I’m challenged by this quote from Rick Warren: “God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality!”
In school, your teacher had to test you to see if you knew the material. She probably didn’t want to give you the test, but she had to. It would be unkind of her to promote you to the next level of learning if you weren’t prepared for it.
God does the same thing. He tests us on what we’ve learned in order to take us to the next level of fruitfulness. Many times these tests tempt us, as Rick Warren said, to do the opposite of what we’ve learned. But if we don’t pass the test, God cannot promote us.
As the Israelites began their journey out of Egypt, twice in the first few days of their freedom the Bible says God tested them.
- God tested their thirst to see if they would trust Him to provide.
- God tested their hunger to see if they would still trust Him even after they were full.
God loves you so much that He wants to keep promoting you. He wants to see more and more fruitfulness coming from your life. That means He has to keep preparing you for the next test, and then administering that test. Don’t run away from His testing.
Right now you are in one of three places:
- The Holy Spirit is preparing you for a test;
- God is giving you a test; or
- You just completed a test.
Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, your Divine Tutor. He will remind you of everything you have learned and help you ace that test!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to studying for my next test…
Craig T. Owens 
April 1, 2010 at 11:07 am
Great! I think GOD is testing me now. Thanks for making me stronger.
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April 1, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Thank you these words of encouragement.
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April 1, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I’m in a big storm and I do feel god is testing me. But sometimes I feel like giving up, I try and try pray and pray but I see no improvement what if the storm doesn’t go our way what then. Thanks Felix
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April 1, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Felix,
Believe me when I say, “I’ve been there, done that.” One test I was in lasted for so long, I almost thought God had abandoned me. I’d be happy to pray with you. I’ll send you my direct email and we can talk more.
In the meantime, there were two books I read in the midst of my storm that were of immense help to me. Baffled To Fight Better by Oswald Chambers, and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis. Here are a couple of quotes I hung onto –
God doesn’t mind your questions during this time of testing. Hold on… He is preparing you for something greater!
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March 20, 2012 at 12:51 pm
im going through this now
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March 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Hang in there! God wants you to “graduate” to the next level He has for you, so He will help you pass with flying colors… if you will let Him help you.
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March 20, 2012 at 1:06 pm
your right i have been slacking
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April 1, 2010 at 5:27 pm
This was Great!! I definitely needed this as I’m enduring this test God has called me to!!! I know he will sustain me though it all!!!
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April 1, 2010 at 5:58 pm
I dont think God is testing me in this divorce but i am having to grow as a christian. It is hard when i get kicked and go down and i dont see light for so long. But God will provide for me he is faithful.
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April 1, 2010 at 7:36 pm
I feel that god is testing my faith everyday. My relatioship with my significant other has been ruined, but now he is walking in the faith of the lord and wants to marry me. I don’t know what to do, because I can’t stop living in the past. I need help!
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April 1, 2010 at 10:15 pm
This is really helpful. I think the Lord is testing me right now on trusting him. And sometimes its reaaly hard. But I know he’ll get me through this no matter how long it takes. Please just pray 4 me.
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April 1, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Your words are very helpful. At times I feel like I can’t sustain a test, almost like its too big for me. I’m in the middle of one now and you have been great help.
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April 2, 2010 at 1:18 am
And what happens when you think you have failed a test god set you?
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April 2, 2010 at 7:17 am
Graham,
One of the greatest things I have learned is that when I fail a test, God always gives me a chance to try it again. The Bible is filled with examples of those people who were given a test, failed it, and then were given an opportunity to re-test. A prime example from this time of year we are celebrating right now is Peter’s denial of Jesus. Three times Peter was given the test of acknowleding his relationship with Jesus, and three times he failed. Yet when Jesus saw Peter again, three times Jesus allowed Peter to make up for his failure, and all three times Peter passed.
But beyond these biblical examples, I can speak from firsthand experience. I’ve failed many tests, and I have seen the same test come around again. I can relate with Thomas Edison, the great inventor, who said, “I’ve had lots of success with failure.”
Graham, if you feel like you’ve failed a God-given test, get ready for God’s second chance. You are not a failure, you are not on the “outs” with God. He loves you too much to leave you where you are… He is going to give you another chance!
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April 2, 2010 at 8:28 am
So good!!! Makes me think about the item deeper. Blessings
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April 3, 2010 at 8:14 am
Thanks.am strong now.
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April 3, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Since God has created me, He should know my limits or levels too. Why is it that I am tempted very often to take my own life? Whether this is a test of God or Satan, shouldn’t God help me be stronger? If I fail, then I will end up in hell. Or will I be given a second chance? I don’t think that’s possible since committing suicide is the one sin God doesn’t forgive.
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April 3, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Carolina,
God is for life; satan is the one who wants to kill and destory. Be assured that this test is not from God.
I don’t believe that suicide is the one sin that God doesn’t forgive. I know it’s tempting to think this way because you don’t have a chance to ask forgiveness. But it’s a misnomer to think that every person is sin-free at the moment they take their last breath. I’m going to email you directly so that we can talk about this more.
Hang in there! God wants to help you overcome this this.
