[Darris McNeely] I recently attended a lecture that was given by a psychologist who was talking
about the tremendous amount of anxiety that people are going through today with inflation,
war, cultural change that has upended so much.
We're all a little bit on edge at times wondering what the future's going to hold.
You know, for Christians who are keeping the New Testament Passover,
this is a time for us to consider our life, and to take inventory. And with all that is going on,
this is a pretty good time for us to think about that.
There's a scripture in 2 Corinthians 13:5 that I'm going through here in the series leading
us up to what I call a settled to Passover, which will be upon us in just a short time.
It says here in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves as to whether you're in the faith."
We talked about that last time. "Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves
that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified." I wanna
talk about that second point today to test yourselves, to see where you are.
I recently said to a congregation where I was speaking on a Sabbath. I said we have
all really been tested in these past two years in so many different ways.
And I asked them to write down how they think they did. How did they pass that
test? What did they learn from shutdown from pandemic, from major disruption?
What did they learn about themselves? I've thought about that a lot as I consider this.
Were you resilient? Did you stand strong? Did you stand tall and deal with all the problems
and meet them head-on? You know, we've all been tested. How can we understand when Paul says here
in verse 5 that we are to test ourselves then? Well, look at again, what we have gone through.
If you experience anxiety in the last couple of years,
what did you do? If you had right now, what are you doing about it?
Well, there's things that can be done. We can talk to someone, a friend, a good counselor,
a pastor, even someone who is trained in helping people deal with anxiety and other problems that
come up there. There's no shame in that. There is no harm in doing so. In fact, it can actually be
a help to be able to talk to another person and go through whatever type of counseling situation
we might need in order to work through our thoughts, come to some solid answers.
Ask yourself in the past couple of years, did you lack faith? If you did,
well, you can ask God for that. Did you lack wisdom in some of the things you said or did,
or how you reacted? Well, wisdom is another thing that we can all ask God about. And so,
again, as we look back in recent times, the tests we've been through, how did we do?
I continue to say that what we have lived through is a dress rehearsal for tougher times ahead,
and we are to learn how we have reacted and to examine ourselves in that way.
In 2 Peter 1:7 is a comment about testing. Peter says
regarding tests that the trial of your faith being much more precious
than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise
and honor and glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ. There's a reason that we are tested.
And at times, even when we test ourselves,
that can present a little bit of difficulty for us, as we might confront some difficult situations
that we have been in and have an honest assessment taken. So, do this,
look at what you have gone through in the past two years and all that has taken place,
the pandemic, the shutdown, war, now inflation, and any upset or discomfort that has been there.
Do you have a greater sense of the fragility of life and the world that we live in?
That doesn't have to be negative? That can be very helpful.
Look at what is in our world today. Mankind has constructed a global wonder around us,
but events come along to remind us that it's all very fragile and it can change in a moment.
Ask yourself, have you learned what is false information, what's true information?
I have. And I've learned that some of the sources that I look to for truth turned out to be false.
And that's been instructive because even, you know, I've been a teacher
of truth and a follower of truth for so many years. But you look at leaders,
whether it's in politics or in government or industry, and many even in trusted institutions
have proven to not be true in so many different ways in the last few years.
The only truth that we can rely on is God, His Word, the Bible. That is the source of truth.
That's what we must have as the anchor. So in a sense in testing ourselves to
determine where we are with what Paul is saying in this verse to test yourselves,
look at the source of truth. Look at the ultimate truth that you have.
It's a firm reminder that we are walking with God and we're being tested today in ways that
we've never imagined. And when we can come to some realistic assessments, then we're
taking another step in the direction of taking a settled Passover with calm, confident courage.
That's "BT Daily." Join us next time.