A major aspect of growing up and maturating is testing. Some testing is required by the life stage it is associated with, like the driver's exam, final papers in college, interviews for jobs, or the prodding of perspective spouses. Testing is how we find out who we are, how we discover what we know or do not know, and how we measure growth over time. But there is a testing of a higher kind altogether.
It is this concept of testing that Scripture speaks, of testing in a spiritual sense. In regards to spiritual testing, the Scriptures say that God tests us. Solomon speaks of God testing us in terms of refinement like the process of removing impurities from silver or fine metals (Pro. 17:3). The prophet Jeremiah speaks prophecy that echoes this, "I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruits of his deeds (Jer. 17:10)."
In this way, it can be seen that the testing of God is not merely a matter of checking our status and quality, but it is about growth beyond who we are at the present. More so, because God tests and weighs us, we should recognize that God knows us more intimately than even we know ourselves. And because His knowledge is both perfect and eternal, He sees us as dynamic, growing beings who are capable of learning so as to develop into more refined people.
This is key. Because God's testing involves both who we are in that moment but also who we can become by His grace through faith. Therefore, in order for us to become the persons that He has for us, we are required to stay in Him who tests because if we are not privy to how we rate before the perfect testing of God, we will fail to reach what He has deemed for us. In the end, this is about assessment and growth. The assessment is God's, and the growth is made possible by Him as well.
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