Tim Chester on how suffering reveals our hearts

If you saw me in the study at 7.30 in the morning reading my Bible or praying, you might think me the most godly of men. There I am: calm, peaceful, trusting. But observe me half an hour later as I attempt to marshal my daughters out of the door for school and you’d see a man who’s far from godly. I used to think of myself as that calm, gentle person – the 7.30 me – and concluded I was pretty godly! If I’m provoked to sin, then the problem must be whatever provoked me. But I’ve come to realize that the real me is the 8.00 me – the person revealed when the sinful desires of my heart are exposed by trying circumstances and annoying people. The real me is revealed when I’m too tired to keep up the pretence.

Tim Chester You Can Change 75-76

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