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- a test
- a trust
- a temporary assignment
Some people react badly to this idea as it implies God initiates evil acts and acts unfairly. Another way to think of it is when you are going through a bad time, that it is a test and if you pass you will be rewarded. If another person is the cause of your trouble, that person is failing a test and will be punished. This way of thinking may help get you through it, along with the assurance that God provides people with the means to pass any test.
The second metaphor is that everything you own has been granted into your trust by God, so you should look after everything as well as you can. At the end of your life, God will reward you based on how well you looked after things in your trust. If we think about possessions in this way, we may be more reluctant to buy things, because you wouldn't just focus on the initial pleasure of obtaining the item, you would also think about how to look after it and whether you have the time.
The third methaphor, a temporary assignment, is the subject of Day 6.
Its me - Isabella, the author of this blog.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to add a comment here about being tested. My body corporate manager charged me $120 for a new car park door remote control exactly 7 days before sending me two new remote controls for a new system being installed.
Not happy Jan!
I thought - aha, this is a test, but of what? At first I thought, maybe its to teach me not to get angry, but then I thought - well Jesus got angry, and if we are supposed to be like Jesus then we should be allowed to get angry. So I thought maybe it is about how I express that anger.
Michael (husband) pointed out that clearly one part of the organisation doesn't know what the other part is doing. So when I rang the body corp and spoke to our representative, I made a point of saying that I wasn't blaming her for it, but I was really pissed off. She said she would speak to the Managing Director. So we will see what becomes of it.
One thing I will note, is that taking this approach, ie that this event is a test by God, does help in giving you a sense of detachment. Its a case of this has happened, this is how I have responded, lets see if I passed the test or even if there is a second stage to it.
Whereas, when I first opened the package with the new remotes I wanted to shout my head off at these people.