Does God Test Us?

          No one likes to go through trials and tribulations! Some of them we bring on ourselves, others come through no fault of our own, but regardless of the source, trials have a way of bringing out who we really are and show us a lot about ourselves. The mask comes off!
          God has used trials to test most, if not all, of the people we read about in the bible. For example, Abraham was tested when asked to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus, God's only Son. (Heb.11:17) Job was sorely tested and came through with quite a testimony! Joseph was tested when he was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. (Ps. 105:17-19) The children of Israel were tested in the wilderness for forty years. (Deut. 8:2) By the way, the number of testing in the bible is forty. After Jesus was baptized by John, he went into the wilderness for forty days where He was tested and tempted. Even though He was the perfect Son of God, He, too, had to be tested. (Isaiah 28:16) In fact, His whole life here on this Earth was a test. Thankfully, He passed the test so that He could become our great High Priest. "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation..." Hebrews 5:7-9 If even our Lord Jesus had to be tested, should we think that we should not have to be?
          Does God test us to see what we will do in the test? I seriously doubt that, since He already knows exactly what we will do in the test. He knows the end from the beginning! (Isaiah 46:9-10) He is omniscient God! No, I believe He tests us so that we will know where we stand with our faith, and it also serves as a witness to the world when and if we stand up under trials.
          James says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James1:2-4
         I am going through a test right now, as you know if you read my previous post. It is not the first time God has tested me, and it probably won't be the last, but it is in the times of testing that we learn the most about God and about ourselves and our relationship to Him. I look forward to every day that I have here on this earth in which I can get to know Him better and be more prepared for the day when I will see Him face to face. I am determined to come through the testings, more like Christ each time I am tested. I realize, too, that it is only by His grace and mercy that this is possible. God is so good!