I thought about yesterday, Memorial Day, and I thought about all the stories that we probably shared across our nation. Stories told by men and women who have faced and survived to tell them. The reason the stories were told is because the one telling the story passed the test. They passed the test because they didn’t give up or cave in, they stood the test and made it. Now, their great test has become their testimony. (James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.) Each of us will face our own tests today of some kind. We must pass all kinds of tests as we go through our lives, and passing them is part of never giving up. It’s vital for us to understand the important role that tests and trials play in our lives, because understanding them helps us endure them and actually be strengthened by them. Everything God permits us to go through will ultimately be good for us—no matter how much it hurts, how unfair it is, or how difficult it is. When we encounter tests and trials, if we will embrace them and refuse to run from them, we will learn some lessons that will help us in the future and make us stronger. No one who does anything worthwhile for God has traveled an easy road. Doing great things for God requires character, and character is developed by passing life’s tests and staying faithful to Him through the trials. Thank God for the test you face today, it will become your testimony tomorrow. Pastor Don [image: image.png]