Passing the Test

by Heather Tietz

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

James 1:2-3

Are you healthy? It’s hard to tell without a test or two.

Dr. Ruth Hendrich is 82. She regularly undergoes self-check-ups. She puts her body through unusual rigorous testing, that is, marathons and triathlons. Yes, at eighty-two.

Ruth wasn’t always so healthy. At age forty-seven she failed the test at the doctor’s office when she was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. But the test wasn’t the end of her, instead, it grew her, it bettered her. Because of it, she made some drastic changes in her lifestyle, changes that didn’t simply save her from cancer but named her one of ten fittest women in North America!

Life tests us. Are we healthy? Are our spirits thriving or are they weak? When your child was born with a disability, when the doctor’s words felt like bad news, when the life test was tossed at us, how did we do? How did our spirits react?

Tests, even failed ones, aren’t the end. Life tests of all sorts can better us, can grow our spirits, our bodies. They can simplify us, humble us, bring us closer to Jesus as we lean into Him for comfort and wisdom.

Undoubtedly you have some life tests with your name on them. Like Dr. Ruth Hendrich, use them to check your health, your spiritual health. Then make some adjustments to your priorities, some changes to your schedule, and determine to pass the test.