- “The Lord tests hearts.”
- The Lord will test your heart. Why would He do that when He already knows everything?
- One, we still have to make the choice. God knew Abraham would follow through with the command to sacrifice Isaac, but Abraham still had to go through with it. Abraham needed to show what God knew was in his heart.
- God was blessed by Abraham’s choices and Abraham was blessed by his choice as well.
- Two, God shows us what’s in our hearts by the test.
- It shows us if we are really relying on God. If we fail, we can see the evil in our heart, where we might have thought we were doing pretty well. It can show us where we need repentance. It can show us where we are relying on our flesh.
- What does testing look like?
- The beginning of the testing verse reads like this. “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold.”
- We’re tested by fiery trials. We’re tested by troubles and tribulations. We’re tested when the heat is turned up. But what comes out on the other side? Pure gold.
- Trials can prove our faith. It can show us we have God as our God. What could be more valuable?
- 1 Peter 1:7 (NLT) These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.
- When the trial comes, don’t run to the world for salvation. Look to Jesus. Wait on the Lord. He is your Savior. There’s more than deliverance on the other side; there is pure gold.
- 1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
- God Himself will restore you, confirm you, strengthen you, establish you. Isn’t that something worth waiting for? Don’t you want what He has stored up and planned for you?
