If we have been
in this world for any significant
length of time, we soon learn life is full of trials, temptations, set
backs,
disappointments, frustrations and heartaches. There are also times when
we
experience joy, happiness, peace, fulfillment, contentment and pleasure.
We have no
problem whatsoever enjoying the latter; it
is the former that causes us perhaps to start asking the question, “Why
is this
happening to me?” When we know how God deals with us, then we will know
how to
deal with any of life’s situations, good or bad. We will know if it is
a test
from God to strengthen us or a temptation from Satan to destroy us.
Hebrews
12:7-8 says, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with
sons; for
what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are
without
chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are
illegitimate and
not sons.” Do we really have the faith we need to deal with life as it
comes?
God blesses us
in countless ways daily, and we should
be thanking him daily, realizing all of our sufficiency comes from him.
Sometimes, God also will allow great suffering into our lives in order
to gain
our attention so we can understand what is really important in life.
Sometimes
through a trial of testing, God takes our lives in a direction we may
not
understand or even initially be ready to accept.
So how do we
distinguish between a test to strengthen
and a temptation to destroy? James says it best when he said, “My
brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let
patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking
nothing” (James 1:2-4). Is our faith strong enough to see the
perfecting work
God wants to accomplish through a trial to make us more useful in his
service?
The children of
Israel are one of the strongest
examples in the entire Bible when it came to testing. When God brought
them out
of Egyptian bondage, one of their many complaints was about food being
provided
or what kind they had. Exodus 16:4 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses,
‘Behold,
I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and
gather a
certain quota every day, that I may test
them, whether they will walk in My law or not.’”
The Israelites
got their chance to “pass God’s test” in
verses 16-31 of that chapter. God told them to gather just enough bread
or
manna for each family to be fed daily, and on the sixth day to gather
twice as
much since no bread would be provided on the Sabbath rest. Some of them
received an “A”; others received an “F.” Why was that? Those who
received the
“A” responded in submissive, obedient faith; those who received the “F”
rebelled by disobeying.
Some of them
left part of the bread until morning, and
it bred worms and stunk. They had been told not to do that; they
ignored that
command, and Moses was angry with them. Some went out on the seventh
day
looking for the manna when Moses had already told them to gather twice
the
amount on the sixth day. “Now it happened that some of the people went
out on
the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to
Moses,
‘How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?’” (Exodus
16:27-28).
How many times has God asked us, as it were, that very same penetrating
question? Why do we continue to refuse to seek God’s will, and continue
to
pursue our own will for our lives? It is the
temptation from Satan to destroy us!
When God gave
Moses the Ten Commandments, the people
were literally trembling before him and stood afar off. They told
Moses, “You
speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we
die”
(Exodus 20:19). Moses said to them, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may
be before you, so that you may not sin” (Exodus 20:20). David said it
so
plainly in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I
might not
sin against You.”
As David
instructs the leaders to gather the provisions
for the construction of the Temple, he prays and gives thanks to God
for the
generosity of all the people who offered willingly for that work.
Second
Chronicles 29:9 says, “Then the people rejoiced for they had offered
willingly,
because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the Lord; and
King
David also rejoiced greatly.”
Later in that
chapter, David prays, “O Lord our God,
all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your
holy
name is from Your hand, and is all Your own. I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have
pleasure in uprightness” (2 Chronicles 29:16-17a).
King Hezekiah
was one of the good kings of Judah;
however, he did have his moments of weakness and faltering. Hezekiah
had very
great riches and honor, for God had given him a lot of property, and he
had
prospered in all his works. He made the mistake of showing the princes
of
Babylon all the house of his treasures (2 Kings 20:12-19). When he did
that,
“God withdrew from him, in order to test
him, that He might know all that was in his heart” (2 Chronicles
32:31b).
When we
understand the purpose for God testing us, we
will endure that test by faith, and the only reason we need is
the
knowledge from his Word that he is going to do it! God determines our
worthiness in the kingdom by testing us. Endured trials strengthen;
resisted
trials weaken, and we deny ourselves the spiritual growth and maturity
God
intended. We fail to understand that the trials God allows in our lives
must be if we are ever to reflect the
likeness of Christ!
One of the most
striking examples of our Lord’s testing
was before he died on the cross. “And being in agony, He prayed more
earnestly.
And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the
ground”
(Luke 22:44). None of us can relate or identify with that kind of
stress, trial
or testing! Hebrews 12:3-4 speaks of how Christ endured testing that we
can
never properly envision. “For consider Him who endured such hostility
from
sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your
souls;
you have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.”
When we were in
school and the teacher gave a review
for an upcoming test, some of us would be furiously taking notes and
marking
pages to make sure we reviewed those in order to pass the test. If
someone
asked if a certain section would be covered and the answer was no, we
ignored
it. We virtually all had the same attitude, “If this is not going to be
on the
test, I am not writing it down because there is no reason to remember
it.”
Do we have this
kind of attitude when it comes to the
church? Do we sometimes decide that it really is not necessary to be
actively
involved in the work of the church to our fullest capacity? Do we reach
a point
where we are no longer learning, sharing, growing and working in the
vineyard
of the Lord? As Christians, are we subconsciously asking, “Is this
going to be
on the test?” Beware! This is a temptation from Satan to destroy us!
Yielding
to the temptations, deceptions, compromises and lies from Satan to
disobey God
will ultimately destroy us! We are to fear God and keep his
commandments for
this is our whole duty (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Jesus said, “So
likewise you,
when you have done all things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are
unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” (Luke
17:10). Who
among us has done “all”? Continuing steadfastly in the apostle’s
doctrine is
still on the test! Being faithful until we die is still on the test!
God has got to
know we are ambassadors for his Son, his
personal representatives to the world. He has got to know we can be
counted on
to carry the message of salvation to the world. He has got to know we
can be
counted on to, “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians
6:13).
Paul said, “For
we walk by faith, not by sight” (2
Corinthians 5:7). Knowing this, we must be making those “spiritual
deposits of
faith” in our accounts every day; for as sure as we have been born, God
is
going to test us to prove our genuineness, sincerity, loyalty and trust
in him.
The final
question will be through the testing that God
allows in our lives; did we pass each test? Heaven is a prepared place
for
prepared people. Praise God through all that he allows to happen to us;
he is
preparing us for our heavenly home!
By Marilyn LaStrape