Christian Living

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“THIS IS ONLY A TEST”

When I was in school I used to dread unscheduled tests that teachers will pull out without any warning. We usually call them “pop-quizzes”, because they pop out of nowhere. Tests in general, whether it be a pop-quiz, mid-terms, advancement exams are designed for one purpose – to determine information retention and competency. They are given so educators and leaders can decide if someone has understood the material given and is now qualified for the next level – whether it be in education or career promotion.

Life is peppered with such things. They come in the form of challenges and life problems. If you have been alive long enough, you almost come to expect them. They are at every corner, seemingly ready to pounce. Christians are always quick to label them as “tests”. More specifically, tests from God. That somehow, maybe the Almighty is also trying to determine if we are qualified for the next level of whatever it is He has for us, or if we will fail and be deemed unqualified. As if the God of the universe is waiting if we will choose a certain direction to go, which He then rewards or corrects as He sees appropriate.

We have become quick to say to ourselves and others, that same announcement from the Emergency Broadcasting Systems when they are preparing radio and TV for disasters – “This is only a test!” It has become a cliché in Christian homes, schools, church services, Bible study groups. That God is putting us through a test.

I would like for us to think of this concept very carefully. If God knows all – past, present, future- if God knows my heart and my prayers before I utter them, if God knows the desires of my heart, if God knows my inner most thoughts, then why does He need to test me? ( In the context that we understand the word “test”).

In His omniscience, why would there be a need for the Almighty to find out what we will do? Doesn’t the Bible says He already knows what you will do even before you do it? He knows our best and worst, our capabilities and potential, our stretching and breaking points – much more than we even know ourselves. Further, He knows what He can do through us so that Paul’s words are applicable, “…His strength is made perfect in my weakness”. In that sense, even our personal abilities or inabilities means very little if God decides to use us.

What now? Is the Lord then simply testing the heart or intention of man? But the Bible says He knows the heart of man. In fact God rebuked Samuel when the prophet was impressed by David’s oldest brother, Eliab, because of his “qualified” appearance. The Lord told Samuel that “people judge by the outward appearance, God looks as the heart”.
God’s common practice is looking at the heart.

In a short answer, I do not believe that God tests us in the conventional way we understand tests are used for- which is to determine a person’s competence or qualification. Nor do I believe God is waiting for us to act and His decisions are held at a standstill until we make up our minds.
Instead, I believe that the “tests” are used by God to teach rather than to evaluate, since why would He need to evaluate if He already knows us and what we are going to do?

God not only allows us to go through tough circumstances, but I believe sometimes He also causes us to experience such things. It is His will and plan for us to get stretched, hammered, and shaped into people He wants us to be.

Most of the time it is very difficult for us to understand beyond what is in front of our faces. We are often troubled when the purpose of God is unclear or when the present trials feel somewhat unfair or undeserving to our current performance. The concept we understand is “cause and effect”. We understand that “this happened” because something else did prior to it. And, since God designed us to function in that way- He sometimes also communicates in that way.

In fact, the majority of His “curriculum” is based on this teaching method. Our choices have a direct correlation with how God reacts, blesses, corrects, and punishes. If He dealt with us in the same way He sees eternity, we would have no way to connect our present state with our personal choice. Meaning, if God, knowing the future, decides to correct us now for an action we will do later, then there would be no way for us to understand it.

For example, say God knows that no matter what I was going to disobey anyway when it comes to a certain issue, and so decides to punish me for it now. There would be no way for my limited mind to make that connection. So God deals in “cause & effect”, within the context of the present, in order to relate to us and teach us, though He is not limited by it. In fact, it might even be safe to say that with this method He not only teaches us through our circumstances, but it is also for the benefit of others, so that they too will see and understand.

When Abraham was “tested” by the Lord to sacrifice his son, He was not only teaching Abraham, He was teaching us how faith and obedience works, and how God rewards those who believe and obey. It’s safe to say that God knew how it was going to play out, yet why go through with it? Because the lesson to be learned and the illustrations that were to be depicted were too valuable to simply pass over. It had to be taught, in order that Abraham and all future generations would understand the character, power, providence and grace of The Almighty.

So it is true that God tests His people. It’s true that the trials are real and at times searing. It’s true that the Lord provides hope and strength to go through it, and reward for those who remain faithful at the end of it. But let us also remember that an all-powerful, all-knowing God is “seeking to see” not because He doesn’t know yet. Rather let us look to God and understand that He allows such “tests” to enter our lives because He plans to show us something marvelous about Himself in the process. And that very process will be used to move us from glory to glory.

God bless,
March M. Villareal
www.manswicked.com
[email protected]

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