Chosen Grace

Hey friends! I pray that September is well! Here is a quick blog post to encourage you.

As you guys know, I am a professor. And with being a professor, I am in charge of creating tests for my students. Now, my students have not had any exams yet, but they will.

And while many of you reading this may be out of school, we all have spiritual tests that we must endure.

You see, as God is our Abba (Hebrew for Father), we must endure certain tests. Let’s check out a Scripture below:

You must submit to [correction for the purpose of] discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

– Hebrews 12:7, AMP

While the scripture above does not necessarily discuss tests and trials, we can apply them here. You see, we have been adopted into God’s kingdom (Romans 8). Because of this, we will endure discipline. Sometimes discipline looks like hardships. And other times, it looks like tests.

Our Abba does this because as the Scripture states, He is dealing with us as sons and daughters. And only a good parent disciplines their child.

As we go through Scripture, we can look at the history of the Israelites as an example. They were chosen by God and promised many great things. However – in a child’s true nature- they rebelled time and time again. One such time, can be found in Numbers 13 and 14. Let’s look at an excerpt here:

 “That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”  And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

– Numbers 14:1-4, NIV

Now, this Scripture always gets to me everytime I read it. You see, right before this Scripture, the Lord had just promised His children the Promised Land. He had sent 12 spies to test the land to see if it was good and they found that it was! However, fear entered into 10 spies and they perverted the ears of the people once they got back. Only Joshua and Caleb were found to be faithful.

This is how we ended up with the Scriptures above. You see, their fear lead them ultimately rebelling against the promise God had made them. They even went so far as to say that they would have been better off in Egypt- their place of bondage!

Now, while we are not in BC times, we too can be rebellious children and hinder our hearts from what God wants to do. This is especially apparent when God tests us. Sometimes we allow the fear of failing or the unknown the keep us stuck or wanting to go back to where God delivered us from (I’ll save that for another blog post).

The point for this post is: pass your test!

I recently just came through a testing season and I am humbled that God allowed me to pass. However, there were times where I truly did not think that I would pass! There were moments where I felt like I should give up and go back to where I was before. And then there were moments when I felt like I’ve done enough already!

But, each time I thought I couldn’t do it- the Lord reminded me that I was right. I can’t do it on my own. But with Abba’s help, I can overcome. Let’s get some Scripture reinforcement:

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

– 1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV

I love this Scripture and during the last phase of my testing, Abba lead me here to remind me that He alone is faithful.

And so I want that to remind you of the same thing. When you are being tested- remember that God alone is faithful. Scripture says that He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, so believe Him!

I do want to empathize with you though: tests are hard! No one wants to endure them. They don’t feel good and unlike physical tests we took in school, spiritual tests last as long as God allows them.

But, even if your testing season lasts a day or 3 weeks, God is faithful. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He doesn’t change. So even if our tests do, Abba won’t.

Another thing to remember is that God’s tests are open book! We literally have a guide (The Bible) to help us as we endure life’s twists and turns. Our cheatcode to life has proven itself handy in my experience. So, definitely open The Book and check it out.

I want to close this blog post by assuring you that you can and will pass your test! My mom always says that “God ain’t brought this far to leave you.” And it’s true! God ain’t gonna leave you when things get rough. In fact, that’s when He makes Himself more visible.

To conclude, I just have 3 words: pass your test!

As someone on the other side of one, it feels pretty darn good.

With love and a new grace for God’s tests,

Malaysia