“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1:3).
In 1904 a Bible school in Lestershire, New York asked Walter Martin to help them compile a song book for the school. After moving there to accomplish the work, his wife became very ill and was confined to a sick bed. One Sunday afternoon while her husband was away preaching, Civilla Martin wrote a poem called “God Will Take Care Of You”. When Walter returned home he read the poem and immediately put the words to music, composing a song that has blessed multitudes down through the years.
Notice the last stanza: “No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you.” She understood that troubles are tests. We also need to see them that way. God put Abraham to the test in Genesis 22:1, and he was called “the friend of God.” David, a man after God’s own heart, said, “I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness—“ (I Chron.29:17). So let us not think that we shall be exempt.
Whatever trouble you are presently facing, consider it a test. The painful thing you are called to endure will test the quality of your faith and, if you trust God, it will produce the virtue of patience – moving you forward in spritual maturity. When those trials come it will help if you remember these words:
“Through every day, o’er all the way. He will take care of you.”
