-- Thursday, 7/8/10 -- THIS IS JUST A TEST -- Judges 3:1-4

[J.R. & Bonnie Ricks]

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THIS IS JUST A TEST -- Judges 3:1-4 NIV

 

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):  the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.  They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

 

God had delivered Israel.  Our human logic says that, in the process, He would drive out all of Israel’s enemies.  After all, the pagans were the ones who were causing Israel to fall into temptation.  If God threw the pagans out, there would be no more temptations, and the people of Israel could follow God with ease.  Right?  Wrong!  After God taught Israel a lesson, He left the pagans there to continue to test Israel's faith and her faithfulness.

 

You lose your job... and things go along pretty well.  Sure it's scary, but you have a little money put back… enough to get you by for a few months.  Plus, your resume is outstanding, and you've never had any problem finding work before.  So you start looking for a job, absolutely certain you'll find one immediately.  Weeks pass, then months… and no job.  Your money is gone.  The only thing you have to depend on is Jesus.  And you depend on Him with all your heart.  Each day He shows you His faithfulness by providing for your needs… usually in miraculous ways.  After a few months of this, you calm down.  Your faith has grown so strong, you are unshakeable!  “Now,” you think.  “Now that I realize that I am totally dependent on my Lord for everything… now that I'm totally peaceful about this situation… now is when He will deliver me out of this unemployment.”  Right?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Perhaps He will leave you unemployed a while longer, testing whether what you just said is true…. testing your faith and your faithfulness.  But the test isn’t for God to learn something… He already knows what you’ll do before you do it.  No, it’s for your benefit, so you can see whether what you say is what you really believe or whether you’re just giving your faith lip service. 

 

You and I have lives that are filled with all sorts of temptations, difficulties, trials.  If we are listening to Jesus, each situation in our lives teaches us something about Him… about His character… about how we can grow to be more like Him.  You and I plow through the trials, hoping we get good “grades” on our performance so we don't have to repeat them!  But God doesn't operate that way.  Once we finish a learning experience for the Lord, many times He lets us get right back into the same type of situation... just as a test… just to let us see what we really learned or didn’t learn… just to let us see whether the lesson took or not… just to teach us to persevere.

 

We are like coal… the longer coal stays under pressure in the ground, the more valuable it becomes… the longer we persevere under our trials, the more valuable we become in God’s kingdom.  So, the next time God says, “This is just a test,” rejoice! 

 

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  James 1:2-3 NIV

 

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