The Tests Will Come – Joshua Graves: Exploring the Collision of Culture & Faith

The Tests Will Come

February 8, 2013

Israel and Jesus take a very similar journey.

Following God’s rescue in the water (Red Sea, baptism) they are both tempted in the wilderness. Jesus response in Matthew 4 is the way Israel should have responded. Jesus refuses to be driven by relevance, spectacle, and power. He will find his identity in faithfulness to God’s calling upon his life. Jesus will be for Israel what Israel was supposed to be for the world.

But here’s the thing. Both Matthew and Exodus indicate that the Spirit led God’s people/Jesus in the wilderness. The wilderness is the place where God shapes us into who God wants us to be. It could be that every leg of the journey (slavery, freedom, wandering, celebration, Promised Land) uniquely possesses the ability to shape us in ways that other parts of the journey cannot. So whether you find yourself in plenty or want, success or failure, God can only work with you exactly where you actually are.

So, don’t pretend to be somewhere or someone your not because God can’t work with you if you are in denial. The desert can be a gift because it teaches us about sin, ourselves, God, and our struggle to relate to another.

In Matthew and Luke, the text reads: “If you are the son of God” (the words of Satan). A better translation might be, “Since you are the son of God.” If you are a son or daughter of God, life going is to test you. And those tests are meant to prepare for what’s ahead, even if you can’t see more than a few feet in front of you.

Thank God for the tests. Because God is working on you.

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6 Comments

So, is life testing me…the world, and all its temptations testing me? Or is God deliberately, purposefully testing me in a specific way for a specific need in my heart?
Hmmmm.

by Donna (Feb 8 2013, 1:51 PM)

I don’t think God causes all of the tests (though some of them are his). I think God uses the tests to shape us into stronger, freer, truer humans. Biblically speaking, the temptations (from Satan, powers, principalities) are meant to make us weaker, bound, false humans. In some sense, it’s a moment of faith. Israel and Jews have demonstrated remarkable character (Jesus too) in this matter. Thanks!

by josh (Feb 8 2013, 1:56 PM)

I do thank God for using the tests to shape me and teach me and make me more like him.
Tests….temptations….hmmmmm. I love how you always make me think a little deeper….even when it makes my head hurt! :-)

by Donna (Feb 8 2013, 6:57 PM)

Ha! Thanks Donna.

by josh (Feb 8 2013, 8:55 PM)

Having a hard time seeing the forrest through the trees on this one. (No wilderness pun intended). I’d like to believe it were true but I’m struggling that he interacts with me or any other individual at a one on one level. Does coincidence factor into life’s seasons good or bad? I’m not in agreement or disagreement with your thought. Just an area that I’m really trying to understanding how, why or when you are able to see Him at work.

by Rod Grantham (Feb 8 2013, 10:20 PM)

You are loved, Rod.
I agree. Very difficult to see God especially when you are in the thick of it. Have you ever read Nouwen’s The Wounded Healer?

I try and keep these things central in times of trial :
-trusted spiritual guides/friends
-stories in scripture
-the artists, writers, musicians who really understand pain and anguish

by josh (Feb 9 2013, 6:11 AM)