God proves us.

 

186. God proves us: From the writings of God we know that God gives us tests and hardships in order to prove us to see if we truly deserve His bounties and grace. What is not so readily known though, is that God sends us difficulties in order to prepare our souls for a life that is not so earthly and He gives us hardships as bountiful favors to us, and in doing so, He only does what is best for us in the end: Baha’i Faith: “God… does not only punish the wrongdoings of His children. He chastises because He is just, and He chastens because He loves. Having chastened them, He cannot, in His great mercy, leave them to their fate. Indeed, by the very act of chastening them He prepares them for the mission for which He has created them. ‘My calamity is My providence,’ He, by the mouth of Bahá’u’lláh, has assured them, ‘outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy.”’ 

(Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 115) 

 CHRISTIANITY: 1 Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Through hardships God is trying to strengthen our resolve and make our spirits more perfect through the difficulties we face in this life.  Peter 1:7 “The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory.”  Judaism: Deuteronomy 8:2 “And thou shalt remember all the way which The LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no.” “that He might humble thee, and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;” Psalms 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but The LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Psalms 66:10 “For Thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.” (and purified)  Christianity: Hebrews 12:6 “For whom The Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” Hebrews 12:7 “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” Hebrews 12:8 “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” If we put our reliance in God He will help us make it through the hardships we encounter and we will grow even stronger and become more spiritual in the process; preparing our souls for the next life. James 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;” 1:3 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” James 5:10 “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of The Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.” 5:11 “Behold, we count them happy which endure.” Ephesians 3:13 “Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at My tribulations for you, which is your glory.” 2 Thessalonians 1:4 “So that we ourselves glory in you.” Acts 14:22 “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4 “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” 8:8 “I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.”  

 BABI RELIGION: “O peoples of the earth! Verily His Remembrance is come to you from God after an interval during which there were no Messengers, that He may purge and purify you from uncleanliness.” 

          (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 62) 

 Babi Religion: “O YE who are invested with the Bayan! Ye shall be put to proof, even as those unto whom the Qur’án was given.” 

          (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 140)

 ISLAM: Letter 55. “You must know and understand that Allah (God) has made this world a place where one is to stay only to provide for a happy life for himself in the Hereafter by his deeds. People are put to test here so that they may be rewarded according to their merits. Our life does not end here and we are not created only for this world. Nor are we ordered to concentrate our energies only to acquire pleasures, power and pomp here. We are brought here simply to be tested in accordance to our knowledge, intentions and activities.”

          (Islam, Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)

Islam: 155. “Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.” 156. “Who say, when afflicted with calamity: ‘To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.’ 157. “They are those on whom (descend) blessings from Allah, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.” 

          (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   2) 

Islam: 21 “Allah doth purify whom He pleases: and Allah is One Who hears and knows (all things).” 35. “Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial: to Us must ye return.”  

          (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 21 and  24) 

 ZOROASTRIANISM: “An aspirant has to acquire the strength to pass through all trials. The greater the difficulty, the greater is the gain when one overcomes it.” “A staunch devotee welcomes troubles as it makes his spirit stronger.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 362 and 364) 

 Zoroastrianism: Denkard. Zoroaster, “The explicit reason of allowing the opponent to commingle (in this world), therefore is the benefit derived by His own creatures even from undergoing the test (of virtue).” “Test us, by what are your tests in this respect. Whatever Your tests are they are for finding out the strong.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 360)  

 Zoroastrianism: “Evil is not wholly evil. In tackling it the soul acquires moral strength i.e. competence for nearness to God. This is a relieving feature of sin. This Rik gives the reason why Mazda (God) is said to be good in spite of there being evil in the world.” “Even evil operates for the ultimate good.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 120 and 121)

  HINDUISM: “Truth under trials and temptations, their endurance under privations, and their devotion to duty under all vicissitudes of fortune, form the Hindu ideal of a Perfect Life.” “Sorrow wakes our deepest kindness and our holiest feelings prove!” “Repeated trials bring out in brighter relief the unfaltering truth.”

