The Test

Prior to his betrayal by Judas, the Lord was praying on the Mount of Olives. When he gets up from prayer he finds his Apostles on the ground sleeping.

“Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not be tempted.”

Some bible versions also translate this to say: "Pray that you are not put to the test."

“The Test” is a test of undying faith and devotion to the Lord. When things are going great and we seem to have everything that we need, it becomes easy to thank God for all of his blessings. However, what happens when everything starts going wrong?

What if you lose your job, your home gets broken into, you cut a flat tire, or become ill? What is your perception of the Lord then? Has it changed because of your situation? Are you now angry at the Lord because things are not going as you think they should?

Each and every event in our lives is a lesson. What we take from that lesson is up to us.

Give praise and thanks to the Lord each and every day. Be thankful for the things that you have versus the things that you don’t have. (Greed – one of the 7 deadly sins).

Have you heard the story of Job?

Job was a righteous man whom always strove to please God. The Lord rewarded him with a large family, home, cattle and great wealth.

The Devil was jealous of Job. So he argued that Job would rebuke God if all his possessions were taken away. In order to reveal a lesson through Job, the Lord permitted the Devil to take away all of Jobs possessions.

Robbers came and drove away his cattle, slew his servants, and stole his possessions. Then, a terrible tornado from the desert came and wiped away his home, killing all of his children. In response to all of this Job said…

"God gave, and God hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord."

The Devil of course was both outraged and ashamed and came back to the Lord and once again argued that Job would defy the Lord’s name if his skin and bone were terribly diseased. Again, the Lord agreed and in order to prove Job’s loyalty the Lord allowed the Devil to strike Job with leprosy that ate away his skin.

Even through terrible suffering Job continued to pray and give thanks to the Lord. His own wife even tried persuading him to speak out against God (the Devil was trying everything).

After God had shown everyone the perfect example of devotion through Job, he blessed him. Job then received back more possessions than he originally had. He fathered 10 more children, and continued to live for another 140 years in honor and service to the Lord.

How would you react if you were put to the test?

I pray that my family and I are never put to the test.

Until next time -

God bless you