' O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off. [Matt. 9:4; John 2:24, 25.] You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways.'
Psalm 139:1-3 Amplified Bible Classic
I was talking to a coworker yesterday who was frustrated about how he felt his manager was giving him an erratic schedule, making it hard for him to get into a regular rhythm with his job and the rest of his life. I reminded him that nothing happens outside of the sovereign eyes of the Lord, and suggested that by this, he may be dealing with a test. Nevertheless, we should always see our work as believers as doing work for the Lord, as Paul says,
' Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,'
Colossians 3:23 amplified Bible classic.
But our conversation quickly turned to testing. The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. When he tests us, it's not to see how we will respond because he doesn't know. Obviously, he does know, as the verse in view in Psalms 139 shows. Testing is for us to see, for Him to show us something about our hearts. Testing is evidence of God leading us and moving us from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7).
Testing is part of our spiritual sojourn here on Earth. Sometimes the tests are easy, and other times it's not immediately apparent that we are being tested. I think that we are tested consistently, even every day, and that most of the time, unless we are really discerning, we miss many of the tests. Therefore, we fail many tests because a test is only practical if we are aware that something is being tested!
So I am grateful for the little conversation I had yesterday, which helped me realize the utility of testing from the Lord, though it is often hard and makes us uncomfortable. As long as we live on this side of eternity, we should never allow ourselves to be at ease on our couches; if we are, perhaps we need to check ourselves. God tests us, and he does it for our benefit, even if it hurts.
Psalm 139:1-3 Amplified Bible Classic
I was talking to a coworker yesterday who was frustrated about how he felt his manager was giving him an erratic schedule, making it hard for him to get into a regular rhythm with his job and the rest of his life. I reminded him that nothing happens outside of the sovereign eyes of the Lord, and suggested that by this, he may be dealing with a test. Nevertheless, we should always see our work as believers as doing work for the Lord, as Paul says,
' Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,'
Colossians 3:23 amplified Bible classic.
But our conversation quickly turned to testing. The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. When he tests us, it's not to see how we will respond because he doesn't know. Obviously, he does know, as the verse in view in Psalms 139 shows. Testing is for us to see, for Him to show us something about our hearts. Testing is evidence of God leading us and moving us from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7).
Testing is part of our spiritual sojourn here on Earth. Sometimes the tests are easy, and other times it's not immediately apparent that we are being tested. I think that we are tested consistently, even every day, and that most of the time, unless we are really discerning, we miss many of the tests. Therefore, we fail many tests because a test is only practical if we are aware that something is being tested!
So I am grateful for the little conversation I had yesterday, which helped me realize the utility of testing from the Lord, though it is often hard and makes us uncomfortable. As long as we live on this side of eternity, we should never allow ourselves to be at ease on our couches; if we are, perhaps we need to check ourselves. God tests us, and he does it for our benefit, even if it hurts.