         (Hindu, Ramayana (R. Dutt, abridged tr)) 

 Hinduism: “In thy sorrow, in affliction, ever deeper lessons learn, Righteous be your life in exile, happy be your safe return, May these eyes again behold thee in Hastina’s ancient town, Conqueror of earthly trials, crowned with virtue’s heavenly crown!” 

          (Hindu, Mababharata (R. Dutt, abridged tr)) 

 BUDDHISM: “Patiently one endures wicked and malicious speech, as well as bodily pains, that befall one, though they be piercing, sharp, bitter, unpleasant, disagreeable and dangerous to life.” 

((The Eightfold Path), Buddha, the Word (The Eightfold Path)) 

 Buddhism: 10. “Is there in the world anyone who is so restrained by modesty that they avoid blame like a trained horse avoids the whip? Like a trained horse when touched by a whip, be strenuous and eager, and by faith, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by discernment of the truth you will overcome this great sorrow, perfected in knowledge, behavior, and mindfulness.” 26. “The one I call holy, though having committed no offense, patiently bears reproach, ill-treatment, and imprisonment, has endurance for one’s force and strength.” “The purpose of the Holy Life does not consist in acquiring alms, honor, or fame. That unshakable deliverance of the heart: that, verily, is the object of the Holy Life, that is its essence, that is its goal.”  

          (Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 and 2 (tr. J. Richards)) 

 SABEANISM: “My Lord, High King of Light, Revealer Whose eyes are uncovered, seeking justice And enacting justice for those who love it, Do justice on those who persecute us, Those persecutors who pursue us, And on the wicked and furious ones Who scheme to work evil upon us.”
“If it please Thee, High King of Light, Look on us and condemn us not!”
“Behold these souls who believed in Thee And for Thy name’s sake stood by on earth And were persecuted. Show us pure ether air So that we may forget earthly persecution, That we may forget the persecution of earth And the vexation of the wicked and liars.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 71) 

Sabeanism: “Who establisheth our strength and cutteth us not off From the House of our trust; Who restoreth our souls at the House of Ransom On the Day of Judgement, and perfecteth our souls.” “For my heart hath testified to The First Life and I endure the persecution of the world.”  (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 76 and 77) 

Sabeanism: “He will come and will heal me, Will lift me up, raise me and confirm me Will direct my eyes to the Light, And my feet to steadfastness My mouth to wisdom and my heart to vigilance.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 117) 

Sabeanism: “Behold me, who have sought purification before Thee! Look on me, who have borne persecution for Thy name! End for me acts of violence, for I am Thy servant and Thy child. Now I humble myself and my children to Thy name, for I have been true to thy name, and speak (it) in my heart and talk (of it) in my mind. And I subdue my form and my loins,” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 410) 

BAHA’I FAITH: “Know, moreover, that it is through such words that God proveth His servants and sifteth them, separating the believer from the infidel, the detached from the worldly, the pious from the profligate, the doer of good from the worker of iniquity, and so forth. Thus hath the Dove of holiness proclaimed: ‘Do men think when they say ‘We believe’ they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?”’ 

          (Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries) 

Baha’i Faith: “He doth whatsoever He chooseth. Had the world been of any worth in His sight, He surely would never have allowed His enemies to possess it, even to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. He hath, however, caused you to be entangled with its affairs.” “Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants.” “Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God‘s holy Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and barren soil. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books.” 

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 209 and Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 48 and The Arabic Hidden Words) 

Baha’i Faith: “To the sincere ones, tests are as a gift from God, the Exalted, for a heroic person hasteneth, with the utmost joy and gladness, to the tests of a violent battlefield, but the coward is afraid and trembles and utters moaning and lamentation. Likewise, an expert student prepareth and memorizeth his lessons and exercises with the utmost effort, and in the day of examination he appeareth with infinite joy before the master. Likewise, the pure gold shineth radiantly in the fire of test. Consequently, it is made clear that for holy souls, trials are as the gift of God, the Exalted; but for weak souls they are an unexpected calamity.” “The more often the pure gold is thrown into the furnace of test, the greater will become its purity and brilliancy and it will acquire a new splendor and brightness.” 

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 371 and Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v2, p. 302)