Week 2: The Ultimate Test of Character

Throughout life on this earth, we are tested by the circumstances we face. When adversity strikes, it strips us of the pretenses to which we hold, revealing our character for what it truly is. The story of Job in the Bible reminds us that hardship can indeed bring out the best in an individual. But do the trials and tragedies in our life really form the ultimate test of our character? I don't think so. In fact, I'm beginning to think the opposite is true. Consider carefully the haunting words of Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle, who wrote in The Hero as a Man of Letters:

"Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity there are a hundred that will stand adversity."

So often, we view life in terms of our struggle and not our success. We see ourselves as passing from one ordeal to another. Upon emerging from a time of difficulty we bask in the period of prosperity that follows. But could it be that we've got it completely backwards? While we relax in times of comfort and ease, is it possible that this is when our character is being most severely tested? Could this be the time when our true character is made most evident?

It's so easy to turn to God when we have no one else to turn to. When our life is in shambles and our circumstances unbearable, we cry out to God from the depths of our soul. And indeed He hears us and "comforts us in all our troubles" (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). But how often does God hear from us when things are going well? How close are we to Him when we're enjoying a period of prosperity? In our times of greatest blessing, do we even take the time to give thanks to the one responsible for "every good and perfect gift?" (James 1:17) Or are we more like nine lepers who lived in Jesus' day . . .

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17:11-19)

How often have we read the story of the ten lepers thinking to ourselves that had we been among them, we would have been that one who returned to give thanks to God. And yet, given an even greater abundance of blessings from God in our lives, we can go for days or weeks without thanking Him for any of it. Like the ten lepers, we gladly accept the blessings of God. But do we then resemble the lone leper who returned? Or do our thoughts, feelings, and actions place us among the nine we are so quick to look down upon in hindsight.

Prosperity tests us like nothing else can. Perhaps this is what Agur had in mind when he wrote:

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8b-9)

The vast majority of us enjoy a standard of living that qualifies well above the status of "riches" that Agur wrote of. Do we disown the name of the God we claim to believe in? For most of us, the true shallowness or depth of our character is revealed in times of prosperity. Oh, it's not that we lack the will or the desire to be people of character and conviction, it's just that in times of abundance we forget. When we encounter good fortune, it's all too often that our actions betray us as someone who might well ask "Who is the LORD?"

Oh that we each might be among those who can withstand the trials and tribulations . . . of prosperity!