Facing the tests of life During the course of our lives we face many and varied tests and trials. Just like the tests we wrote at school, we also have to write and pass spiritual tests. Times of trial and testing can be challenging, especially if we lose our job, or are retrenched or we face financial difficulties or family crisis. Sometimes we may wish that we could escape from the test or bypass it. Unless we pass the test before us and achieve spiritual victory over the situation, we will end up going around and around the same mountain. However, once we do pass the test, we are free to move on. Tests come in different forms and through different people. Our response to the tests and challenges in our lives can either bring us closer to God and more surrendered unto Him, or we can allow them to become estranged from God until we may eventually wind up in a dry, weary, lonesome place where we blame God and/or others for what happened to us. 1. TESTS, TRIALS & REFINEMENTS ARE A PART OF LIFE However much we would prefer just to sail through life, the truth is that tests and trials are a part of life. They are inevitably part of the different phases of life, and are to be expected. It is not possible to evade them; they will come in one form or another. The tests I need to pass will, in all likelihood, be different from those you need to face. But, just as it is impossible to take a bath without getting wet, it is impossible to pass through life without facing trials. The question is: How should we respond? James 1:2-4 says: 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. The word ‘trial’ can mean a time of testing, being tried, temptation, calamity or demonic affliction. Tests and trials strengthen us spiritually if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. It teaches us, like Jesus, to live dependant on the Father. 2. TESTS ARE ONGOING It would be wonderful if we could all ‘arrive’ at some stage! Although different seasons in our lives bring different challenges, they all eventually pass. As we grow older, we often find ourselves in a new season. When we then look back at the challenges of the past, we can see how much we have grown. These former challenges seem smaller to us now, perhaps even insignificant. As seasons pass or change in our lives, new challenges or trials will come. We never ‘arrive’, as there is always something new we must learn, because of new challenges and problems arising from ordinary life. 3. FIVE DIFFERENT TESTS WE FACE A. The wilderness test Moses faced this: He spent 40 years of his life wandering in the wilderness while God planned great things for him. The wilderness test is a test of time. Sometimes nothing seems to change and breakthroughs never seem to come. It feels as if you are wandering aimlessly, waiting for something that seems impossible or highly unlikely to happen. But God never forgot Moses, and eventually he was called out of the wilderness by God to deliver His people from captivity. During the wilderness test we can get discouraged and feel like giving up. Don’t! Keep on doing the right thing. Consider Abraham: He didn’t wait, he took matters into his own hands and the disastrous results are reverberating to this day. B. The failure test David faced this: Although he had come through some great trials, including conquering Goliath, a bear and a lion, sinned with Bathsheba. It was the lowest point of his life. The failure test is a test of perseverance. When we are facing a failure test, nothing works, everything we put our hand to falls apart. You say to yourself, ‘Nothing I do ever works!’ ‘I had better not try because in all likelihood I will fail!’ Your heart is caught in frustration and hopelessness. The key is always to remain steadfast, giving your life over to God again and again, and to go forward, step by step. God tests all of us, but there is an end to every test or trial. C. The betrayal test Joseph faced this: He had a great future before him as God had given him dreams and shown him visions of what lay ahead for him. He was destined for greatness and he was his father’s favourite. Then, everything went wrong. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, then his employer’s wife, and later by his fellow inmates. But no matter who betrayed him, God remained the same, and His plan for Joseph remained unchanged. We will all face betrayal at some stage in our lives, and it is not an easy test to get through. The betrayal test is a test of purity of heart. Betrayal may result from a misunderstanding or from the malicious actions of others. Such tests may result in people becoming bitter and suffer from hardness of heart will destroy us. The key to passing this test is to keep your heart tender. Remember this test too will pass. In the end, Joseph was able to say to his brothers: But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Genesis 50:20). Guard your heart in such times. D. The obedience test Jesus faced this. In the garden of Gethsemane, shortly before He was crucified, Jesus prayed to His Father and asked Him to remove the ‘cup of suffering’ that was before Him. It is never wrong to put your requests before God, but like Jesus, we must be prepared to obey God when He answers. We must be able to say: ‘Not my will, but Yours be done!’ The test is a test of obedience. Will I sacrifice what I want in favour of what God wants? The result of Jesus passing this test was that the world was saved. Imagine what the result of passing our test could be! As we obey and serve Him and His purposes, our lives have meaning beyond what we could pray or think. E. The test of success Derek Prince believed that the biggest (and often the last) test in our lives is that of success. When we suffer hardship, we seek the Lord and realises our dependence upon the Lord. But, when we experience success, it is easy to believe that we are doing it ourselves, and our realisation of dependence upon the Lord fades. This is a test of integrity. Almost all the kings to whom God granted success in the Old Testament failed. Think about Asa, Ussiah and Hezekiah. When you experience success, it is a time more than any other to watch and pray focussed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. (Mark 13:32; Hebrews 12:2). 4. THE FRUIT OF THE TESTS WE PASS Passing these tests helps us to get rid of things that shouldn’t be in our lives. It changes our lives to become more productive and fruitful. Tests bring about change which can influence the world around us positively. It creates space in our hearts for the Holy Spirit to work through us. It is through testing that we can begin to grasp something that we hitherto had no knowledge of. We begin to see things from God’s perspective; we learn to apply God’s principles in our hearts and lives; and we are refined as we rid ourselves of what does not please Him. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire... as a refiner and a purifier of silver; ... that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:2-3). Original article by Andrew W Roebert. Notes shortened, added and adapted. alivetogod
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:19:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015