Tested By God | Heart Edition

There are two environments in which I thoroughly enjoy because of the learning that takes place. Those environments are sports and schools. I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy the competitive life of team sports, and the contemplative life of school. These two environments both have elements in common, one of which is testing. 

Both sports and school environments prepare participants to be tested, and with the expectation to excel in the test. Yes, we are tested in sports, we are tested in school, but we are also tested in the sacred. 

We are tested by God. 

Yes, you and I are tested by God. We never receive a syllabus at the top of the year announcing when the test will be issued, nor what percentage it will be scored. Yes, we are simply tested – by God and regularly. 

God is always training and teaching us because the Lord wants us to reign in His Kingdom. But reigning requires training and training will be tested. 

Are you able to identify when you are being tested by God? 

I ask this question because some Christians misidentify conditioning as challenges. Some Christians find it difficult to discern situations to distinguish if what is happening to them or around them is an attack, problem, challenge, or training/conditioning session. We all face problems and challenges but all adverse circumstances are not warfare. Some are simply intense conditioning sessions. 

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul is writing to believers in the area of Thessalonica. He is spending a couple of years there, under guard and consistently teaching about Jesus to all who would listen. 

In his letter, Paul openly discusses some of the challenges and problems he had faced in his ministry. In verse 2, Paul describes them in detail, acknowledging he had already suffered in Philippi where he had been shamefully mistreated. I know some hold to the idea that mistreatment, wrongful acts, etc had to happen in order to raise them to a greater level, but that mindset is not consistent with the biblical witness that says; Holy Spirit is our guide and teacher. Yes, it is possible to learn from poor judgment, unwise choices, rebellious actions, hateful acts of others, foolish decisions, and overall mistakes, but that is poor stewardship of your life, and is not the plan of God. 

God has prepared for our training, and it’s not the destructive path that disconnects the Holy Spirit. 

Paul’s suffering and shameful mistreatment were not set as conditioning to test Paul. These were challenges sent to detour Paul. Do you know how to identify when God is conditioning you, opposed to when you are being attacked by challenges, problems, and destructions? 

In Paul’s eyes, he was able to identify where he was being conditioned. It was in the area of his courage. It was in the area of his motives. It was in the area of his consistency in his calling. It was in the area of his boldness. All of these areas combine to express that Paul understood that God tests our hearts. 

There are other areas in which God tests us: faith, maturity, mind, and spirit. 

God tests our hearts because a heart not submitted to God will not reign well in the Kingdom. It is not our words that show our hearts, but instead our choices. We reveal our heart by our choices, and our choices reveal our attitudes and behaviors. God tests and we reveal our hearts. 

God wants and needs believers to reign in His Kingdom, and that reigning requires a certain heart quality, a certain heart posture. Paul makes the distinction between being entrusted by God and being tested by God. He wants us to know that God entrusts us with a level of responsibility, but that shouldn’t be confused with life without checks, life without boundaries, life without God’s tests. Paul was called, anointed, and approved by God, but he also walked in wisdom to know that even he would always be subject to God’s tests. 

In what ways is God testing your heart? 

I’m not asking about destructive challenges sent to tear you down, I’m asking about the tests God is issuing on your heart. One thing about “identity” tests is the practice of looking for the lessons surrounding your identity that God is seeking for you to learn. What is God trying to get you to learn? Is it the lesson of humility vs. pride? Is it the lesson of biblical standards? If you are able to identify the lesson God is teaching, then you will know what type of test God will be issuing on the condition of your heart. 

God expects us to pass tests. 

He has given us everything necessary to pass each test. The Bible says that our hearts are naturally deceitful so God gives us Holy Spirit to softly speak to us in order to expose the deceit within us. The Bible says that we should not hold our heart carelessly, nor expose our heart to everything and everyone. We are taught to guard our heart. This is biblical conditioning in order to keep our hearts pure. 

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