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April 5, 2010 at 11:09 pm
My wife at the time committed adultery.I have kids and pay her.Why is it that I struggle everyday money wise and she doesn’t and she was at fault.Everything goes her way except mine. Is it because she lives in the world and I live in a christian world,I just don’t understand,am I bein punished.I’m also fighting for custody because of her negelect going on 2 yrs.So is that my trial ,thanks Felix
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August 1, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I want to believe I am being tested. At least that way all that I have felt and endured for so long will not seem in vain. But my weariness is taking over and though my faith is strong, I find myself angered at God because Ive remained sad for so long, after much prayer and attempts to start again, yet people that are self serving and deceitful have everything they seek. Im beaten down now. Since last year Ive lost the man I love to someone else, I then lost a dear friend to cancer, then I lost my job, lost my self esteem, lost my ability to rationalize my thoughts, Ive lost my direction, and now Im losing my will and possibly my mind.
I am not giving up on my faith, but because I so believe that God is in control, I am now angry with Him. I never doubt His existance, but I am angry. It is draining my and I feel I am in a state of dillusion or in a state of sheer haze. I simply dont know what to do next and dont have the energy if I were told.
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August 1, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Maria, I so feel your frustration and weariness. I’ve been there: feeling like I was taking it from every side, and watching those who have blasphemed God seemingly get off scot-free. It’s so frustrating! Here’s all I focused on when I was where you are: just get through today. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us THIS DAY our daily bread.” The psalmist reminds us that God’s mercies are new EVERY MORNING. And the words of an old hymn ring out, “Strength for TODAY and a bright hope for tomorrow.” Just hold on. Trust the words of someone who’s Bern there, done that, and has the (mostly) healed wounds to prove it. Keep your faith alive… hold on for today.
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August 1, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Thank you so much for your words. And also thank you for immediately being there to offer your support. It does “refuel the ol tank”, so to speak. I will hold on. I have to. I will continue to pray for guidance and I will also thank God for people like you. God bless your good heart.
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November 8, 2010 at 1:20 am
I came across this website after putting in failing God’s test…. which was what I just did. I struggle with pornography addiction. I was tempted today on 3 different occasions, yet I fell at every single one of them. So many times I feel I am free, I can go weeks, maybe even a month or so at a time of being free, but I am always pulled back.
What makes it worse was that before I fell I even thought to myself, “Is this worth it Jeff? Is this worth your spiritual life?” And after i thought that… i still gave in. I feel pathetic. I know God forgives always, but at times I wonder even though I have accepted Jesus into my life, am I still saved despite these habitual falls? Will God bring His Holy Spirit back in to my life?
lemme know what you think please 😦
God Bless~
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November 8, 2010 at 11:47 am
Jeffrey,
Thanks for your transparency with your challenges.
The first thing I’d say to you is this: You’re not alone. Your struggle is not unique to you. I’d suggest that you find a friend to help you through this battle. You can install a monitoring software on your computer (I use X3 Watch) to have an accountability friend call you out on inappropriate websites that you visit. Just knowing that someone is going to see what you saw can be a pretty strong deterrent.
Second: You cannot overcome this problem by sheer willpower. But, again, you’re not alone… because none of us can. I think one of the most powerful prayers in the Bible is simply, “Help!” It’s an acknowledgment that you are in over your head, and you need God’s Spirit to empower you. Willpower doesn’t work; Spirit power does.
Third: God does not condemn you. Your sin does not cancel, or even diminish in the slightest iota, God’s love for you. In Romans 7 you can read Paul’s struggle: he, too, knows what is right and wrong and resolves not to do the wrong, yet does the wrong time and time again. But Romans 8 opens up with, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Later on in Romans 8 Paul says there is nothing that can separate you from God’s love. In fact, Paul further states that even your mess-ups God is using to accomplish what He wants to do with you. The enemy of your soul wants to condemn you, and tell you to just give up or give in. Tell that voice in head, “You are a liar!” The Holy Spirit will convict us – tell us what needs to be repented of – but He never, ever condemns us.
Fourth: Make it a habit to pray in your “free times.” You said there are times that you are free from the pull of pornography. During those times, pray like you are not free. In the times of struggle, we will revert to what we habitually do. So make prayer a habit now, then it will be a lot easier to pray in the heat of temptation.
I believe that if you arm yourself with biblical truths about your situation, you enlist a friend to help you, and you make prayer a habit, you can begin to defeat this temptation. Eventually you are going to be able to be that accountability partner to someone else who is going through the same struggles.
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November 9, 2010 at 12:47 am
Thank you for those words of wisdom. I already have some block programs such as safeeyes installed. I will keep praying for freedom and repentance. And I will keep praying God will give me a burning desire to meditate on Him and His word :]
God Bless!
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September 8, 2011 at 2:13 am
as a nursing student I can say that this year I have definitely been tested to the point of exhaustion and every night I’ve asked, “why God? Why me? Have I done something wrong?”. I feverishly read through my Bible searching for a reason as to why I was being “punished” and decided to google “why is God testing me?”— and now I know it’s not a punishment at all… I realized that throughout nursing school I had quit searching for the fruits of the Spirit and lost my way spiritually. So thank you for this blog and for allowing God to use you in such a way that it helped an exhausted, overly-stressed, and spiritually-lost nursing student. God bless you.
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March 20, 2012 at 1:04 pm
this is great it thought i was the only one that is being tested people around me think im nuts
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March 20, 2012 at 1:06 pm
You’re not nuts… you’re a real person interacting with a real God! If you’d like me to pray with you that you can pass this test, please let me know.
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