I followed the lab worker through a metal door that opened into a barely lit cement room. After I crawled onto a rusty exam table, I purposely took a slow breath. That breath was a bit jagged but it steadied my pounding heart. I’d donated pints of blood in the States, but in that little bush hospital in Benin, Africa, the luxury of single use equipment in clean, clear packages didn’t exist. Due to limited supply, everything was reused including the needle the tech had prepared. It had been re-sharpened by hand then sanitized in a machine that was cast off from a first world country. I remember that the names of African blood borne diseases drummed through my mind as I watched that well-used needle glide through my skin. This is where belief plays out in trust, I had thought. I knew that I certainly hadn’t allowed its entry because I was 100% sure it was sterilized. At that particular moment, I had chosen to move forward in trust despite my fear. I trusted God would hold me, even if I did get sick. I didn’t.

From what we read in Psalm 105:18-19, Joseph, a model of faith, had to battle with trust, too: “They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.” Tested? Whether we recognize it or not (and I didn’t recognize it until I really thought about this verse), as followers of Christ, the very word that can bring comfort and hope is also used to test or refine us. God tells us one thing, and we either move forward in belief of His word or we don't. We’re tested to move from simply saying we believe into physically acting like that word is true. Remember how faith without works is dead? Faith is stepping out regardless of how fast our heart beats. It’s trusting Him even when we can’t see what He's going to allow next. 

We are tested, but our glorious, faithful God isn’t ever going to flunk us. Sure, we may see a similar test again, but it’s not because He sees us as failures. He already knows where our faith is weak. He keeps pushing us gently forward because our loving Father knows that each step of trust cements His image more clearly into our being. Our trust in Him grows as we keep stepping out in faith. 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 14:21, James 1:2-4 

So we’re now left with a question. How is God asking you (and me) to stick out that arm once again?