Passing the Test

From More Precious than Silver, by J.E. Tada

If God knew the patriarch would pass the test long before Abraham reached for the knife, why put the old man through the ordeal? Simple: God didn't lack information about Abraham, but Abraham may have lacked information about himself....This is why God tests our faith. Not that He might know what's in us, but that we might know. We say that we love God, that He is first in our lives, our marriages are centered around Him, that we trust and obey Him

This is true--I learn a lot about myself before and after having trials, whatever happens...however, I don't really know that I agree that God tests us. There is the verse in James, 1:13: Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.
While it is speaking of temptation, I always find tests themselves to be temptations. For instance, while I am not suicidal, there are many many people in RA support groups who are. The pain is too much to take, the abandonment of family (PRAISE GOD I have not had that!).  My main temptation in the beginning of my RA was to sink into depression, terrifying fear of knowing how some RA patients end up.
 I always figure tests and trials in our lives are like those in the tale of Job. The Evil One asks of the King if he may torment....and the King, knowing all, and our hearts, agrees...I think that it is like when a mother sets a baby down and shows people how the little can walk. It is a further expansion of what was capable before into further capabilities.  The King agrees, knowing how we will fare in the battle, how we will shine for His glory, lean on Him, pray to Him, love Him more deeply (as a weak imitation of His love for us).  I wonder how humiliating it is to the evil ones when we fight the good fight and still stand with our King, refusing to leave the side of our Father, knowing we always have His arms shielding us, even in the midst of our battles. 

If by some quirk you lose your hearing or the ability to walk, God will then give you the grace to match your need. God knows--and He is the only one who knows----what you can bear. No, God probably hasn't called you to be a quadriplegic, and your probably will never be blind and deaf. But He has called you to bear up under the burden He has placed on your shoulders. He thinks you can do it. Fact is, you can. And if you think you can't, take heart: that's when His grace shows up best.

If, when, those hard, horrible, wretched, painful, unbearable things happen we remember to pray, to speak, to cry, to scream out to God, He will answer. He will answer powerfully. He may say yes, and heal you, He may say no, more good will come from your handling this illness/disability. It has nothing to do with your faith...think of the man that four friends lowered through the roof to see Jesus. He healed that man by the faith OF THE FRIENDS, not the faith of the man on the mat. It's just sometimes a thorn in our sides is more meaningful in our sides than pulled out and thrown away. 
I have bad days. Days of sadness of not being able to do what I did. I used to pick up hay bales, throw sacks of feed around...I can't do it. I can't even outwalk people anymore. But I screamed out in tears to my Father, and He has been there with me. He has made this more bearable. He has shown me what friends I have, how important I am to my family. He has shown my how much He loves me---more to the fact how impossibly much He loves us all. 
I've always loved the quote from a movie....when asked what the Bible is, a young man says "It's a love letter. To all of us". Really, it is. It is God's Word, part of Him, so of course it is full of love. 
We little people made the choice to ruin the world...but He loves us so much anyway, so much so He died for us, and will make us a new place to live.