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PART THREE
Tried and Found True 

THIRTEEN
S.I.T.s, M.I.T.s, and D.I.T.s

If you’ve been born again for very long, you’ve probably discovered that becoming a Christian didn’t end all of your problems. In fact, becoming a Christian sometimes creates more problems.

Why do difficulties come? There isn’t one pat answer.

Like Job’s friends, there are always some narrow-minded individuals who claim that all suffering stems from God’s judgment upon individual sin. That kind of uncharitable opinion, however, doesn’t pan out in Scripture. Yes, some suffering comes as a result of God’s judgment upon sin, but not all of it—as in Job’s case for example.

Some suffering comes not as a result of disobedience, but as a result of obedience. This is certainly true of believers who are persecuted for their faith. Satan is obviously the driving force behind those evil people who persecute, torture, and martyr Christians. But why does God allow it?

Again, I realize that some people have claimed that God can’t do anything because Satan possesses Adam’s lease and is the god of this world, and so on. Hopefully, by now, you have seen enough scriptures to disprove that theory.

If God can’t stop the persecution of Christians, then why has He done it on numerous occasions? Why did God allow Stephen and James to be martyred, yet supernaturally released Peter from jail on the eve of his execution?

Beyond these incidents, the Bible is full of stories of God’s wonderful deliverances. We think of that incident recorded in the fifth chapter of Acts when all the apostles were thrown in jail and released by an angel. We think of the time when Paul and Silas were incarcerated and supernaturally released by a God-sent earthquake (see Acts 16:25-27). And what about the deliverance of the three Hebrew children who were thrown into the fiery furnace, and the rescue of Daniel from the lion’s den, or when the whole nation of Jews was saved from annihilation during the time of Esther? Jesus Himself was supernaturally delivered from an early death on several occasions.

Why does God sometimes deliver His own people from persecution and other times not? Why did He allow as many as six million Christians to die for their faith during just the first three centuries of the church’s history? That’s a subject we’ll examine in the final section of this book.

Are there other reasons why difficulties come? Yes, often we suffer because we bring suffering upon ourselves. Our problems are self-inflicted, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. When we eat too much pizza and get sick, we can hardly look for some sinister plot of Satan or some divine purpose from God! 

Three Kinds of Trials 

Every difficulty is unique and must be analyzed by itself. I’ve found at least three major reasons why difficulties come our way, and I’ve categorized them as S.I.T.s, M.I.T.s, and D.I.T.s (pronounced sitz, mitz and ditz).

S.I.T. stands for Self-Inflicted Trial.

M.I.T. stands for Maturing/Testing Intended Trial.

D.I.T. stands for Disciplinary Intended Trial.

Allow me to expand upon all three.

S.I.T.s. (Self-Inflicted Trials) are the trials we bring upon ourselves because of our own stupidity. They serve no real divine purpose except that God allows us to make mistakes in order for us to learn and grow. If God rescued us from every foolish move we made, we’d grow no wiser. Many parents who have never permitted their children to suffer the consequences of foolish actions have learned this truth the hard way. Their children enter into adulthood unprepared, having been bailed out of difficult situations all their childhood lives.

We all know what it is like to go through a S.I.T. Most of us have been through our fair share. The one consolation is that the more S.I.T.s you have gone through the less S.I.T.s you will go through (if you learn from the first ones, that is). As one person put it, “Good judgment is often the result of previous poor judgments.” We could avoid every S.I.T. if we’d always listen to God and follow His wisdom.

M.I.T.s (Maturing/Testing Intended Trials) are those difficulties that God permits to come our way in order to test us or cause us to mature spiritually. We have already considered a number of scriptural examples of M.I.T.s in our study. You will no doubt remember some of the difficulties Israel encountered when wandering in the desert. God’s leading them to the bitter waters would be classified as a M.I.T. The Scripture plainly says that God tested them there.

The case of the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee when the fierce gale arose is another example of a M.I.T. God was giving them an opportunity to exercise their faith. We’ll later examine some M.I.T.s in the lives of well-known Bible characters.

D.I.T.s (Disciplinary Intended Trials) are those difficulties that God permits to come our way because we are in disobedience to His will. Through them, God is trying to arrest our attention in order to bring us to repentance. There are scores of examples of D.I.T.s in the Scriptures, and if you know your Bible, you can immediately think of several.

If you are facing a trial, how can you know if it is a S.I.T., M.I.T., or D.I.T.?

S.I.T.s should always be easy to identify. A S.I.T. occurs when you have done something foolish and find yourself suffering the consequences. What should you do? Repent for being so foolish, and then ask the Lord to help you out of the mess you’ve made as quickly as possible. Trust Him until you experience your deliverance and then thank Him. Stated more simply in four easy steps: (1) Repent, (2) Trust, (3) Thank, and (4) Do not repeat previous mistake!

