Hard Questions

1 Kings 10:1

"And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions."

The only way to know if something is real is to test it, repeatedly. In the airline industry, planes are pushed to their limits, far beyond what they will most likely encounter in real life. If they fail the test, they are scrapped. If they pass the test, the are deemed airworthy.

Could those planes get by with easier testing? Perhaps, but the only way you would know is if they failed during regular service after the easier test. You would not want to fly in a plane that couldn't withstand a storm even if you didn't plan on encountering a storm.

So it is with our faith. It is useless unless tested to the limit. Not only is it useless to us as Christians, it is useless to the rest of the world we are called to impact. It was Solomon's relationship with God that was the source of his wisdom and wealth. This is what the Queen of Sheba wanted to test - was this real?

Can my faith withstand hard questions? Do I know why I believe what I believe and can I express that? If you do not test it, you will not know until it fails.