Day 1: The Purpose of Testing

Testing situations are a certainty in life. God often uses these tests to point out areas or abilities where we need growth to move forward into the next season. Scripture says our faith will be tested. James 1:2-4 says that we should be happy about these tests because they are there to produce good fruit in our lives. Multiple verses in Scripture talk about God’s people being refined (or tested) as silver and gold are refined in the fire.

These Scriptures show that the spiritual testing we encounter in life is often good. It is to mature us and refine us in our character and righteousness. If we learn the lesson from a spiritual test, we are better equipped for life experiences on the road ahead. It could be we gain more wisdom, patience, authority, or humility.

God is always moving in our lives to bring us healing and freedom, and his help can sometimes come as testing. These tests are situations we experience where we must have God’s help to get through. There’s an important distinction to make, however. While God may allow for situations that test us, he never tempts us.

If God doesn’t tempt, then what about when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? The devil was the one doing the tempting. Even though the Spirit led Jesus to this situation where he would be tempted, Jesus was able to stand strong against each temptation and as a result, he exited the desert in power.

Jesus’ experience in the wilderness shows us that our most critical temptations are often related to our calling and receiving God’s empowerment for that call. God’s purpose is to strengthen us through testing. The enemy seeks to weaken and entice us away from our purpose and calling.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God makes a way of escape from temptation if we will take it. God isn’t trying to trick us into temptation in the tests we face. Instead, He uses the tests in our lives to form our character, which helps us stand against temptation and perfect his good work in us.

Tests are opportunities to grow closer to God and become more like him. Here’s the good news: we get to keep taking God’s tests until we pass them! Failure doesn’t disqualify us. In fact, failure can sometimes be one of our most growing experiences.

God doesn’t ever give up on us. He will continue to give us opportunities to grow until the day He returns. It’s not about perfect execution or the fastest completion, it's about surrendering more and more of our lives to Jesus and keeping our eyes on Him. It’s not about our performance. It’s about His presence. Eyes on Him!