There are some of your graces which would never be discovered if it were not for your trials. – Charles Spurgeon

The longest five seconds can be waiting for the skip button to appear on a YouTube video. When it comes to live television, DVR recordings made it possible to skip the commercials without little effort. Many streaming services offer the ability to pay extra each month to avoid being inundated with ads. Yet for at least one day a year, people can’t wait to cozy up on the couch and watch the commercials…during the Super Bowl. It can be a nice sideshow to the big game. For others, it’s the main event.

Do you look forward to the commercials in the Super Bowl? Some of them have been very memorable. One of the most creative and innovative has to have been the Oreo commercial of 2013. 

There was a blackout in the Superdome in New Orleans during the game. During the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII a power outage caused some of the lights to go out for 34 minutes. When that happened, the sandwich cookie’s social media team jumped on the problem. 

With the stadium in near darkness, the cookie giant sent out a tweet that showed the power of mastering social media. Power out? No problem, it read, along with a hastily put-together image of an ad showing an Oreo with the terrific tag line, You can still dunk in the dark. The tweet caught fire, getting over 15,000 retweets and more than 20,000 likes on Facebook. 

How did the cookie company act so fast and get so many talking – all  with minimal time available, and negligible expense? It was the very quick thinking of the company’s ad agency, 360i. They were prepared. 

“We had a mission control set up at our office with the brand and 360i, and when the blackout happened, the team looked at it as an opportunity,” agency president Sarah Hofstetter told BuzzFeed. “Because the brand team was there, it was easy to get approvals and get it up in minutes.”

When something went wrong, Oreo was ready. Are you? Am I? Though all of us know that trials are inevitable, we’re still surprised and caught off guard. As Bible-believers in a sin contaminated world, we shouldn’t be. The Bible warns us that trials are coming. Jesus said, In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials (John 16:33). 

This is a fallen world filled with pain from inconveniences to horrible tragedies. To expect a life without trials is as foolish as thinking that you can live in Wisconsin, and it will never get cold or snow. 

Now I’m not suggesting we look for trials or enjoy them. The only ones who love trials are masochists. We can though take a page from the Oreo Company’s playbook and Be Prepared. How can we be ready for things to go wrong? The Bible’s approach to trials is nothing short of radical. James 1:2-4, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Trials aren’t accidents or “bad luck.” In the hands of our Heavenly Father, they’re purposeful. As a blackout was for the Oreo Company, trials are an opportunity. 

What are the opportunities for? 

Trials are an opportunity to pray. Have you ever noticed that we pray when we’re needy? Satan wants us to believe that we’re independent and have it all together. None of us do. Trials rattle us out of our complacency. When things are rocking along with no upsets or obstacles, we tend to be prayerless. Let a crisis hit and we’re calling Heaven’s 9-1-1. Like little children with nowhere to turn, when a trial hits, we run to our Father. 

Trials are an opportunity to grow. We like to be comfortable. Without trials we wouldn’t grow or change. The Christian life is a journey, not a stop. It’s not a trip like jumping on a jet for an easy flight. It’s a journey of countless steps, obstacles and roadblocks. It’s true that sometimes we fly on eagle’s wings or run but most of the Christian life is one step after another (Isaiah 40:31). 

Trials help us grow in patience. When we have to wait, we learn to trust that God is in control even when we can’t see it. Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit that we need to grow in.

Trials help us grow in perseverance. Nothing great can happen if we easily quit. Yet, that’s one of the first temptations when we’re walking through tough times. For example, every couple with a healthy marriage has persevered through tough times. The difficulties have drawn them closer together instead of being wedges to drive them apart. The same is true spiritually. As we trust the Father and persevere, it helps us know Him better and know His heart, which increases our faith. 

Trials are an opportunity to discard excess baggage. They help us evaluate what’s truly important from what’s trivial. For example, little inconveniences at work that can easily get blown out or proportion become insignificant if you need a job or are struggling to keep food on the table. The petty things that can annoy us in a marriage are quickly forgotten if our spouse is in ICU or receives a diagnosis of cancer. Trials help us refocus on what’s vital. 

Trials are an opportunity to learn how to comfort others. A divorce or loss of a spouse can seem like the end of the world. Once someone has walked through it and seen the power of God and His sustaining grace even through the darkest times, they’re better able to comfort someone who has just encountered it. 

Trials are an opportunity to make our hearts long for Home. The Father doesn’t want us to be satisfied with this world. The struggles and pain urge us to look for something better. For those who have committed their lives to Christ, it is so far greater that it’s beyond words. I know that every time that I lose a friend or loved one who knows Jesus, it makes me long for that coming future reunion. It’s not a “I hope so.” It’s a “I know so” for all those who know Christ as their personal Savior. 

So, the next time you dunk an Oreo in milk, remember that whatever this life dishes out, it truly is all sweetness for the child of God because we know the Father who loves us and has it all under control!