I have a cold. Again. It seems that every time I babysit my grandchildren, I catch a cold. Does that mean I avoid my grandchildren? Heavens, no! What it means is that I need to build up an immunity to the germs that inevitably swirl around a school or daycare. And so it is with trials. We want to avoid every trial because, let’s face it, they’re not any fun.

But if we did that, we’d lose out on the blessings that come after. If I didn’t have time with my grandkids, I might not catch as many colds, but I would miss getting to know their fun little personalities and their precious hearts. That Is Not Going to Happen.

Trials are not from God, just as colds are not from God, but he can use them to teach us something. We need to build our faith to the point that when those pesky little germy trials come our way, we don’t even notice. Our immunity to them is so strong that the fiery darts of the enemy bounce off, not even leaving a mark.

Satan uses the things that bug us the most to get under our skin. He tries to bypass our faith and go straight for the heart. And when he gets through, it hurts. That’s why we have the armor of God. We have the breastplate of righteousness to protect our heart. Not our righteousness, which is flimsy and full of holes, but God’s righteousness gifted to us when we accept His Son. When we wear that breastplate, the devil can’t find the tiniest weakness to exploit.

Trials, like germs, are a part of life. But reading the word, trusting in God’s goodness and plan for our lives, and talking to him are the vitamins we need to build our immunity. Let’s take our vitamins every day and see what happens.