Why test?

Deut. 8:2

"And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not..."

Growth comes through hardship and testing because this is how God reveals what is in my heart. When the pressure is on, when my nerves are frayed, when I am sick, when the finances are troubled, when the job is at stake, when the family is distressed, then I am at the end of my reserves. My pride and stubbornness are found sadly lacking, and I have no place to turn but to God. Testing brings humility by revealing my true heart condition. "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn."  As I come to Him in complete dependent obedience, then He is able to be my sufficiency.

With Israel, God taught specific lessons through the testing. He allowed hunger so that He could feed them with manna. Why? So that they could understand that "man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." What a lesson! To realize that existing for this world's system, for food, shelter, gain, possessions, and position is not what God has for His child. His perfect will is to live by His Word. Am I eating enough of the word to thrive? Am I satisfied by His words? Is my worldly diet dulling my appetite for the word? Am I stubbornly eating from what the world offers? When hunger overtakes me, where do I go for satiation?

He also taught them that "as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you." Why? So that they would keep His commandments by walking in His ways and fearing Him. God's final objective is that I fear Him.  "What does the Lord require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good." If I live obediently and dependently, it is for my good, good because this is the place of God's blessing. I don't have to worry about what is happening in my life because He has promised that it is for my good. Whatever God brings in my life is to grow me, to teach me the lessons that I need for life, and to increase my delight in Him. I can rest and cease striving about the details of life that are beyond my control. The sovereign God of the universe is in charge of my life, each and every detail. He has asked me to trust and obey, to rest and flourish, to fear and serve. What is my response? When I feel His discipline, do I see a loving father? When I make decisions, do I fall back on my own understanding, or do I come to Him for His master plan? What is the primary focus of my life?

Father,

Circumcise the foreskin of my heart. Make it obediently dependent on You. Teach me how to trust and obey.

In Jesus name,

Amen