Good morning everyone, I have had quite the week this week full of tests and instances that I can only assume were engineered by God to build up both my faith in him and my discernment for his voice.

This week has led me to today and to this article.

My question for you all who read this is simply this. Are you ready for the test?

When I say “the test,” I say it knowing that God doesn’t just test us once but instead, hundreds, thousands, millions, possibly billions of times throughout our entire lives.

They range from simple decisions that are there to test your obedience. Such as will you spend money He told you not to spend?

And more significantly, will you abandon him when he allows things to not go the way you envisioned but instead the way that he desires for them to go?

Will you turn away from him when your life gets hard, and seemingly-impossible for you to manage?

You might wonder why God tests those who claimed to follow him. I am not God and I cannot give you all of his reasons for doing so, but I can give you the ones that I have been tested on and have discerned through his Holy Spirit in my own life.

Obedience
Trust
Love
Reverence
Fear
Faith

These are the six things that I have been able to discern that he tests us on. I am sure there are many more. These are just some examples from my own life.

In this week alone, he has tested my obedience, at least five times that I have noticed. Small, simple and seemingly inconsequential. These tests usually show up in my life in the form of limits for a day, a week, a month…don’t buy lunch today…. Tithe more than 10%…apologize for something for something someone thinks you’ve done, even if you didn’t actually do it.

After obedience, I was tested in trust and have been several times since I started following him. I started earnestly following him seven months ago. Within the seven months, my life has been turned upside down, but it’s also been rebuilt. Financially, I am unstable. My earnings are unpredictable. But I have trusted God through all of it.

Through every hiccup in the road of my faith journey, I have trusted him thus far.

I have not missed a meal, except for when I’m fasting.

I have not slept anywhere overnight that wasn’t in a bed.

I have not spent any time without a roof over my head.

But many things have happened that were designed to make me question God. They were designed to test my trust in him. They were designed to let trust in him grow in me.

Even more than trust, God wants our love.

He wants us to love him even when our lives seem to be not loving us.

The biggest place in my life right now where this is shown is my finances and work situation. From August 9 all the way to December 1 of last year, I was unemployed; before this, I had held a job for 17 years in a local college of my hometown.

During my period of unemployment, my love for God was tested heavily every day. It’s still tested even to this day, mind you, but this period so far has been the toughest.

It’s easy to love God when your belly is full, it’s easy to love God when you can sleep comfortably at night, it’s easy to love God when your bills are paid.

But what about when you’re not in your ideal situation? What about when things aren’t going as you planned? Can you personally say you love God then?

I had to learn to love him through those things, but I can now say that I do.

What does reverence mean? It means to hold deep regard and respect for someone or something.

When it comes to God, that’s quite the question… How do you show reverence to the eternal God who created you and all things around you? How do you show reverence to someone you cannot see, but you know is everywhere?

The easiest way I’ve learned to do these things is to acknowledge who he is and operate with that in mind. Go to him in prayer for everything and if you have no questions to ask, go into prayer just so that you can tell him about your day and how much you love him.

In the Bible, we are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I have learned that this means to keep him in your thoughts all day every day.

Seek connection with him always, seek fellowship with him always, desire to be in his presence always.  

So how have I learned to show reverence to God? By seeking him, by asking him for help and by obeying his voice even when it’s difficult for me to do.

Fear… God does not want us to fear him like he’s some invisible creature that goes bump in the night. He doesn’t want us to shudder and shrink away from him like we would if we felt someone meant us harm.

The fear that he wants us to have is also tied to the previous subject, reverence. He wants us to have such a healthy and strong respect for him and his laws that we fear breaking them and disappointing him.

How did he teach me this? The same way he taught me to love him.

Once you love, God, truly, reverence and healthy biblical fear for him and him alone develop naturally. You don’t fear anything but disappointing him. You don’t fear anything but saddening him. You don’t fear anything but failing him. Not because he’s going to punish you, but because it’s going to hurt him to witness these things.

Finally… Faith…how did he test my faith? The biggest thing I can give you is he gave me a situation much like Abraham himself.

Remember when I was talking about trust three points ago? Trust takes faith.

The Abraham-ish moment in my life tested both of those things in a big way. I was called to abandon my life in my hometown, the life that I had lived for 35 years up to that point, and start over, completely over somewhere new.

I was called to rely only on God for everything that I need and even to this day, seven months later, I’m still called to do so.

This test, the test of faith, is ongoing for a true follower of Christ. The face of it may change, but the test is still the same.

These are just some of the ways God has tested me throughout this early portion of my walk with him.

Will your tests be the exact same as mine? Most likely not, but whatever he does to test you will push you to your limit. That much, I can promise you.

Just remember to keep your eyes on him, always be seeking him, always show him love, respect, reverence and obedience.

Above all things, fear disappointing him. Not so much because he’ll punish you, but because you will hurt him, you will hurt the one Who loves you most.

Lastly, remember that these tests are meant to build faith amongst other things in you.

Are you ready for the tests?

-MB