The Test

People give their lives to Jesus for many reasons. Some come for emotional or physical healing. Others come seeking peace or forgiveness. Others might just have problems or struggles and have tried everything else and as a result have nowhere else to turn. I fall into the latter. Regardless, God meets us wherever we might be.

God uses our needs to draw us to Christ. We often come to Him so focused on our need that we put God in a box. I was looking for God to work only in the areas of my life that I thought I needed Him. Primarily in the areas of deliverance from many addictions and healing and restoration in my marriage. Once I experienced His forgiveness, deliverance, healing and restoration in those areas of my life I thought I had experienced the fullness of Christ. I hit the spiritual ceiling. I had no idea there was a deeper calling. A calling of growing into the likeness of Christ.

The Spirit of God is committed to our personal transformation. In John 17:17 Jesus speaks of being sanctified by the truth and the truth being God's word. I remember hearing a sermon about progressive sanctification. It spoke of how God will continue to use His word to convict us and purify our hearts and minds. God's word will speak to us in a much deeper way. It also spoke on how this is a journey that will never end until we see Jesus face to face.

As I walk further down the corridor of my spiritual journey, I have come to the realization that I am progressively facing greater challenges. In the beginning it seemed as if I moved along quickly, without an extreme amount of effort. Now it seems I'm at the point where God is putting me in situations where the old man must die. He places me in circumstances where the only way to carry on is to be like Christ. As a result this journey seems to have slowed. This isn't coming easy. It is actually the most difficult thing I have ever experienced. Growing pains I guess. Things I thought I knew and understood have been brought back for testing.

I've been the student and Jesus has been the teacher. I professed how well I knew and understood the lesson. As a result God says, great, now I will test you. God's tests are always open book. The book teaches and informs but the application comes from us. I knew the text but I didn't fully understand it. I wasn't prepared for the exam. In the middle of it I was so confused that I cried out for help, but the teacher doesn't speak during the test. I have failed this same test for 5 months now. God has given me tutors. The great thing is they don't even know God is using them to help me pass this test. I believe a passing grade is coming.

Is God testing you? If He is, are you passing or failing? Are you prepared for the next examination? Is the Word of God speaking to you in fresh and meaningful ways? Are you avoiding the test? Are you content being in the grade your in?

I've come to realize that when we pass a test, life does not necessarily come easier. In fact, what occurs is we soon graduate into something more difficult. And it is there, in the more difficult test, that we become sanctified into the image of Christ.