As disciples of Jesus we should expect trials but we should not think that they are punishment for anything that may have happened.  When ADVERSITY strikes our life we can fall into self- pity, or we can view this a time of testing. It is God who works in us, through adverse situations, to purify us, and take out of our lives those things that are not pleasing to Him.

Q 1 What is going to happen to every Christian?………………………
Q 2 What will God do in us, in this time of testing?……………………

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (NIV)

Have you ever looked at this scripture and thought; how can testing be joy, when things are going so badly in my life? What James was saying was that we ought to look past the present trial and see the end result.

Q 3 What does perseverance mean?………………………………………
Q 4 After testing you will be more ………………………………………

Romans 5: 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (NIV)

Now here in Romans, Paul is saying we should face our problems and difficulties with rejoicing. He is commanding us to change our outlook from the natural realm to the spiritual realm. We are literally here in the problem, but legally we are spiritually seated with Christ in heavenly places.
It is a challenge for all of us, as Christians, when things seem bad, to praise God with all our heart. But when we do praise Him, things will not seem so bad. Hope will rise in our hearts.

Q 5 What should you do when things seem bad?………………………
Q 6 What is another word for hope?……………………………………

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (NIV)

We all came to Jesus Christ in different conditions. Another way to say this is, “We all came with different scars of life in our minds and hearts”. The reason I have stated this, is that God does not cause all the testing and tribulation that we go through. We cause lot of it ourselves, by old attitude and behaviour patterns.
God loved the world that He sent His son to reclaim what was His (you and me). All we need to do is believe in Him and love Him.
God does not condemn us. He gives us life through Jesus and we are freed from all sin by the blood of Christ. God loves us as we are, but because of His love towards us, He does not want us to remain as we are, or as we were when we first received Christ. God uses the testing in our life to change us, so that we become more like Christ.

Q 7 Who is our Brother?………………………………………….
Q 8 Does God want us to stay the same as what we were when we were saved?…………
Q 9 Who is God changing us to be like?………………………………
Q 10 Who is God going to glorify?…………………………..

Job 1: 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:  "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;    may the name of the LORD be praised." 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (NIV)

Here we look at a man called Job. The Book of Job is one of the oldest books of the Bible. Job went through very difficult times, but came through triumphantly.
By contrast, another person in the Bible was Adam. Adam was tested, but failed the test. He disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now the thing that makes Adam different from Job is that Adam blamed his wife for giving him the fruit, and did not take responsibility for his own action. But Job did not blame anyone. He continued worshipping God.

Q11 What should we do when we are being tested? Should we blame God?……………..
Q12 We should take ………………………. for our own actions of the past and present.
Q13 Is it a sin if we blame God?………………………………………..

Job 23:m 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (NIV)

Here we see Job making a positive confession of faith regarding his testing. He asserted that after the testing, he would come through as gold. A positive confession of faith based on a Word from God will build strength into the believer and he or she will not be moved off course.

Q 14 What is needed in times of testing?………………………………
Q 15 What is it in us that is being tested? ………………………………
Q 16 Once our faith has been tested we will come forth as……………

2 Corinthians 4: 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (NIV)

Here we see that God does not desert us. Even when we feel that God is nowhere to be found, He has not left us. He cannot leave us. We have a legal position in Him. Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you”. Hebrews13:5.

Q 17 Are we crushed?…………
Q 18 Are we in despair?………..
Q 19 Are we abandoned?………
Q 20 Are we destroyed?……….

Romans 8: 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

Finally, we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Who is with us when we face our difficulties? Jesus. Who will carry us? Jesus. Who is our close friend? Jesus.  Who is our God? Jesus.
When we have been tested in our faith we will be built up in our inner man. The devil will find it impossible to move us off course. It is our faith that makes us victorious. We become like gold.