ask as Job did,Why Lord?

Well, in the text we find some ways to think about the tests and trials we encounter.

Job exhibited what I see as a gold standard of faith during his tests of excess suffering. As he states in verse 10 speaking of God ‘when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold..’ You see gold is a precious metal of great value or something which exemplifies a high standard. Think about it, Teachers give gold stars for getting an A, employers gold watches for long-term service, Olympians compete for a gold medal. In medicine or economic systems, the gold standard is one that has to hold up under the toughest of circumstances, such as a market collapse, or rare disease. It is the best available thing of its kind. And that describes God period. I know I’m still here having received God’s grace along with the gold standard of medical treatment. But most importantly I’m under God’s Affordable Care Plan and Actions. Your story, my story and our ancestral story of survival to thriving is a gold standard of faith; coming this far and leaning on it, praying to be delivered from evil, and keeping hope alive. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. No matter what’s going on we need some substance for the stuff of life, an assurance in our nature, that we’re clear on what we’re working with, a firm foundation in our trust in God.  We need substance to meet the standard. And during our trials this is not the time to run from God. Job said he wouldn’t turn aside from God; he was committed to God’s word and his way. And so were our ancestors, to hold out and hold up. Somebody persevered through the horrible ship’s hull of the middle passage with a resolve and strength of character, their substance evident. I often say if ancestors got through what they got through, I can surely get through this mess of today. This testing gives us as 1 Peter states an authentic faith–more precious than gold.

So how do we, like Job, pass the gold standard of faith test?

First, Job was certain of God’s presence and plan in the outcome. Back to v. 10, Job states that after the test…’I shall come forth like gold.’ He didn’t say I think, I might, he said I shall.  Shall is a word of intention for a future situation.  Job also would not waiver from God’s order of his steps, further stating in v. 11. ‘My feet have closely followed his steps; Job did was he was supposed to do and didn’t get ahead of God.  So even in the toughest of tests, we must trust in God’s order of things. Our foreparents did the same in the midst of oppression. We Shall Overcome was the song of the Civil Rights Movement, as they kept on marching even if somebody let the dogs out or turned the water hoses on. They sang as a way to encourage themselves and tell the world about the expected results of this way too long final exam for equality.

Next Job was competent in his faith walk. He’d heard and internalized God’s commandments that kept him pressing forward. He didn’t go looking in any other books or trying to find a popular motivational speaker. In v. 12 he states, ‘I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. God’s word is an authoritative treasure trove, with instructions for us on how to pass the tests of life.  When our ancestors weren’t allowed to read, they heard God’s word and kept it close daily. During my treatment, I’m grateful for visitors who sat with me and read scripture. I needed to up my competency level to make sure I could pass the standards of learning for this trial. Then I could agree with what the Psalmist wrote, it was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn His statues. When you know Him, you can speak of  and to Him.