John 6: 1-6
..... and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Do you know that God will test us? In Genesis 22, God obviously is going to test Abraham when He asks him to bring his son to the mountain at Moriah. As mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:2, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years "... to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart." It says in Isaiah 30:20: "Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them." In other words, the forty years in wilderness is to bring the heart of the people of Israel closer to God. In the New Testament times, Luke 22:31 mentions: "Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat." God allows Satan to sift all of us as wheat, so our God is a God that tests us.
Have you ever been tested by God? The fact is each of us has been tested, but some people do not know it is the test from God, just like Philip has no idea whatsoever that God is testing him. In fact God often tests us in our lives, you will not feel comfortable when you are under test and you feel how distant God is, with pressure mounting everywhere, you even feel not hearing any God's voice and seeing his work. If you are under test, ask God to help you with a sensitive heart to know His will.
Why will God test us? In fact, God's purpose is to sanctify our lives. It says in Hebrew 12:11: "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." God allows us to go through the wilderness; otherwise our lives are not able to mature. When Paul received the light on the road to Damascus, with great excitement he went to the church to proclaim: "I'm now a believer; let me serve God as soon as possible!" He ended up being rejected by the church in Damascus as well as the church in Jerusalem once he got there. Although his salvation experience was valuable, he did not build a trustworthy working relationship with the church. So God wanted him to stay in Tarsus for ten years to work on his life until he humbled himself and learned how to work with people. Brothers and sisters, God tests us such that we become mature; ask God help us not to refuse taking His test, but welcoming God to work in us!
Pray with Pastor Tong
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