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Earlier that day, Jesus had been teaching the crowds, “Again He began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around Him. So He got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was on the shore facing the sea. He taught them many things in parables...” (Mark 4:1-2) But at times, He separated His disciples and “Privately… He would explain everything to [them].” (Mark 4:34) The storm came after this day of teaching. Why might this testing have followed His teaching? Scripture suggests to us an answer.
God tests His people for many reasons. In Deuteronomy 8:16, Moses told the Israelites “He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.” And Solomon says to himself in Ecclesiastes 3:18, “This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.” Scripture lists other reasons for testing, but God’s most common purpose seems to be to determine if we will obey what He has taught us. Exodus 16:4 describes such a time of testing; the Lord told Moses, “This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.” We may not know exactly why God tests us. His But one thing the Bible assures us of is that, “all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.”
We cannot know God unless we learn about Him, and we learn about Him through His word (Romans 10:17). But that knowledge is useless and empty unless we live out what we learn. Can you think of someone who has spent years in church, but doesn’t demonstrate true faith? Life would be wonderful if just hearing the Word changed us and we never needed testing. But that is not the case. As human beings, we hold on to our habits and we often require practice to learn to respond in new ways. Sometimes, we refuse. Paul warns against this in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. Please forgive the length of this, but I think this entire passage is important to quote:
“But know this: difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of religion but denying its power. Avoid these people! For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their lack of understanding will be clear to all, as theirs was also.”
Look at what Paul says about these people, “holding to a form of religion but denying its power,” “always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of truth,” “these resist the truth,” and, “they will not make further progress.” Paul is talking about church-goers. Why will they not make further progress? They resist the truth. We know they hear it because Paul says that they are always learning. They may even actively study, but they deny its power. I would love to know the full range of what Paul meant with that phrase, but I suspect that in sum it means they failed their tests. When it came to practice, I bet these men acted without faith.
Contrast them with Abraham, the man who is held up as an example of faithfulness. “Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.” (James 2:20-23) The word translated here “perfected” means “to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end.” A faith that has not been tested is only theoretical. When God tests our faith, He makes us use it. We can theorize about what we will do in any given situation, but what we actually do in that situation reflects where our confidence lies. The question God wants to know and to show us is, “Does our confidence lie in Him?”
Thankfully, we don’t have to pass the test on the first try. I’d like to close Part 2 with a quote from Paul and one from James on the repetitive nature of trials and their purpose. Paul tells the Romans (5:3-4), “we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.” Endurance doesn’t happen with one test. It happens over time. James encourages us with this thought, “Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:3-5) Trials do serve a valuable purpose, one that ends with us being complete. Hallelujah!
But there is great news! God doesn’t want us to suffer through trials! He wants us to have peace! In Part 3, we will look at how to have that peace. Faith is not blind. Faith requires us to look at all available options and to choose the best one! I pray that we all learn how.
