Sometimes we are confronted with uncomfortable situations. someone may not be treating us right, and our dreams may have taken longer than we thought. It’s easy to get upset, live frustrated, wondering why it’s not changing. Do you know that it can just be a character check? That is God allowing us to go through an uncomfortable situation to know our maturity. And most especially, to make us a better person.
The scripture says “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:3-4. You don’t know what’s in you until you are put under pressure.
It’s easy to have a good attitude when everything is going your way, people are being good to you, doors are opening, and you will feel the joy of the Lord; “Thank you Lord Jesus for your favour”. And that is good. Praise the Lord, gratefulness is inside you. But how about when there are challenges, opposition and people misinterpreting your intentions? Now, you may find out there are some other things in you, besides praise and thanksgiving. You weren’t speaking in tongues, but another language started coming out that you may not be proud of!
Peter told Jesus, “I will never deny you. I’m your most faithful disciple”. His heart was right, and he had good intentions. In that atmosphere of faith that wasn’t difficult. However, when he was put under pressure and under a character check, the response was different. During Jesus’s arrest, the heat was turned on and the young lady said, “He is one of the disciples”… Peter said, “No, I’m not, you have the wrong person”. Matthew 26:69-75.
Three times Peter denied he knew Jesus. The pressure brings to light weaknesses in our character, areas we need to deal with. If we are willing to change, make adjustments, and start passing those character checks, then God will trust us with more of His favour. But just because Peter failed that character check didn’t stop his destiny. God doesn’t give up on us, He gives us another chance.
The purpose of a trial is for a character check. God already knows how you are going to respond. It’s not to show God, it’s to show you what’s in you. Every traffic jam, every person that gets on your nerves, every time you are tempted to be jealous, critical, disobey God or pay someone back negatively, it’s a character check. That’s not a random challenge, that’s God presenting you with an opportunity to be a better person. That is an opportunity to grow, to come up higher, to show God your level of growth in Him.
The problem with failing the character check, that is being rude to someone who is rude to you, getting upset every time you are stuck in traffic, being jealous of a friend who is doing very well or giving in to that temptation… When you don’t pass, you are going to have to go through the character check again. It’s not going to go away, God is going to keep allowing your quality to be tested.
He loves you too much to let you stay at that one level. That’s why you can’t pray away everything uncomfortable. “God, get this troublesome neighbour out of my life. They are irritating me, they get on my nerves”, that’s a character check. Why don’t you be an eagle and rise above their pettiness? Stop letting them steal your joy, stop giving them your power.
When you let someone else determine whether or not you are going to stay in joy, you are handing them your thermostat, you are letting them control your temperature. They say something rude, and you get upset. They leave you out, you get offended. They ignore you, your day is soured.
Do yourself a favour, and take your thermostat back. Quit letting other people control your atmosphere, and determine your mood, your peace, and your joy. You can’t control what they do, but you can control how you respond. The scripture says, “No person can take your joy”. (John 16:22) They can’t take it unless you allow them.
Make up your mind, “I’m not going to give this person my joy”. Don’t go the next 20 years letting the same things upset you, same traffic, same delays, you are going through a character check. If you grow, if you respond differently, sometimes God will remove it, but here is the key: even if He doesn’t, because you have changed, because your character has come up higher, it’s not going to affect you. Sometimes when God is not changing the circumstances, He is using the circumstances to change us.
Let me tell you an interesting story I read somewhere, a pastor was believing God for a church building. For several years he had been praying, working hard, looking everywhere, and raising funds, but nothing was available. A new pastor moved into the town, hadn’t been there two months, called this pastor, “I want to come pick you up and take you somewhere”.
The pastor was excited, he thought maybe he had found a building for him, a new place to rent. He drove into this beautiful building, prime location, and great parking space. He said, “The owner of this property just told me I could use it for five years rent-free. Isn’t this awesome”? The pastor says, “Yes, it’s awesome”. He didn’t mean a word of it, he was so discouraged.
God blessing someone else doesn’t mean He is not going to bless you. God didn’t run out of favour, that’s a test and opportunity to be better. He is watching to see how you are going to respond. You may say something like “But they don’t deserve it.
You may also say, I have been here longer than they have, and I have obediently lived my life to please God. I don’t understand it”. No, pass the character check. Be happy for them. That is an opportunity to be better and grow in the fruit of the spirit. If you will celebrate others, then God will have plenty of times when people will celebrate you.
BE WILLING TO DEAL WITH IT!
Pay attention to the areas in which your character is tested. It’s not a coincidence. When God brings things to light, you have to be willing to deal with it. These impurities in our character keep us from rising higher.
They don’t come out in the good times, they come out when we are under pressure. Don’t ignore it, don’t keep responding the same way. God wants to entrust you with more of His kingdom blessing, more influence and more resources. That is why He has allowed you to go through a character check and be tested.
Are you trying to pray away what God wants to use to refine you? Instead of trying to change everything, why don’t you pray, “God, help me to change. Help me to come up higher. To be more patient. To overlook the offence. To not be jealous. To live above this temptation. To not let people steal my joy”. To live a life that pleases God.
Sometimes the character check is to be good to someone who is not being good to you. It’s easy to treat people the way they treat us. They are rude to us, we are going to be rude to them. They put us down, we are going to put them down. They stab me in the back at work, I’m going to get revenge.
However, if you are going to reach your destiny, you have to be the bigger person, and let God fight your battles. If you sink to their level, get baited into conflict, revengeful, paying people back, then God can’t trust you with more influence. That’s failing a character check. Prove to God that you will stay on the high road. Be an eagle and rise above it.
Well, pastor, these people at work, they get on my nerves. I have been praying for God to move them”. Have you ever thought that maybe God has you there on purpose? Maybe that’s a test? If He removed everything uncomfortable, you would never grow.
You may say, “sometimes, my spouse aggravates me. He or she knows the right buttons to push, that’s why I say things I shouldn’t, that’s why I get upset”. No, that’s a test of your character. It’s a character check. In that fire, impurities are coming out. Under pressure, you are seeing what’s in you.
Next time that you are under pressure, respond a different way. Proverbs 21:23 says, “If you will keep your mouth closed, you will stay out of trouble”. One way to pass the character check is really simple: keep your mouth closed. Quit letting your emotions control your mouth. Your tongue can start World War Three if you allow it to and your tongue can even get you fired!
The key to seeing God’s best is to stay flexible, walk in humility, and be willing to change. What can you do better to get along better in relationships? What improvements can you make, not your spouse, not your boss, or not your children, what areas can you come up higher in to have better relationships? Don’t pray for God to change someone else without first praying, “God, show me where I need to change”.
Now, show God what you are made of. Prove to Him that you can handle more influence, more favour, and more responsibility by passing the character check. If you will do this, I decree and declare: new doors are going to open, your relationships are going to get better, and you will rise higher, accomplish dreams and become all you were created to be, in Jesus’s name.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’
