The Test You Keep Taking
“For our righteous God tests the hearts and minds.” Psalm 7:9
In school, Fridays are always test days. You knew the test was coming. You prepared for the test all week. For those of us who are rule followers, we were prepared for the test on Friday. For you rule-breakers, you crammed for the test on Friday morning on the way to school. Either way, you knew the test would come on Friday.God’s tests, however, don’t come on a scheduled day of the week. You actually have no idea when the test will come. More often than not, you don’t even realize you’re being tested until you are in the middle of the test; Even worse, after you are on the other side of it, you look back to see that it was indeed a test. One of two things happens: By the grace of God, you passed the test by the skin of your teeth, or you failed it miserably, wishing you had another chance at that test.Good news. You will have another chance. Unlike our tests at school, if you fail the test God has placed before you, you won’t move on to the next test. That same test stays before you until you pass it. It’s the “ways and character” of God. God loves you enough that He gives you as many chances as you choose to pass the test. The testing of our hearts can be painful, though, and show us a brutally honest reflection of our hearts but Psalm 7 makes it very clear: God will indeed test our hearts and minds.God doesn’t test our hearts for Him to see what is in our hearts; He tests us, for US to see what is really inside our own hearts. It’s amazing what can be in our hearts that will come out during a test that we didn’t even realize was there, but God did. And He needs us to see it too.In school, tests are given to see if you’ve learned the lessons taught by the teacher. God’s tests are given to see if you’ve learned the lessons He has been teaching you during that season.The teacher is always quiet during the test; he/she has done their job and the test on Friday will prove whether or not you’ve learned the lesson. It's the same with God. When walking through a test in your life, it can seem as if God is far away, but He’s not. He is very close but very quiet as you take the test He has laid out before you.A test is never for punishment. If you find yourself facing a test in your life, it’s never as a punishment for something you did wrong. In fact, it’s just the opposite. God is testing your heart to see what you learned through the season or circumstance you’ve walked through. It’s actually an opportunity to see what you’ve done right or an opportunity for you to do it right this time.If you find yourself facing the same test in your life over and over again, you must ask yourself this question:
What is the lesson I need to learn from this? Or what is God saying to me through this, so that I can pass this test and move on?
God is very patient with us in our times of testing. He’s not mad at you because you haven’t learned the lesson. He is committed to you and loves you enough to not allow you to move on to the next season, without learning all the lessons that He’s trying to teach you in THIS season. Don’t despise the testing of your heart. Don’t despise God’s season of testing for you. God needs you to see what’s really inside your own heart so that you can address the issue, ask forgiveness for the sin that might be there, and eventually pass the test that He’s laid out before you.The test might not happen on a Friday.It might come when you least expect it.God’s tests are coming to you, though, I promise you that. Embrace the testing of God, knowing that He desires for you to pass that test by teaching you some valuable, life-changing lessons along the way.