Why does God test us?
Set your heart and mind on things above.
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the
heart.
On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be
entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.
In both the Old and New Testaments, the words translated “test” mean to prove by trial.
Therefore, when God tests His children, the purpose is to prove that our faith is real.
It starts at conversion. God chooses us at a time when it is difficult to become a
Christian, we all have a “hump” that tests our hearts to see if we will love anything more
than God.
After our conversion, the tests do not go away, they just differ.
POINT 1: God sends tests to mature us.
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
What does an immature Christian do?
- Inconsistent in relationship with God
- Undisciplined with money
- Moody, unable to control their emotions
- Easily hurt because they still view things from their point of view not Gods
What does an immature husband or wife do?
- Snaps back
- Only give when given to
- Focuses on partners sin not their own
- Pulls back their heart
- Seeks to please self not partner above self
What does an immature leader do?
- Gets upset when people don’t obey him or her
- Focuses on immediate results not long term
- Focuses on baptisms only as opposed to building people’s lives
What does it mean to be spiritually mature?
- Focus on God not man
- Is willing to sacrifice self, own dreams, wishes, emotion for the sake of others and the kingdom
- No longer holds on to the here and now
- Nailed down own relationship with God without accountability
POINT 2: God allows Satan to test our love for him
6One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also
came with them. 7The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” 8Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 9“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 12The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. 13One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 16While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 17While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 18While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and
daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 20At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
The account of Job is a perfect example of God allowing one of His saints to be tested by the devil. Job bore all his trials patiently and “did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22). However, the account of Job’s testing is proof that Satan’s ability to tempt us is limited by God’s sovereign control. No demon can test or afflict us with beyond what God has ordained for His perfect purpose and our benefit.
He will let you be taken to the point of testing where your only way out is to turn to God,
get deep and close to him, reason with him about his love for you and make a decision
that the only thing that is important to you is HIS love, friendship, your relationship with
him.
Not his love plus money
Not his love plus success in the ministry or career
Not his love plus security
Not his love and popularity
Not his love and a great church, great friendships or love from others
Not his love and a great marriage
Not his love and your kids doing well
How greedy is the man for whom God is not enough?
God wants you to fall head over heels in love with him and only him, in order to do that
he will, and must at many points in your life strip you of anything you love more than him.
My examples:
Most comforting of all, we know that God will never allow us to be tested beyond what
we are able to handle and in all things, will provide a way out of the test.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And
God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you
are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
This does not mean He will remove the trial from us. Why would He when He says trials
are for our benefit? Rather, the “way out” is the way through. the trial, with Him ever
faithful by our side, until we come out on the other side of it by His grace and power,
stronger and more mature Christians.
POINT 3: Getting to a point where you love testing
David sought testing
1Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 2Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; 3for
your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.
23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Why? Are you crazy?
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
David’s life was that of:
- Being a nobody and being close to God
- Being a somebody after he killed Goliath, “Saul has killed his thousands, David has killed his tens of thousands” in his environment all the sin of your heart is exposed. This does not just apply to people in the ministry, you become someone at university, at work, in the church, in your social group. It is all revealed the moment God takes you out of this environment to see if God is still your first and only love.
- David’s third part of his life was being chased and hounded by those things he held precious to him, those people he put his faith in, his king, his family, his friends, his disciples, his victories etc.
- He got back to just him and God again, where he wrote some of his greatest psalms
- He waited patiently and in godly fashion to become king, owning Gods dream for his life, being brought about Gods way.
- He became King and through ingratitude and greed allowed the sin of entitlement to ravage his heart, which led him to losing his son, his kingdom and friends
- He was left incapable of achieving anything, too frail to go to war and all he had left was his relationship with God.
I believe when David wrote these psalms he was at a spiritual point, the point of
knowing that times of trial are times of closeness with God, times where you experience
a taste of heaven, if you are spiritual.
1When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.” 3Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.
Israel was near the end of the golden years of David’s reign. The book of 1 Kings begins
with a unified kingdom, glorious and God-centered; it ends with a divided kingdom,
degraded and idolatrous. The reason for Israel’s decline appears simple to us—they
failed to obey God. But we are vulnerable to the same forces that brought about Israel’s
decay—greed, jealousy, lust for power, weakening of marriage vows, and superficiality
in our devotion to God. As we read about these tragic events in Israel’s history, we must
see ourselves in the mirror of their experiences.
1When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. 2“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13“Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Times where you see God clearly, and when you see God clearly you also see who God
wants you to be clearly.
Then and only then do you humbly submit your will to Gods will.
What is God calling you to be?
What does God want you to change right now, what part of your character is he
trying to remold?
God holds back the blessings to grow your character, make you have a higher work
ethic, a better prayer life, a more Christ-like character, is he training you to be successful
for this month or to have a character that can be successful for the next 20, 40, 60
years.
God builds deep, He spent years preparing the earth before he put man on it,
Put resources in it that man will use thousands of years in the future.
Tests, good or bad.
They come again and again.
Will you pass them?