Good morning,
Testing for God’s reward!
Why would the God who knows everything about us, from the time we are conceived until we enter eternity, allow us to be tested as we go through the stages of our life? Is God trying to uncover something that will give him more information than he already knows? No, he doesn’t need that. When God allows us to be tested like he did the righteous man Job, or when he tested the man Abraham, who had been learning what it meant to trust God for many years, why did God do that? James tells us, God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either.(Jam.1:13) What God is doing when these challenges show up is what James tells us, God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him (1:12) When God is testing his own children he is always doing something that will turn out for our good and for the benefit of those who watch us and the rewards that our Loving Heavenly Father has planned for gifting us in eternity. A beautiful example of this is when God tested his special friend Abraham. “Abraham!” God called.“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you.”(Gen.22:1,2) Abraham had waited and waited for many years for this son, and now God was telling him to do this? Yes!
So What did Abraham do? The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son Isaac. Then he chopped wood to build a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place where God had told him to go. (v.3) As they got near to their destination his son Isaac asked his dad, “Father?” “Yes, my son,” Abraham replied. “We have the wood and the fire,” said the boy, “but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”(v.7) Abraham said, “God will provide a lamb, my son,(v.8) When they arrived at the right place, Abraham built an altar, put wood on it, and then tied up his son and put him on the altar. Then he took his knife and raised it up to do what he was told. Just then, the angel of the LORD shouted to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” he answered. “I'm listening.”(v.11) This is what God had to say, “Lay down the knife,” the angel said. “Do not hurt the boy in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son from me.”(v.12) Then God showed Abraham a ram stuck in a bush, and then that ram was offered instead of his son. So what was God telling us when he tested this man that he loved so much? First, Abraham was willing to trust God’s timing for giving him this son. Next, when God told him to do something that didn’t make any human sense, he didn’t argue. He went right to work getting the wood ready for the offering instead of one of his servants. When his son wondered what was going on, his faith was deeply rooted in the Lord, His God. Abraham wasn’t stopped from killing his son because of his fear, he was stopped by his God. After the offering was finished, God said, Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your beloved son, I swear by my own self that I will bless you richly.(vs.16,17) As Isaiah said, You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!(Is.26:3) Thank you Lord, that you have given us, your children, your Holy Spirit to empower us to live in faith like those who went before us.
James 1:12 God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Roy Wisner
