What are Your Test Results?
Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
Psalm 26:2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me: test my heart and my mind.
Psalm 101:5-8 Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes
Psalm 139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Jeremiah 17:10 I, the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
Mark 10:18 No one is good except God
Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice his one and only son, even though God said to him. “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned,” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
James 1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
1 Peter 1:7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith–of greater worth than god, which perishes even though refined by fire–may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.`
God tests those of us who belong to Him. Sometimes, I do not understand why as He knows everything about us before it happens. I guess it is so I CAN see that I once tested, it is easy to see my impatience with a certain incident, my curt response messed up AGAIN, my careless remark or judgmental attitude. He knows I WANT to be better, but I fail often, and since He knew I was going to fail AGAIN, He put me in a position where I could more clearly see it. And seeing examples and recognizing misbehavior is an excellent way to point out how you mess up. That could be; like looking in a mirror, your heart and mind are aware of the exact way you did not act as God would prefer.
As a young child playing with cousins and brother, we could get naughty, but it was a desist and decease when one of the parents just stood in the doorway and watched with a grim expression. All the reminders of behaving, keeping voices down, keeping things quiet at this grandparents’ home came flooding back seeing a parent trying to remind us. We would sit quiet (probably for a lot less than my mind remembers) and then start whispering and giggling, shushing one another occasionally. We could get a break with our grandfather–he liked to play with us and could keep us quietly entertained for quite awhile.
Each time, I am tested, I wonder at my slow progress. But deep down I know. I am selfish and arrogant and my heart still needs to be sanded from all its rough spots, with its many blebs and resistant knobs. After years and stubs. I am thankful that I can at least see after I have acted poorly. And frankly, it bums me out. After years of following God and Jesus, and trying to always be aware of the Holy Spirit, I get so discouraged to be so sinful. Yet, I am. Perhaps I have advanced some because I can recognize my sins easier and earlier, but it is discouraging to recognize so much sinfulness when I want to be good–better than I was, since NO one, No, not anyone–is good.
I think the testing is no surprise to God. He knows all. So, if we mess up when we are tested, He is not surprised. But I believe He has arranged our results so WE can see and stop patting ourselves on the back about how good we are–when we are NOT, and has us face ourselves in the spiritual mirror He shows us. Discouraging to me. I know it is helpful and will hopefully help me grow with a renewal of my mind so I will continue to grow closer to Him, to behave slightly more like Him. I would love to act more like Him with each fiber of my being, but I STILL have so very far to travel in my path to improve. I will never be a truly good and sinless person, but I pray I can improve daily. Lord, You know how shamed and discouraged I am each time I am faced with my sin and flaws, my impatience and arrogance and selfishness.
Lord, You know our path has been a long one–not as long as I would have liked if I had found you as a child instead of a worried, scared, and alone adult with responsibilities. My growth would have been more steady and easy, I think, if I had come to know Jesus as a child, I would have greater growth. Maybe not. Maybe just my arrogance and sinful nature holds me back. Lord, please continue to help me grow according to Your plans for me. I ALWAYS am so sorry I am stunted more than many others who attended biblical teaching churches or camps as children. I am so much more stunted in my growth to become more like You. You have been with me even when I was not aware. I do not want to fail any more tests. Please, Lord, help me grow in the Holy Spirit, help the Holy Spirit guide my steps more, I DO NOT want to fail!
Lord, I thank You for all I have received from You, and all the times I was not aware of how You guided my paths. You have blessed me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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