1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.
10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. 11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. 12 You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
20 But, O LORD Almighty, you who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.
12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
“Tribulation is necessary for the decentralization of self and the development of deep dimensions of agape love, this love can be developed only in the school of suffering. It grows and develops only by exercise and testing. This may explain the relationship between sainthood and suffering by showing why there is no sainthood without suffering. It may also show why the greatest saints are often the greatest suffers.” Paul E. Billheimer
“The testings are not for God to see what is in our hearts as He already knows. The testings are for us to see what lies deep within our beings. Every testing or trial He sends forth or allows is ultimately used for our good and His glory – never one surpassing the other.” BHY
“But we must caution that in every home and family and life, there are times of trouble and testing and difficulties and trials and doubting and heartaches and pain. In this dark world, we all must face them- many of them. Let’s all prepare for them by spending much time in God’s Word, in prayer for all of our families. Let’s all be faithful in seeking the Lord every day- asking His Mercy and Forgiveness when we fail Him and one another. Let’s continually ask Him for His Guidance and Wisdom as we endeavor to walk in Jesus’ steps along the narrow path of righteousness. Let’s pray that He will make of us all powerful and effective witnesses for Him who daily effectively present the Gospel of Christ and display His Love to all who are around us.” Roger Killian
“Even as muscle gets stronger through use as it’s broken down and built up, the same is true of faith. James 1 says, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance” (verses 2–3 NLT). God will test our faith for our own good. I know we would like to have trouble-free lives. I know we would like to have temptation free-lives. It’s been said that one Christian who has been tempted is worth a thousand who haven’t. It’s also said that Christians are a lot like teabags; you don’t know what they are like until after you put them into hot water. Faith grows stronger through testing. Take Abraham for example. The Lord started by telling him to leave his country. Later on God told him to take his son Isaac and lay him on the altar. He started with a simple test and went on to a more difficult one. We’ll go through series of tests in our Christian lives of faith, and each one will make us stronger. Yes, the tests will get harder. But we’ll get even stronger, because God is whipping us into shape for greater challenges and greater opportunities. Everything is preparation for something else.” Greg Laurie
“We will never put God in a nice little convenient proverbial box of our own makings and imaginations. He is so totally other – His thoughts are not our thoughts neither His ways our ways. His paths for us are always perfect and pleasing and have our best interest at heart though most often unimaginatively hard. His ways may not lead us into comfort and painlessness. Indeed, His children should not expect to be carried into heaven on a bed of down though He can do so if He so desires. More often than not, His ways lead us into circumstances ‘far beyond our ability to endure’ to demonstrate to the unbelieving world (and to ourselves for that matter) His power in our lives whether it be by miraculously changing our circumstances or just as miraculously (or even more so), by changing our hearts through the circumstances. His good ways will always lead us on paths of conformation to the fullness of His precious Son – that’s the purpose. He wants us to be like Jesus – whatever it takes - and we want that too. That is the abundant life.” BHY
“Life holds for all of us, from time to time, desolate places. All that was ordinary and secure and familiar and dependable seems a thousand miles away. Here we are in this strange wilderness- out of work, ill, robbed of something or someone, banished from a privilege that once was ours, no longer needed, confused, forsaken. It is a place of dryness, loneliness, isolation, helplessness, fear. We feel as though we are walking where no human being was ever meant to walk, a place of dragons. Don't despair. Even though you find no signs, be sure that thousands have traversed this terrain. When you reach the far side you will meet them. But there is something that is far more comforting than that. You are not alone now. Always beside you is Another whose voice you may not hear, whose arm you may not feel, whose footprint you may not see. Nevertheless His Word is utterly to be trusted: ‘I cared for you in the wilderness.’” (Hosea 13:5) Elisabeth Elliot
“We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave. Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham’s was a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God’s dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God’s river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him.” F. B. Meyer