Opening illustration: If there is any such thing as a universal question, it may be this: Why are all these trials in my life? This is not a new question; generations of children have asked it. They have then grown into adults who must answer the same question when their children ask.
Introduction: Whenever I read the books of Moses, I wonder how many times he heard that question from the Israelites. Before rescuing them from slavery and leading them out of Egypt, Moses told them that the Lord would lead them to “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). He did, but first they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. This was no ordinary wandering, however. They were not lost; they were wandering for a purpose. After 400 years of slavery, the children of Israel needed to have their hearts, souls, and minds reoriented toward God. This was accomplished in the wilderness (Deut. 8:2,15-18), but not before an entire generation died because of their disobedience (Numbers 32:13).
In life, it sometimes seems as if we are wandering in circles. We feel lost. We want to ask God, “Are we there yet? How much longer?” At such times, it helps to remember that the journey, not just the destination, is important to God. He uses it to humble us, test us, and show us what is in our hearts. (Julie Ackerman, ODB, 09/03/11)
Why does God allow us to go through trials in life? (v. 2)
1. To Humble and Test Us
We are the type of people who God has to show because we don’t listen to what He tells us. If you don’t believe me, check yourself against His Word in comparison to your obedience. You will see we fall woefully short, but we think otherwise which is Why God Humbles Us. If He allowed us to continue in our disbelief, we would come to ruin.
If you tell some Christians that you believe God tests us sometimes, they get mad. Yet if you read enough of the Bible, you can't deny that it's true. The above verses are abundantly clear. God tested the Israelites in the wilderness to humble them and to find out what was in their hearts, whether they would obey Him or not. In verse 16, the Lord reveals His purpose, "so that in the end it might go well with you."
God doesn't test us because He's mean and sadistic. He tests us because He loves us and He knows that trials can stretch us and make us grow. Why is the Lord so interested in our spiritual growth? There are probably many reasons, but a few I can think of offhand are that He can bless us more, we can be a greater blessing to others, and God can use us more for His glory. If we look at Job, some might say that it was Satan that did the testing, and technically, they'd be right. But it's also true that it was God who allowed Job to be tested. God was convinced that His servant would be faithful to Him no matter what, and He was right. And though Job was already "the greatest man among all the people of the East," the Lord rewarded Job with even greater blessings after his test than before.
If you study the lives of the people of the Bible, you discover that the ones God blessed and used the most were the humble and often the ones He tested the most. And many times, the greatest tests came right before the greatest blessings. Maybe you feel like you're in the desert of testing right now. Perhaps God wants to use you in a special way, and He is calling you to a higher level of faith and obedience. Instead of resisting the stretching pain of your trials, if you'll settle down and determine to pass the test by walking in obedience to God, not only will your faith become stronger, but God will reward you somehow. He may give you greater responsibilities or opportunities.
Being humbled by God is painful, but it is more painful to live life without humbling ourselves to God. Those who fail to ever humble themselves will spend eternity separated from God and His goodness. Why God Humbles Us – to bless us. He wants to set us up for success not failure and disaster. Abraham and Job are one of the finest examples in passing God’s tests with flying colors. The humble, tried and tested are God’s favorite! Surrender today.
2. To know what is in Our Heart
God is not fooled by outward appearance though we may be … God can see things about you that no one else can see. Deep things. Hidden things. You know, those inner thoughts and desires that your family and friends have no idea are even floating around in your heart and mind.
We tend to assume that a person's actions tell the whole story. But that is simply not the case. Just look at the apostle Peter for example. He had some serious lapses in judgment, and yet, his heart was right before God. He truly wanted to do the honorable thing in every situation. But his follow-through was not always as reliable as his intentions.
God is looking at that place inside you where your mind is constantly weighing various options. This means He is looking at more than just your behavior. He is looking at why you do what you do. That goes to the level of the heart.
Christians want to live for Christ because of what He has done for us. He gave us everything. His life. His love. His blood. And His free gift of salvation. Why wouldn't we want to give Him our entire heart, soul and mind? Why wouldn't we want to do the right thing in every situation?
The element of course which throws a monkey wrench into the mix is sin. And sin is more than just "what we do." It is also part of our being. The Bible calls that part of us our "sinful nature."
It is helpful to understand that your sinful nature is not the same thing as your heart. Your sinful nature can produce an unlimited amount of evil desires, but with your free will as a believer in Jesus, you get to decide which desires to dwell on and which ones to resist. The more we embrace good desires and righteous choices with our heart and mind, the more those bad desires decrease in frequency and intensity.
