Divine Testing

09.07.09
J.A. Matteson

"…and there He tested them." Exodus 15:25

Has the mercy of the Lord brought you to the end of yourself yet or do you still stubbornly cling to illusionary notions of self-determination? The Holy Spirit has spoken clearly to you through Scripture but you doubt Him and express your unbelief through complaining to those around you. You are of no use to the Lord while you persist in the pathway of self-determination. Be on your way, chart your course back to Egypt to the house of slavery; contemplate with delight the flesh pots which await you, salivate at the memory of plump pomegranates, ripe dates and figs. While satisfying your belly these will leave you wanting, your unbelief will spring forth bitter fruit and if the Lord is gracious to you He will grant to you the gift of repentance, “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’" (Acts 11:18).

Here you are, in a desert place, and not able to control the outcome of your situation unease fills your mind, fear invades your heart, and the prince of darkness beckons you to be reasonable and return to the fertile land of the Nile. In this place you are faced with a decision; viz., to take the Lord at His word--that He is leading you to a good land flowing with milk and honey--or disbelieve Him by abandoning the way, thus demonstrating to yourself and those observing you that you are in reality an illegitimate son and not a child of Abraham in the likeness of faith. The pilgrims pathway through the wilderness is unpredictable to the mind of man but the Lord by His grace orchestrates every bend, each curve of the trail, in order to break you of the idolatry of self-sufficiency, to humble you, to bring you to the end of your self in order that you might rest completely in His mercy, obediently following His lead and commands so that eventually the border of the promised land will come into view, “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not” (Deut. 8:2).

The testing of the Lord is counter intuitive to human reason which is marred by sin. The grace of the Lord brings the pilgrim to the end of himself whereby he must either throw himself down at the foot of the cross, crying out for mercy, or perish. Divine testing characteristically removes every human enablement so that the pilgrim is forced to admit his inadequacy. Human pride is pierced through completely until brokenness produces the sweet fruit of obedience through which the Life of the Savior flows, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit” (Jn. 15:2). Grace is the source and faith is the response to divine testing in the pilgrim.

Where along the pathway to glory do you find yourself today? Have you visited the waters of Marah and have you called upon the name of the Lord to make them sweet? What bitterness of soul are you experiencing? Approaching from afar you were anticipating sweet water only to find it bitter and undrinkable. Are to grumbling or have you called upon the name of the Lord to transform your perspective making that which is bitter to sweet? Are you taking your daily allotment of mana or hoarding it in a storehouse, exhibiting unbelief that the goodness of the Lord will provide what is needed tomorrow?

Beloved the testing of the Lord is in accordance to grace, assisting you to produce the delightful fruit of obedience to the glory of God. Let not your heart be troubled when your circumstances prove contrary, but rejoice in the opportunity to demonstrate trust in the goodness of the Lord, resting in the reality that the circumstance generated by Providence does not define you, it merely reveals your heart, and the Lord’s intent is that the pilgrim manifest a heart, like king David, after His own.

Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).