In the tests that God gives us, we receive no grade. We will either pass, or we'll have to keep taking it until we get it right. The good news is that the more challenging the test, the more monumental the reward waiting for us on the other side of it - if we react to it in the right way.
We are often put to our most difficult test just before the greatest work of God in our lives is about to be accomplished. God decides the time, place, and manner of testing.
God puts us through different kinds of tests. But He gives us three major tests that we will all have to take at one time or another.
Test One: God Tests Our Heart
The famous fall that pride always goes before is something God allows in order to purify us from our inclination to be full of ourselves. Just when we have enough arrogance to think we can live one moment without Him, God searches our heart for humility. If found wanting, He allows us to hit rock bottom and gain a new perspective. Looking up. And this is exactly what we need if we've been looking down for too long. God doesn't give this kind of test to torture us. He does it so our hearts can be purified and we can see Him.
Test Two: God Tests Our Faith
One of the most profound times our faith is tested is when we are struggling with out finances. Few things are more upsetting than the prospect of losing your home, not having enough food, or not being able to pay your bills. But learning to walk in the provision God gives us for the day in which we find ourselves opens our eyes to see how we must depend on Him for everything. It forces us to live in God's presence in a deeper way as we look to Him to work daily miracles on our behalf.
When our faith is tested during these times, our response to it is revealing. Do we trust Him to provide, or do we get angry and take it out on others? Do we view this as a time that God wants us to draw closer to Him, or do we see it as the termination of our future? Do we understand that God is testing us in order to prepare us for what He is going to do in our lives, or do we believe He is forsaking us? Will we lose patience in this time, or will we grow in faith? The answers we give to these questions are the keys to passing the test.
Test Three: God Tests Our Obedience
He requires specific things of us and tests us to see if we will do them. If we don't, He doesn't withhold His love, provision, and protection from us. But He wants to bless us in so many more ways, and He can't unless we are completely submitted to Him. None of us want to go through the fire of being tested, but we can eliminate much of our misery by being quick to respond to what God asks us to do.
We're still made of flesh no matter how spiritual we get. We can all be tempted to think, say, or do things that are not right in the sight of God. That's why we must also say, "Lord, have I done anything to cause this?" He will reveal it to you if you have. God doesn't keep our sins secret from us.
Don't fear the time of testing God takes you through. It doesn't have to be miserable. Think of it as a refining that will reveal anything amiss in your life and show you where changes need to be made. The only way God can lead you to where you've never been, and can't get to without Him, is to call you to a new place in your life that requires more purity of heart, more faith, and more obedience than you've ever known. Your reaction during this period will be revealing. Will you love Him above all else? Will you believe He is who He says He is and trust Him to provide for your needs? Will you do what He tells you to do? If you are fearful and bitter during the process, you delay the blessings God is waiting to rain on you.
Walking with just enough light for the step you're on in a time of testing is God's way of preparing you for the great things He has ahead. Ask Him to help you learn your lesson well.
It's not where we are in life that matters, but Who is with us.
The wilderness is where we are forced to leave behind the familiar, the comfortable, the past successes, the accomplishments, and the old bag of tricks that always worked before. He wants to separate us from all that we crave, so that all we crave is Him. He wants to get the lust for certain comforts out of our appetities too. It's not that He doesn't want us to ever be comfortable. It's just that He doesn't want us to depend on the comfortable. He wants us to depend on Him. He doesn't want us to love the comforts more than we love Him. When God aims us in a new direction, we have to let go of what we've known, be willing to embrace the unfamiliar, and trust that He will sustain us on the journey.
We need to be walking so close to the Lord that we hear His voice in the midst of any upheaval in our lives. We have to trust Him so thoroughly that we will follow Him wherever He leads us. We must walk perfectly within the revealed light God has given us, not running ahead, not hanging behind, not striving to go somewhere else.
The reason God takes us through these wilderness times is because He wants us to learn a walk of faith whereby we trust Him for every step. We recognize that the wilderness is a place where God calls us to forsake what's comfortable and move into the unknown so He can guide us where we need to go.
We, too, have to daily gather the manna God has for us. We have to seek God's presence and find the strength, joy, peace, and rest that nourishes and feeds our souls. We have to understand that in a place where there appears to be nothing, God will provide everything we need. The knowledge that all this is there for us in the wilderness is liberating. It frees us from having to be discontent. It frees us from striving to get out of the wilderness before it's time to leave. It frees us from trying to make things different than they are. It liberates us to allow God to do a new thing in us as He wills.
He wants your attention, your trust, your mind, your soul, your body, and your obedience. In a word, he wants you. Don't deny Him that pleasure.
When travelling in the wilderness, learn to seek the abundance of the moment. Ask God to open your eyes to all the blessings He has for you there. As you see each one, let them become a refreshing spring. Soak them into the dry pores of your soul, drink them into the parched areas of your spirit, praise Him for every one, and feel that solid ground at the center of His will.
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