Day 2 - The General Nature of Testing
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Pet 1:6-7 (ESV)
Considering the Nature of Testing
Before considering temptation (the negative aspect of when we are tested in an attempt to draw us to evil), we must first consider testing. To understand testing we need to consider 1) the reasons God tests us and 2) the way God tests us.
Two Great Reasons God Tests Us
Owen helps us to see there are two great reasons God tests us (though there are more):
1. In testing us, God shows us what is in our heart.
God does this to get at the depths of our heart, to see why truly lies at the root of our heart. Our heart may be filled with grace or filled with corruption. God tests is to draw this out. What is it the our heart truly desires and truly trusts in? Testing will draw this out. Consider how God drew out Abraham’s faith by testing him. (Gen 22:1-2)
2. God allows us to be tested so that God can show us who He is.
1. In testing us, God shows us what is in our heart.
God does this to get at the depths of our heart, to see why truly lies at the root of our heart. Our heart may be filled with grace or filled with corruption. God tests is to draw this out. What is it the our heart truly desires and truly trusts in? Testing will draw this out. Consider how God drew out Abraham’s faith by testing him. (Gen 22:1-2)
2. God allows us to be tested so that God can show us who He is.
In our testing we see the glory of who God is. We see in our testing that our strength is our weakness; thus, God’s strength is our only hope. We see that what keeps our testing from turning into temptation (and us falling into sin) is God Himself. This is God’s “preventing grace.” Such preventing grace was shown to us in the life of Abimelech (Gen 20:6).
But not only do we see God’s preventing grace, we also see God’s “renewing grace.” God’s renewing grace is that grace that acts to strengthen (renew) us when we are at our weakest. (2 Cor 12:9) As Owen notes, “We will not know the power of grace until we feel the power of testing.”
Two Main Ways God Tests Us
1. God tests us by giving us tasks that are beyond our ability and strength to accomplish.
2. God tests is by putting us through great suffering.
As Owen puts it, “The duties that God has for us along our ordinary path of life are not in proportion to the strength we have in ourselves, but in proportion to the help and relief that is laid up for us in Christ.”
2. God tests is by putting us through great suffering.
This is what Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:6-7. We are tested so that “the tested genuineness of our faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (ESV)
Our Challenge
So today if you are facing testing, Rejoice in God’s preventing and renewing grace that both protects and enables you to ensure testing that you might know the depths of your own heart and see the heights of who God is.