Trials and Tests of Faith

Psalms 11: 4   " The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. "

Psalms 33:13-15  " The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. " 

Jeremiah 17:10  "  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. "

God does not look at people the way most people do - at the outward appearance. Instead God looks at the heart of the person.

1 Samuel 16:7  "  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.  "

The Faith of God's Servants is Tested

You can read about the way God dealt with Abraham, who is the Father of the faithful. God made very great promises to Abram - whose name was later changed to Abraham. Later on God seriously tested Abraham's faith. 

Genesis 12:1-4  " Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. "

Genesis 15:1-6  "  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. "

Abram (whose name was later changed to Abraham) believed God's promise. He had faith in God. And so God considered him righteous because of his faith in God and His promises.

Genesis 17:1-8  " And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.  And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. "

Genesis 17:15-19  " And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.  And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!  And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. "

God later on appeared to Abraham (Genesis 18:1-15) and again confirmed His promise.

Genesis 18:1  "  And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; "

Genesis 18:10  " And He said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.  Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?  And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?  Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.  Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. "

Genesis 21:1-8  " And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.  And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

God kept His promise. God is faithful to keep His promises. 

Hebrews 11:11 " Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. "

Later on God tested Abraham's faith (Genesis 22:1-19) Abraham is the Father of the faithful. Abraham passed the severe test of faith, and God did not allow Abraham to go ahead and sacrifice his son Isaac.

Genesis 22:11 "  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. "

Genesis 22:15-18 " And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. "

Abraham had waited for 25 years for God to keep His promise. God delivered on the promise and gave Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age. God is faithful to keep His promises, but God trys our faith as He did with Abraham and Sarah. God wants to see if we really trust Him, and really believe in Him and His promises. He tests us to see what we are really made of and what is in our heart.

Then God orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to God as a burnt offering !  Abraham was prepared to go ahead and do it, but God stopped him - realizing that Abraham was prepared to do it. Of course Abraham was aware of God's promises concerning Isaac (Hebrews 11:17-19).

Faith Without Works is Dead

Abraham's faith in God and His promises was made perfect by his works. He proved his faith by his works. He passed the test of faith through his works.

James 1:2-4  " But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.  "

Abraham believed God and His promises, and God considered Abraham righteous because of his faith. However, God tested Abraham's faith. Abraham passed the test of faith through his works. The test of faith God gave Abraham, and his passing of the test - proved to God that Abraham was an obedient faithful servant of God.

Then God made His promises to Abraham unconditional in nature:   " because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. "

The Trial and Tests Christ Puts the Church Through

Malachi 3:1-3 "  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.  But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. "

Matthew 3:8-12 " Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. "

One of Christ's jobs in the Church is to purge it and its members of sin. Jesus takes this job seriously. He died for our sins. He takes sin seriously, and wants sin removed from the church and from those in the true Church of God. He is like a refiner of gold, and will remove the slag and impurities (sins). He is like a powerful detergent that can remove the most difficult stains (sins).

If we cooperate with God the Father and Christ and do our best to remove sin out of our lives - then this makes Christ's job easier. He maybe only need correct you through the scriptures perhaps, or through the teachings of His servants. However, if you are a stubborn servant, who is rebellious, then Christ will have to deal more severely with you. So it is best to cooperate with Christ and work on your sins to remove them out of your life. Be proactive, and then you won't have to punished too much, if you sin. And all of Christ's servants still sin, and still need to repent of these sins and work to put sin out of their lives and be fruitful for God.

James 1:2-4  " My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. "

1 Peter 1:5-7  "  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: "

How Does God Test Our Faith ?

In many and varied ways. God will allow or create certain circumstances in our lives to test us. God will never give you a test you cannot pass. If you are praying and staying close to God you should be able to see the test coming a mile away. Then just exercise faith and stay obedient to God. He will see you through and deliver you from the temptation or difficulty you are in. The key is to keep trusting God and His promises in the Bible, remain faithful and obedient to God's commands in the Bible. Then God will deliver you. In the process it is almost certain Christ will teach us a lesson, since we are all in need of lessons. This is one of Christ's jobs in the Church, and He takes it seriously.

