What This Test Is About

These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:7

The tests we face reveal both our weaknesses and our strengths. When the Bible speaks of ‘a refiner’s fire’ (see Malachi 3:2), we’re inclined to think of the negative things God wants to remove from our character. But we also have inner strengths and gifts that need to be refined but we’re not aware of them because a demand hasn’t been placed on them. In 1 Kings 17, when the widow and her son met Elijah there was a famine in the land, and he asked her to share their last meal with him. Maybe you’re thinking, ‘Typical preacher!’ Don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions! One of the best days in this woman’s life was when God placed a demand on her faith. Her response changed her future and saved her family. So when you’re faced with a need, how do you respond? Do you withdraw? Withhold? Give from a sense of obligation? Or do you see it as an opportunity to obey God and change your future? You can actually give your way out of trouble! (See 2 Corinthians 9:6-11.) When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, He said, ‘The king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him’ (Exodus 3:19). And today God may be permitting the enemy to test you in order to reveal: 1) how much He cares for you; 2) how you’ll act when your back’s against the wall; 3) who you’ll believe when God says, ‘I will bring you out with a mighty hand,’ and the enemy is saying, ‘I won’t let you go.’ That’s what this test is about.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, test me to make me stronger. In Jesus’ Name, Amen