Do you have a life verse?  I have lots of favorite verses, but the one that I always come back to is this one: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). This passage is from a parable admonishing us to always be ready because we do not know when we will meet Jesus face to face.

I was in the high school band, and our band director was famous for pop tests, or challenges.  During these challenges, we would have to play our assigned music for an opportunity to challenge for the next level or to defend our position if we were being challenged.  While these challenges would seem to be voluntary, they were not.  These were pop tests, so we were inspired to practice in order to be ready at any time if we wanted to maintain or advance our position.   Boy, I dreaded hearing the words, “Judy, I think Sandra wants to challenge you.”  Once, I even blurted out in response, “No sir, I heard her didn’t.” Yes, I know that’s not very good grammar, but I was obviously not as prepared as I needed to be for the test, and I panicked.

The Bible contains many passages about testing.  John 6 describes Jesus feeding the five thousand.  ^“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do” (John 6:5-6).  We mostly think of this story in terms of a miracle that Jesus performed.  However, did you catch the word “test?”  Jesus tested his disciples.

 Have you ever thought of your life as a test?  We can expect to be tested when we make the decision to follow Jesus.  There are many examples of testing throughout the Bible that let us know that when we make the decision to follow Jesus, we can expect to be tested.  “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).  It was then that God tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering (Genesis 22:13).

 God tested the Israelites in the desert. “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands” (Deuteronomy 8:2). The Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes) abounds with references to being tested by God, and Jesus himself was tested in the wilderness.

When we see our life as a test, then we are more likely to see adversity as part of God’s plan rather than just feeling like we are being dumped on.  When we see our life as a test, then we are ready to use these trials as opportunities to continually prepare ourselves, and to meet these tests and trials as challenges to be overcome for the glory of God.

 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”  Psalm 139:23

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”  Romans 5:3-4

Blessings,

Judy