Faith.....Life

Hebrews 11:32-33, 36-39a NIV
:And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions....... Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.   These were all commended for their faith.......

As I read the long passage highlighted above, so many things flash through my mind. If I really know Christ and I'm saved, does it exclude me from trials? Does the presence of God in me completely insulate me from problems? Can I really depend on someone else's testimony to live my own life, constantly checking if I measure up to human standards? Lots of questions but there is a lesson for me in the verses here.
First of all, let it be known here that nothing can stop you from encountering trials. Even the richest men on earth have private issues that cannot be shared and the poor also have those private, painful moments. Trials are levellers: they know no rich, poor, beautiful or special people. God weaves them through our life's experiences so he can empower us to be able to handle the situations that will come our way in life. If we cooperate with these trials, we grow.
Unfortunately, most of us may not like the conclusion of this matter. We have been led to believe that if you are really a Christian, you cannott die before your time; the devil cannot touch you; God is not a wicked God, and all the other half-truths and incomplete teachings that we have been fed down the years. If we claim we have given our lives to God, who then should determine the length, duration, content and character of our lives? If we have accepted him as Lord, who then determines the direction, impact and people our lives should influence? Not many of us have worked half as much as Paul did, with miracles of healing, deliverance and restoration saturating his ministry yet he had a thorn in his flesh that God did not take away. Peter was a firebrand, preaching a simple message from God that got over 3,000 convinced and converted yet that didn't stop him from being arrested a few times and eventually put to death.  John the Baptist knew his ministry and faced it honestly, yet when his 'time' came at just 30 years, just as the ministry of Christ began, his head was cut off like a common criminal, without the pretence of any sort of trial.
Space will not permit me to mention so many other fervent believers who have had to pass through hell, literally, on the way to the place God has prepared for them. Some others have had it 'easy', but one lesson God has taught me is that some lessons from him to me are personal, while some are to be shared. What we mostly do is to make a doctrine and a church teaching out of God's dealings with us, forgetting that others too may have their own personal dealings in different ways on these same issues.
Faith is a personal walk. You cannot walk mine for me and you cannot pretend to understand what I'm going through. The owner of our lives will work out the details of our personal assignments; what we need do is to walk with Him every step of the way. He knows the end and he alone can bring us safely to that good end.
Rejoice, because his time of favour is here.