One spring evening in 1992, a teenage girl, who didn’t really understand what she was getting into, decided to die with Christ in baptism. On a winter evening, 21 years later, her son just died.
In one of hundreds of sympathy cards, a message from God arrived. Though written by the hand of a teenage boy from Florida, it spoke God’s message not his own. Addressed to her husband it said,
I have no understanding of the pain you are going through, but I do understand this. When you and your wife chose to give God your life you issued God a challenge. Psalm 26:2-3 “Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind . For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I will walk in your faithfulness.”
A challenge indeed. This woman had issued hundreds of challenges through her declarations of faith. Every time she said, “I am a Christian” the challenge was issued. Again and again, her life said “prove it.” Jesus said, “yes, prove it.” She wrote these words herself:
2012 saw some of the deepest turmoil of our lives but also some of the most intimate glances of God’s careful provision through it all. I am resolved to face 2013 with a trusting faith that will go through the valley again if He asks me to.
Prove it! Five days later her son died.
She has cried thousands of tears. She has wept. She has moaned. She has cried out to heaven for mercy. She is walking through the valley. And she is still clinging to Jesus. She won’t let go. She has anchored herself in the truth that Jesus gives life.
And the words of heaven said, as they did to Abraham thousands of years ago, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Gen. 22:12).
So today she asks, what are you withholding from God? If you dare wear the name Christian you have issued the same challenge to God to prove you. Maybe its the circumstances of your marriage, your single hood, your money, your grief, your anger, your sorrow. .. your son. Today, the challenge is issued. Prove it!