One of the many problems with sin is that it has the power to corrupt our motives. When that happens, we as Christians can start to become "double-minded." This occurs when some of our intentions remain pure, while other motives within us have become impure. Talk about conflicted!
Given the mess we are in if left to ourselves and our sinful nature, it is amazing that God would love us enough to reach down and offer us a new heart, and a new mind, and new motives. But that is exactly what He does. He not only washes away the sins of those who come to the Father through the Son, but He also begins to fill our soul with His living water. That refreshing experience leads to a new life. But only as the bad motives get replaced with good motives.
As D.L. Moody used to say, "We have to be emptied before we can be filled." As we admit our bad motives and sinful decisions to the Lord, we then ask Him to remove them and their chilling effects from our heart and soul. That emptying is crucial to make room for God's living water to fill us. Christians still have a sinful nature, but we are no longer chained to those desires. We are now free to pursue things which please God.
Amid our Christian freedom, we must be on guard daily against indulging the desires of the sinful nature. The moment we begin to do so with our words, or actions, or even persistent unholy thoughts, we notice a subtle shift in some of our motives. That is what sin does to us. It corrupts our motives. It damages our heart. And it makes it next to impossible for us to please God until we set it right.
As the Lord examines your heart and my heart today, He will be pleased if He sees faith in Christ and motives that want to do His will. If there is an area of our heart where that holy reality is not freely flowing, God can fix it. He can heal it. He can overwhelm our sin and our issues. But we must come to Him in repentance and humility just like King David eventually did.
Without the sincere motive to be walking on the Lord's straight path, we will experience much unrest and a continual longing for things which are outside of God's will. It's the same for all of us. We all have a sinful nature. We all get to choose our motives. And we all experience the fruit of our motives.
Therefore, all God must do to see what someone is about is to look at the heart. "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man" (Proverbs 27:19). Actions reveal a believer's spiritual maturity, or lack of it, but the heart reveals our deepest intentions. And the strength of those holy desires and the depth of our love for the Lord tells God a whole lot about us.
So, if you find your heart today filled with unholy desires rather than righteous ones, you can ask God to do something about it. Who else is capable of performing surgery on the soul? Who but the Holy Spirit can give us a genuine love for Christ and an ongoing desire to do His will in all things?
3. To see whether we are Obedient or not
Biblical obedience to God simply means, to hear, trust, submit and surrender to God and his Word voluntarily. God doesn’t compel us to obey Him as He has given us free choice which comes with the consequential package.
So why is it important to obey God?
(i) Jesus Calls Us to Obedience: In Jesus Christ we find the perfect model of obedience. As his disciples, we follow Christ's example as well as his commands. Our motivation for obedience is love: John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
(ii) Obedience Is an Act of Worship: While the Bible places strong emphasis on obedience, it's important to remember that believers are not justified (made righteous) by our obedience. Salvation is a free gift of God, and we can do nothing to merit it. True Christian obedience flows from a heart of gratitude for the grace we have received from the Lord: Romans 12:1 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
(iii) God Rewards Obedience: Over and over again we read in the Bible that God blesses and rewards obedience: Genesis 22:18 "And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me."
(iv) Obedience to God Proves Our Love: 1 John 5:2–3 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
(v) Obedience to God Demonstrates Our Faith: 1 John 2:3–6 “And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, "I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”
(vi) Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice: 1 Samuel 15:22–23 “But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So, because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”
(vii) Disobedience Leads to Sin and Death: The disobedience of Adam brought sin and death into the world. But Christ's perfect obedience restores our fellowship with God, for everyone who believes in him. Romans 5:19 “For as by the one man's [Adam's] disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's [Christ's] obedience the many will be made righteous.”
(viii) Through Obedience, We Experience the Blessings of Holy Living: Only Jesus Christ is perfect, therefore, only he could walk in sinless obedience. But as we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from within, we grow in holiness. Psalm 119:1–8 “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths …”
If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
Obedience to God is the pathway to the life you desire to live. It's the answer to overcoming sin and any problem you face. It's the way we learn how to grow up and let God work in our lives, gently changing us so we can be what He created us to be.
When you feel like it's too hard to obey God, remember that He will never tell you to do something without giving you the grace, power and ability to do it. The key is to trust Him fully and depend on Him for the strength you need to obey. God loves you and wants the best for you. Humble yourself before Him, and enjoy living with His peace, power and joy every day of your life!
Application: During your trials, God desires to …
• To Humble and Test Us
• To know what is in Our Heart
• To see whether we are Obedient or not
It’s the journey, not just the destination, that’s important. Let your trials be a blessing to you.
