Pop Quiz

Recently, I've thought about studying for spelling tests all week, when I was younger. Sometimes, we'd take pretests- not for a grade, but to help us figure out what we needed to study before the big test.

That reminds me of a sermon I heard recently. The pastor was teaching from 1 Peter 1:6-
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.

In the sermon, he mentioned that he had always looked at trials as tests by God, ones that you could pass or fail, and God was just waiting to see if you could weather the trial. In fact though, the trials or tests are really for YOU to see what you are made of. It's a chance to see where your strengths are, so you can grow. Suddenly my brain clicked in to gear...

God already knows me through and through... these tests are not for His benefit... but mine!

You know how you can hear something a jillion times and then one day it's said in such a way that you just get it? In that moment, I finally got it.

The tests we are enduring now, they're preparing us for eternity... as we work out our salvation, growing toward the ultimate goal of Christlikeness... they're not so we can be judged, but so we can figure out what areas we need to study harder in! So, if I don't do well in a trial, it's not that I got an F, but I instead get the opportunity to let God refine these areas. If I lose my temper, I know I need to pray for patience. If I doubt? Time to build my faith.

And where does faith come from? Just need to consult the Study Guide (it's an open Book test, after all)~
Romans 10:17- So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So, if I go through a trial, and discover that my faith is weaker than I thought it was, I just need to read and hear more of the Word. Aha! Then, that's what I shall do! How hard is that?

I guess the reason I'm so excited about this revelation is that I guess I just never thought much about why God would test me, I only focused on how disappointing it must be for God to have me fail time after time. Now that I realize that I can use these 'practice tests' to get me ready for eternity, I can pay attention much better to what actually is happening. That way, the closer I get to eternity, the closer I'll be to Him.

God is so faithful to paint little pictures for my heart to understand. What an amazing God we serve! I get that I'm still a preschooler in the faith, but I feel honored that He takes the time to break it down to my understanding.