All this week we’re looking at five lessons from the persecuted church regarding how God uses problems and persecutions for our good and His glory. These are lessons that we must teach our kids as they grow up in a youth culture that’s increasingly set against the Gospel and God’s people. Today’s lesson is this: God uses problems and persecution as a means to inspect us. In the first chapter of the book of James, we read this: “Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Paul Estrabrooks from the Open Doors USA ministry to the persecuted church tells us that people are like tea bags. If you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! We need to teach our kids to pay attention to themselves when their faith is being tested with a problem. Our problems pull back the curtain on who we really are. Teach your kids to welcome trials as a way to grow in their faith in Jesus Christ.