BEING KIND OF TESTY
Psalms 78:41 Again and again they put God to the test, they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
Often we think of testing God in terms like Gideon. When God called him to lead the Hebrews against their enemy in battle, Gideon doubted God. Because of this he tested God. He wanted proof that what God told him was true. He laid a piece of wool fleece on the threshing floor, and told God that if in the morning there was only dew on the fleece and not on the ground then he would believe he was called to lead the Hebrews into battle. When it happened just as he had asked God, Gideon began to have further doubts. So he asked God once again for proof. This time he asked that the fleece be dry and the ground wet.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to make sure that we are knowing God’s will correctly. I believe that God wants us to have the assurance in our calling. The problem is when we question God himself. We see this with Adam and Eve. God had told them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But when Satan told them that God was just keeping the fruit of that tree from them, because he didn’t want them to be like him they tested God by eating from it anyway. They tested God in the wrong way for the wrong reason. God is never pleased with this. We see Satan testing Jesus in the wilderness following his baptism. Satan’s testing of Jesus was intended to entice Jesus into sinning. Satan knew that Jesus had created everything, and was God’s only begotten Son. What Satan wanted to do was to make Jesus not only question himself, but to lower himself to proving himself to Satan. By doing this it would imply that Satan was greater than Jesus. Why would a king have to prove his kingship to a beggar?
The Pharisees, Sadducees and teachers of the law all tested Jesus. In Matt 16:1 they wanted Jesus to show them a sign from heaven of his supernatural powers. Then in Matt 19:3 they wanted to test his knowledge of the law. They tested him in many ways. They even tested him as he hung on Calvary’s cross, saying come down if you are the son of God. They tested Jesus to prove him wrong. But there is another testing that the Lord detests, and this is testing his patience. It is like when a little child keeps asking their parent for something that the parent has already told them they couldn’t have. The child thinks by their constant asking they will cause the parent to give in. Either directly or indirectly people do this with God, and it never ends well. God will not let it in well! God will not let his creation manipulate, coerce or threaten him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. We can try to test God’s patience, but it will end up with God’s rejection. Many times Israel tested God’s patience with their outward disobedience. Sometimes it even ended in their death.
As I have said before that God doesn’t mind for us to be sure of knowing his will, but to test or question his character he minds very much. Even as Christians we need to be very careful to honor the Lord as he deserves. We should never question God’s character. There is none throughout all creation as wonderful as he is. If he says no it will always be for the right reasons. We should never try to manipulate or bribe him into doing anything. God will always do what is best for any given situation. We should rejoice in this, and be glad we have such a wonderful God.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being so patient with us. Please help us to never test your character or integrity. You don’t have to prove yourself to us. We need to prove ourself to you. We love you Lord, and ask this in Jesus name.
