Do you ever feel God has put you on the spot?

How can you tell if something is the genuine article or a good-looking fake?  You have to test it.  You take a sample, expose it to some kind of stress and there you find out what it is made of.  It is possible to test for both genuineness and purity.  Is this water or is it alcohol?  If this is water does it contain pollutants and if so what kind?  Some tests are pass/fail others are about diagnosis.  God’s testing is about revealing to us the true condition of our hearts, our faith and our loyalty.  

In John 6, Jesus tests Phillip in the context of the feeding of the 5,000.  For Phillip, the test was not did he have faith.  He must have had faith of some sort or to some degree; he was, after all, following Jesus.  But there was something in Phillip that the Lord wanted to expose to Phillip.  There was a lack or an impurity that prompted the Lord to test him.  One of the features of this test is that no one else knew what Phillip learned.   We never hear a word about Phillip’s insights gained.  This is a characteristic of discipleship or walk and our testing is so personal that no one else can understand or interpret the test for us.  It is with God and Him alone that we must hammer out the lessons He brings to us.  We may have companions in our faith walk but they are outside looking in and encouraging us.

Nor is testing pleasant. Jesus put Phillip on the spot.  It is as if Jesus says, “Phillip, we have a big problem with all these hungry people and it is your job to figure out how to solve it.”  No one likes being put on the spot even by Jesus.  It is no wonder that testing is described as fiery.  Who thinks that sounds good?  Comfort, ease, success and constant upward progress are among the core values of our culture that we have often adopted.  Core values that can be diametrically opposed to the work God wants to do in us.  Being put on the spot with inadequacy is not what we want but it is sometimes the only way a lesson can be taught. 

Often the circumstances that reveal the impurity or weakness is what will destroy or make understandable why we need it destroyed.  The testing can at times be the curative.  It is only in the testing that we see why our ideals, beliefs, or systems will not work.  If our sin is greed then the testing that reveals it and the cure may be poverty.  Only poverty could reveal greed and learning to live in poverty the cure.  Questioning and challenging character is the very nature of testing.  (Which by the way is why we NEVER test God, it would be to presume that His character is flawed and needs refinement)

I am not sure that we should want to be tested.  Those who say that they are looking forward to their testing may be asking for the revelation of more than they want to know.  Everything God gives us is good; that is not the same as pleasant.  However, I think it is reasonable and wise for us to want the results of working through the test-the improved faith, character and heart that testing will produce.