There is an element of M.I.T.s and D.I.T.s in every S.I.T. In God’s sovereign permissive will, we do grow and mature from suffering a S.I.T., which makes every S.I.T. somewhat like a M.I.T. During a S.I.T., the suffering we endure as a consequence of our foolishness has a disciplining effect on our lives, and is therefore somewhat like a D.I.T.

Maybe your trial cannot be labeled a S.I.T. So either it’s a M.I.T. or D.I.T. The difference between the two is that D.I.T.s come as discipline for sin; M.I.T.s can come even when you are completely obedient to God.

If you find yourself in the midst of a D.I.T., then repent and trust God for deliverance. If you find yourself facing a M.I.T., then you don’t need to repent. Just find one of God’s promises that applies to your particular difficulty and trust Him for help or your deliverance, which will always come if you persevere in faith. 

A King’s Trials 

Let’s look at the life of a man who faced two M.I.T.s and then a D.I.T. His name was Asa, better known as King Asa, once ruler over the nation of Judah.

Asa became king after the death of his father, Abijah, and it is recorded that there was peace during the first ten years of his good rule, something that Judah had not experienced during the corrupt reign of Asa’s father. The Scripture says: 

The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days. And Asa did good and right in the sight of the Lord his God, and he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim [female idols], and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to observe the law and the commandment. He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was undisturbed under him. And he built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the Lord had given him rest. For he said to Judah, ‘Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered (2 Chron. 14:1-7). 

Notice how many times this passage credited God as the One who was responsible for the peace, and that He had given peace because of the obedience of His people. Judah peacefully prospered for ten wonderful years.

That peace was abruptly shattered, however, during the eleventh year. Zerah the Ethiopian, along with an army of one million men equipped with three hundred chariots, invaded Judah’s territory. Rising to meet the challenge, Asa, with his army of 580,000, went out to meet him.

Judah was outnumbered almost two to one, and faced an army that was technologically superior for its day. Imagine the tactical advantage that a man in a chariot has over a man who stands on his feet. And the Ethiopians had three hundred chariots. Unless there was a miracle, Judah was about to lose half a million of its men and be annexed by Ethiopia. 

Believing Brings Blessings 

Before the men of Judah went out to battle, Asa prayed: 

“Lord, there is no one besides Thee to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in Thee, and in Thy name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee” (2 Chron. 14:11, emphasis added). 

God answered Asa’s prayers and the Scripture says:  

The Lord routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled....and so many of the Ethiopians fell that they could not recover, for they were shattered before the Lord, and before His army. And they carried away very much plunder. And they destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the Lord had fallen on them; and they despoiled all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. They also struck down those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels (2 Chron. 14:12-15). 

God was not trying to gain Judah’s repentance by allowing difficulties to come their way, so this trial wasn’t a D.I.T. In addition, the people of Judah had made no foolish mistakes that resulted in an Ethiopian invasion, so this trial wasn’t a S.I.T. This trial that Judah faced was obviously a M.I.T.

Think about this: Couldn’t God have stopped the Ethiopians even before they got out of Ethiopia? Of course He could have, and He could have done it in a thousand ways. So why didn’t He? Because by allowing Ethiopia to invade Judah, an opportunity was provided for the people of Judah to exercise their faith in the Lord. They did, and they were greatly blessed as a result. Without faith it is impossible to please God, but, generally speaking, without trials it is impossible to demonstrate faith.

Only when we maintain a biblical view of God’s sovereignty can we properly understand this story. Note that twice in 2 Chronicles 14:6-7, the affirmation was made that God is the one who gave Judah rest from war for the first ten years of Asa’s reign. If it was God who gave Judah rest for the first ten years, why then didn’t He give Judah rest on the eleventh year? Surely if He did if for ten years, He could have done it for the eleventh. So why didn’t He? It could only be because God wanted to bless His people for their obedience. Interestingly enough, God’s blessing came in the form of an Ethiopian invasion.

God wasn’t permitting Ethiopia to invade Judah to bring disaster to Judah—He was permitting the Ethiopians (who were no doubt deserving of judgment) to invade Judah in order that Judah might be blessed. After the invasion, the people of Judah had more wealth than before the invasion. The Bible says that “the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous” (Prov. 13:22)!⁹ 

Consider it All Joy 

Too often, Christians who are faced with difficulties search in vain for some sin they’ve committed that opened the door to their trial. Trials occur, however, when we are obeying God as well as when we are disobeying God. If we are experiencing a M.I.T. when we think we are experiencing a D.I.T., we may miss out on a blessing from God because all we see is Satan’s attack, rather than God’s sovereign hand of love.

So you lost your job? Rejoice! That means that God must have a better job for you! So you have been hit with sickness? Praise God! Think of how many people with whom you can share the testimony of your healing! People might give their lives to the Lord once they hear about what God has done for you. In addition, other sick people might have their faith encouraged by your testimony and be healed themselves.

Actually, M.I.T.s could also be classified as B.I.T.s, meaning “Blessing Intended Trials.” That is why we should “consider it all joy” (Jas. 1:2) when trials come our way because they are really opportunities for blessings. When we complain or fail to trust God in a M.I.T., as we will soon learn from Asa, we then miss out on the blessings God intends for us to have. 

