Testing, testing....

By Gobel Brockman


TESTS. The very word gives some people the heeby-geebies. (If you've ever had them, you know what they are.) I've mentioned my drug & alcohol issues in high school before, but another aspect of that is they weren't very helpful in test-taking. But our lives are filled with tests. Have you ever wondered why? Yes you have.

Well, God has the answer. Deuteronomy 8:2 says this: "Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey His commands." I know it's very easy in times of testing to think things like 'God is mad at me, or I've sinned, or...or...' but we must remind ourselves constantly that tests are for a purpose. I look at it this way. I play music at church. One of the things I do before service is 'test' the microphones. Am I 'mad' at the mike? Has it 'sinned against me'? Of course not. So why am I testing it? Simple - I'm getting ready to use it, and I want to make sure it's ready to go. Why does God test us? To prove our character, and make sure we're ready to move on to our next assignment.

What got me thinking about all of this is there was a pretty big change at work recently that has made my job a lot more difficult. I would love to say I've handled it well, but I would be lying. Simply put, I failed the test. The 'Gripe-O-Matic' in me has been working overtime. What that tells me is I'm not quite ready yet to move to the next assignment. Thankfully, God allows re-tests. I pray for strength, to learn to trust that He has a purpose in everything, and to WAIT (Yuck, I hate that word) for His timing. I trust with His help the next test goes better. If you're in a time of testing right now, I understand. Let me encourage you with this: the Holy Spirit is the perfect tutor. Once we get ourselves out of the way, He can do awesome things in us. He'll even help us defeat the heeby-geebies....