Proven in the Eyes of God

.
“The LORD tests honest people.” (Psalm 11:5, Contemporary English Version).

Think about it: There is nothing in your life worth having if it has not first been tested and approved. Every single thing that now functions well in its place, making your life what it is, had its beginnings in an idea, that became a prototype, which was tested until it became proven. Then it was manufactured and marketed. And now you use it regularly, and are happy with its performance.

Do you think that maybe God might be doing the same with you?

The Bible tells us that “God tests honest people.” His purpose in this is prove them, so that He can use them. And the test is more than fair. For He has promised that He would never let us be tested above what we were able to bear. In other words, He doesn’t stack the test against us, but actually tempers it to our ability to pass it.

He has equipped us for every good work, and He must show us that the equipment works. He does this by testing us. The Apostle Paul said, “God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message.” (1Thessalonians 2:3, The Message).

Remember the wise man who built his house on the rock? The rain and wind hammered his house just as it did that of the foolish man. The purpose of the storm was to prove the worth of his structure. In the same manner, then, the testing of the Lord in our lives only proves that the equipment He has given us to handle great and difficult challenges -- works!

In another place Paul told young Timothy, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. He has given me the strength for my work because he knew that he could trust me.” (1Timothy 1:12).

Can the Lord trust you? He can if you weather the storm, and pass the test!

Remember what happened to Joseph of old? He was sold into slavery by his own brothers! The Egyptians “hurt his feet with fetters; he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him." (Psalm 105:17-19).

God had given great dreams to Joseph as a young man, but he had to wait for several years before his dreams came true. The waiting was not in vain. God used the time to refine Joseph as gold in a furnace. The harsh years were not for the sake of proving the dreams true, but for proving Joseph to be true.

The Lord’s refining process does the same in our lives today. It may be, my fellow traveler, that you are undergoing a test from the Lord, which is applied in love to insure that when your dream comes true -- you will be true as well.

You will be proven in the eyes of God!
.