Back to Asa 

After his first great victory over the Ethiopians, and through the encouragement of Azariah the prophet, Asa instituted even more far-reaching reforms in his nation during the next five years: 

Now when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. And they sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. [The Lord was the Lord of their possessions.] And they entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. Moreover, they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with horns. [When people get serious about serving God, their worship tends to become more enthusiastic.] And all Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the Lord gave them rest on every side (2 Chron. 15:8-15). 

Asa’s sincere dedication to the Lord was further revealed when he removed his own grandmother from her position as “queen mother” because she had “made a horrid image of an Asherah.” The Bible informs us that Asa “cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron” (2 Chron. 15:16). True disciples love their God more than their own relatives.

The final words of this chapter detailing Asa’s reforms are, “And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign” (2 Chron. 15:19). So there were at least twenty-four years of peace after the Ethiopian invasion. 

Asa’s Second Trial 

Notice again that the Lord was given the credit for this period of peace in verse 15, but as verse 19 intimates, another M.I.T. was on the horizon.

This time, Baasha, king of Israel, was preparing to invade Judah. (The kingdom of Israel was divided into “Judah” and “Israel” after the death of Solomon.) This time, however, Asa did not trust the Lord. Instead, he used the silver and gold from the “treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house” to pay Ben-hadad, king of neighboring Syria, to break his covenant with Israel and attack her. Ben-hadad obliged, and as a result, Israel ceased its preparations to invade Judah. That is not the end of the story, however, because God was not pleased. 

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped your hand” (2 Chron. 16:7, emphasis added). 

In other words, God would have defeated both Israel and Syria if Asa had trusted God, but Asa actually paid Syria to deliver Judah from Israel. God was going to cause something bad to work together for good for His people. His intention was that they trust Him and be blessed.

Now think about that. The only reason God permits M.I.T.s to come our way is that ultimately we might be blessed. That is why we should “give thanks in everything” and “rejoice always” (1 Thes. 5:16,18). To those who believe, trials are doors to blessings from God. Now let’s read further what God said to Asa: 

“Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied upon the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the whole earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars” (2 Chron. 16:8-9, emphasis added). 

I don’t know if the future wars that God promised would come as S.I.T.s or M.I.T.s (or possibly even D.I.T.s.). They may have come as S.I.T.s because the nations surrounding Judah would now have the courage to attack her—courage that they never would have gained if Asa had trusted God for a great deliverance. Or, those future invasions may have come as M.I.T.s because, as I have stated previously, if you fail one of God’s tests, you get to take the test over. 

Asa’s Final Trial 

Did Asa repent at God’s rebuke? No, he did the equivalent of someone who beats the newspaper boy because he doesn’t like the headlines. Asa had Hanani the prophet thrown in prison, and “Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time” (2 Chron. 16:10). It’s clear that Asa fell into a backslidden condition.

Of course, his actions didn’t go unnoticed by the Lord. Still, Asa was mercifully given three years to repent. In the thirty-ninth year of Asa’s reign, however, he “became diseased in his feet” (2 Chron. 16:12). Now this was a D.I.T. God permitted Asa to be afflicted in order to bring about his repentance.

Did Asa repent? No, the Scripture says that Asa’s “disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord but the physicians. So Asa slept with his fathers, having died in the forty-first year of his reign” (2 Chron. 16:12-13).

The implication is clear: If Asa had repented at some point during his two years of misery, God would have healed him. Asa’s affliction didn’t soften him, however; it hardened him, and he died before he should have.¹⁰

In review, Asa experienced at least three major trials in his life: two M.I.T.s and one D.I.T. He blew it during the second M.I.T. and got mad at God, which resulted in his D.I.T.

We must not forget that even D.I.T.s are manifestations of God’s love for us. Jesus Himself said in the book of Revelation: “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:19).

I am a father of three children, and I love them very much. When they disobey, I discipline them because I love them. I want them to turn out right so they can have God’s best and be pleasing to Him. God loves us as a Father.

If you find yourself suffering in the midst of a trial, I encourage you to seek God to find out if you are in a S.I.T., M.I.T. or D.I.T. If you need to repent and ask the Lord’s forgiveness, then do it, and trust God for deliverance. If you don’t need to repent of anything, then just start rejoicing, trusting that all things work together for good and that blessings are on their way. God loves His children dearly, and He delights in their faith. 

Footnotes

9. Keep in mind, however, that truly righteous people aren’t greedy, and thus they share their abundance with those who are less fortunate. Back to text.

10. This might give us a clue as to why Satan would “cooperate” with God when God permits him to afflict one of His own in order to bring about his repentance. Satan cooperates because he is hoping that person won’t repent—which is always a possibility. May I also add that this scripture does not teach us that it is wrong to go to a doctor for medical treatment. It does teach us, however, that if we are sick or diseased because of sin, we’d better repent if we want to get better. When that is the case, doctors can’t help. Back to text.