Test Time

Louis Zamperini in May, 2014

I never used to mind taking tests in school, at least not when I was young, before going off to college.

There was something good about knowing what was coming, knowing exactly which day the test would be given and what chapters or principles would be covered.

It wasn't a surprise.

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Paul is not talking about the kind of tests I used to take in school.  He is talking about the trials we encounter in our daily lives, the things that take us by surprise and cause us to question or doubt God's love or support.

But Paul makes it sound like these tests come form God.  Is that what he means?  Does God send us troubles and put obstacles in our path just to see how we handle them?

I don't think it works that way.  So, what does Paul mean when he says God will not let you be tested beyond your strength?


I just finished the book, Unbroken: A World Way II Story of  Survival, Resilience and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand.  It is the story of Louis Zamperini, the Olympic Miler whose promising career was interrupted by World War II, where he began a test beyond all tests.

Louie just died recently at the age of 94, months before the movie of his story produced by Angelina Jolie will be released on Christmas Day.  Back in 1943, while stationed in the Pacific, Louie, his friend Phil and a quickly assembled crew of strangers took to the air in a rickety B-24 called Green Hornet, a plane whose tail had trouble staying level with its nose.

They were on a recovery mission looking for a lost plane when they were shot down in the Pacific.  Louie, Phil and Mac, a new recruit, found themselves adrift with no food or water for 47 days.  Only Louie and Phil survived that part of the grueling test that only got worse after they were captured and interned in a POW camp.

It was during those long days in the blistering heat clinging to a shot up raft that Louie found the strength he didn't know he had, strength that could only have come from God.

I won't be a spoiler here.  I hope you read the book or see the movie.  It is an amazing tale, a true story of what Paul was talking about.  He will also provide the way out so you may be able to endure it.

He doesn't say that God will get us out of the mess, or that we will definitely endure.  Some of the work, if not all, is ours to do.  I learned a lot from Louie and it helps me to put the tests of this live into perspective.

I pray that I never have to endure what he did, but I don't feel more blessed.  No one deserves the torture and abuses life can bring, but all are open to receive the grace of God, and the strength that passes all understanding, giving us a chance to endure.

Louie, I salute you, and I thank you for the fine example and the very high bar you set for us.

Now, I have to prepare.  It's test time.

More to come...