1 Corinthians 10:13  " There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.  "

This Writers Experience Regarding Tests of Faith

I have had numerous tests of faith after baptism - some very severe. How well I have done in these tests is up to Christ to judge, since He is the Judge. He is your Judge too. I am not your Judge. I do not know what is in other people's hearts like God does.

I will just give you a couple of examples. The tests and trials almost always come down to whether we will choose to obey God or choose to sin instead. The test is to see if you will remain faithful and trust in God to deliver you, or will you give in and sin to get what you want ?

A couple of good examples happened to me just after I had been baptized years ago at age 30. The weekly Sabbath command is the great test command. I was out of work, and very, very short of money, but living on my farm. I was capital rich, but cash poor. Very, very cash poor. The farm was not able to support me financially, and there were bills to pay. 

There happened to be an oil company with an oil drilling rig working near my place. So I goes down there hoping I could get some work with them. I explain my situation about not being able to work from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset due to my religion and the keeping of the weekly Sabbath. They offered to give me work on a temporary basis, and without having to work on the Sabbath. So I works with them on the drilling rig for awhile, but then they offer to give me full time work, but I would have to work Saturdays.

I refused their offer, since we must put God first. I believe it was my last day with them - the day I refused their offer of full time work. I was on the rig platform, and for some very strange reason was sitting on the cable winch. Why I was sitting there is strange, but the motors on the rig were off - maybe that is why. I got up off the winch, and turned suddenly around and saw the winch whirling around very fast. The driller was lowering the pipes. I had come within a second or two of being seriously maimed or killed by the rotating winch and steel cables !  Was I ever glad I had chosen to obey God rather than sinning and breaking the Sabbath. The lesson sunk deep in. Obey God and keep trusting Him. He had saved me from serious harm, and taught me a serious lesson to boot.

Well I had some money from that work, and it saw me through for awhile, but it was not enough. So I travelled to Edmonton (which was about 50 miles from my farm) and rented out a little inexpensive small two room apartment, and began a job search.

During that time I was so short of money I got a loan from the bank to cover living expenses. I had a contract to sell my small amount of grain to the local feed lot, but needed money to carry me through until then. Until then I was looking for work in Edmonton. God worked things out miraculously, and I was able to arrange for the hauling of the grain and getting to the Bank to pay off my loan on time - even though it was so very cold. My loan was paid, and I had some cash, but not too much. God was seeing me through, but really testing my faith.

I searched and searched for work in the city, but could find nothing. My money was again running down very, very low. I was reduced to living on only potatoes and water. However, my faith in God grew stronger and I kept praying and kept up the job search as best I could.

One day late in winter when I was really down and low and living on only potatoes and water - I got a call from an employer where I had applied - offering me a job. The weekly Sabbath command is the great test command. They expected me to work on the Weekly Sabbath (which is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset). Here I had a job offer. Was this my answer to my prayers ? No it was not !  It was not the answer, because I would have to sin and break the Sabbath in order to do that job. So I refused the offer. We need to put God first. I was tempted to take that job, but I realized very, very well that this was not an answer to prayer for work, it was just another test of faith by God.

I was now really desperate, and running out of money, so low that I did not have enough for the next months rent. So I then resigned myself to moving back to my farm, but not having a clue on how to survive and pay my bills. And to top it off my old car had died. So I was reduced to taking the bus. 

God saw me through, however. Very shortly after me having refused the job offer where I would have had to work on the weekly Sabbath - I gets a call from a different employer offering me work. Everything worked out fine, and I had full time work without having to work on Saturdays. My shift was I believe from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM Monday to Friday and I did not have to work on the Weekly Sabbath. God saw me through and I worked full time at that place for over 4 years, and it was good paying union job. This was during the recession in the early 1980's, and I had full time work all during the recession, which was a real blessing.