But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
John 6:6
Do you ever feel like God is testing you? Well, He is. All day long we face test in our lives. Some are big and some are small. And it is not the same for everybody. Some people are tested by their alarm clock. Others are tested by their children. Circumstances in life are God's way of getting our attention. Everything we go through each day is a test from God that He allows in our lives for our good and His glory.
Jesus was always testing His disciples. In today's passage Jesus tests Philip by asking him a question, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" (John 6:5) We serve a God who questions us to provoke growth in our lives. We come to God just as we are. We don't have to get "cleaned up" to come to Him. We don't need to "get right" and then come to God anymore than we need get cleaned up to take a shower. However, when we come to God, He is not going to leave us in the same state that we were in. He is going to stir us up and encourage us to become better.
When we draw close to God, we will understand these tests and come to take joy in the trials because we understand that these test are for the maturing of our faith. The Psalmist understood this when he cried out, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." (Psalm 139:23-24) We also must realize that God will never test us beyond anything that we are able to bear. (I Corinthians 10:13). And we must also be aware that test from God are not temptations to evil. Trials and tests are external events that we are going through each day. Temptations happen when a trial becomes internalized and is part of our sin nature being drawn away to that which is not godly or good. (James 1:13-14) Test or trials are mean to refine and increase our lives to the better. Temptations are meant to draw us into sin and death.
Jesus was also facing test all the time. In John 6, Jesus is facing the test of opposition from the religious leaders and from the crowds who were following Him only because they wanted to get fed and then wanted to make him king to overthrow the rule of the Romans. (6:26; 6:15). If Jesus faced test, then surely as His disciples we too will face tests. Let's learn to rejoice in these test so that we can grow up to be like Jesus!
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