“Do not attempt to get out of the test until you pass it, receiving the ultimate maturity, without deficits.”
James 1:4
Celebrate the Test!
Moderns tend to say: “God would never allow me to go through a test. Anything that taxes me is from satan or my enemies. If I feel uncomfortable, I quit the situation immediately.”
Many people ask me to pray for them because they are in a battle. I realize they wish me to pray they will get out of the fight.
I never pray that people will escape a fight but that they will win the battle!
While there is one incident, clearly explained to be one exception, God did the fighting while His people watched, that exception is not a principle.
- We do not watch God fight.
- We fight God’s enemies.
- We do not fight all our battles with worship, praise, or rest.
No, we rush into the fray with the armaments of God to plunder hell!
We love our enemies. We wrestle God’s enemies. We war, and we win! The battle is the test; the test is a battle. The mixture of testing and temptation is the subject of another teaching, but God designs the outcome of any trial.
No matter who initiates and engages us in conflict, God is in charge of the outcomes.
- The enemy cannot sustain a storm.
- The temptation has a load limit.
- The test has a designed result that produces maturity.
We cannot get what comes through testing in any other way.
What is a Test?
“Consider the entire experience a hilarious joy fest when you are surrounded by and immersed in diverse trials! Knowing the assessment of your faith for authenticity produces the ultimate endurance. Don’t try to get out of the test until you possess all it produces. In this way, you will be fully matured and completely healthy, without deficits or defects.”
James 1:2-4
A test is an examination of the inner man that measures the strength of a man’s endurance for submission. Submission is endurance, and endurance is submission.
Several words that translate “test” point to this definition and design for testing.
“And shall all the Ekklesiae know that I am He who is searching passionate intentions and hearts; and I will reward to you — to each — according to your behavior and what you produce.”
Revelation 3:23
In this instance, Jesus tells the elders at Thyatira what He does that they have failed to do. They tolerate Jezebel when her behavior reveals the condition of her heart. In the process, Jesus lays down this principle of testing the heart for its passionate intentions. The false prophet does what she does because she has wrong motivations.
The underlying presupposition of Christ’s statement is clear: God tests people’s hearts to reveal their motives.
