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John 6⁵ When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?  ⁶ And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

When the multitudes were following the Lord and had no food, the Lord had a plan as to what He wanted to do. But He asked Philip, in order to know what was in his heart or rather to help Philip know where he stood.

God created us in His image to love Him and live with Him forever. And no matter what our past has been, when we accept Christ our Savior, who died for our sins and rose again as our Lord and Savior, our past is forgiven. We have a new beginning. And God is working on our lives to make us holy as He is holy. He wants our character to be sanctified. God will test each of His children.

1 Peter 4¹² Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

An exam

Just like academic exams that help us evaluate ourselves, we can know where we stand through God’s tests. And when we are faithful He rewards us. But if we fail, we should realize where we are weak and grow in the grace of God and build up our most holy faith. Most times God tests us through the trials and tribulations we face in life. We may not realize it and we may be wondering why God is allowing certain things in our lives.

Israel

God led Israel through the desert with hunger and troubles to know what was in their heart.

Deuteronomy 8² And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

God allowed false prophets to do miracles and preach a different message to see if they would continue to follow Him.

Deuteronomy 13 ³ Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

God gave them manna and tested if they would gather more than what they needed.

Exodus 16 ⁴ Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Abraham

Abraham was tested: it would have seemed so unreasonable that God was asking for his only son, whom he loved very much.

Genesis 22¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.  ² And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

The result:  it was proved that Abraham feared God.

Genesis 22¹² 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.

The reward:  God blessed Abraham beyond measure.

James 1¹² Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

Genesis 22¹⁶ 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:  ¹⁷ 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;  ¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Abraham trusted in God, that the One who gave him his son, was bale to raise from the dead and fulfill His promise.

Hebrews 11¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,  ¹⁸ Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:  ¹⁹ Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

Like Abraham, let us in our trials believe the One who loved us and gave His life for us, that He will never do anything to harm or destroy us.  The painful situations in our life will result in our sanctification and eternal rewards.

1 Peter 1⁷ 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:

God’s exams in our lives

In these last days all these will be allowed to test us. This helps us grow in grace and faith. This helps us know our weaknesses. This brings great rewards in our lives.

Revelation 2⁹ I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.  ¹⁰ Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

James 1² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; ³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

2 Corinthians 8² How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

But never forget…

We are tested only according to our ability.  How confident would we be in writing an exam covering only the chapters we have prepared and studied?

1 Corinthians 10¹³ 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.

We have the teacher with us.  How easy it would be if the teacher who taught us sits with us ready to help us when we need him?

James 1⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

We are given another chance.  And how wonderful to know that we can learn from our mistakes and write our exam again? Dear child of God if we have failed, let us better understand where we lack and ask His forgiveness and grace to grow in these areas. Remember how Peter boasted and denied the Lord but once again was restored and became a fearless witness and martyr of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 2¹My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Let us depend on God asking Him to forgive us, strengthen us, teach us, and build us to be like Him.