TEST DAY
I can hear him say it just like it was yesterday. With the afternoon sun shinning through those windows in my high school freshmen Citizenship class, my chin would begin to lower into my chest and my eyes would start to close, my teacher would say, “Let us labor that we might live on test day.” Then he would slam that 12 inch ruler down on his desk. That would get my eyes open again.
Jeremiah 12:3-5 says, “You know me, O LORD; you see me and test my thoughts about you…If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? (NIV)
In other words, life happens. If the people we know and love are getting under our skin, how will we be able to handle the difficult tests when they come? If we are coasting during the relatively smooth times in life, what will we do when the waters of life begin to swallow us? Rest assured, I pray that the Lord will lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil every day. But life has taught me a lesson. Testing will come and I need to prepare myself for it. Like most tests, preparation is to be done before the test, not during or after it. It would be my desire that James 1:12 could be applied to my testing:
“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (NIV)
Preparing to run with horses and to survive when the waters of life overflow, requires God’s Word be in my heart and I walk in the Spirit. When I consider that God has my best interest in mind…that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that I can ask or think…I will have renewed hope in my spirit that God will see me through to victory.
David said in Psalm 66:10-14, “For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you — vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.” (NIV)
That’s my view of things.