Do we find ourselves in situations that seem to be steered or engineered?
Could Someone be manipulating events, does God test us?
We will look at what the Bible tells us…
Table of Contents:
1. Jesus seems to take his disciples into a dangerous place knowingly
Jesus got into a boat with his disciples.
God knew what was going to happen and He allowed that difficult situation to unfold, even though it was going to be extremely tough for them.
Jesus too, presumably knew that there was danger ahead of them.
Would Jesus allow the disciples to go into difficult situations? Does God test us?
You can read the story here:
That day when evening came Jesus said to his disciples;
Mark 4:35-41 NIV
‘Let us go over to the other side.’
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.
There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion.
The disciples woke Him and said to Him;
‘Teacher! Don’t You care if we drown?’
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves; ‘Quiet! Be still!’
Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to His disciples;
‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’
They were terrified and asked each other;
‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’ “
2. A gale and heavy seas – modern-day example
Many years ago I was kayaking (canoeing), 5 miles out from Clacton in the North Sea.
A gale was blowing, and the sea was wild and it was one of those really difficult situations.
All the waves had ‘white horses’ on them and that made my slalom canoe terribly difficult to control and keep upright.
We had decided to keep together as a pack of canoes, then, if one of us got into trouble the others could help.
But one person decided to go on ahead of us and he was taken slightly off to one side.
He reckoned he would be alright on his own and very quickly we lost sight of him in the huge waves.
I couldn’t look around much because all of my attention was taken up with combating the violent wind and waves.
After a while, we saw a small lifeboat coming from the shore.
It came to the left side of us and picked up the canoeist from our group who had gone on ahead of us!
We later found out that he had fallen out of his canoe and we had paddled right past him, unaware of him being there!
The huge waves and spray had prevented us from seeing him, but the coastguard had been watching us from the shore and they had seen the danger.
When we got back to the shore, there he was wrapped up in a blanket, shaking violently from the cold and a little disturbed from his mishap!
We were experienced canoeists, but that chap had got too much self-confidence and he had put himself in a situation which was too difficult for him to cope with.
We will get tempted to make bad decisions, see how Jesus combated the temptations.
How to make good decisions in our lives.
A modern parable about an old lady bullied by some youngsters but it has a good ending.
3. Did God test the disciples in a terrifying situation?
Jesus, presumably knew what was going to happen, he led his disciples into a dangerous situation which was a bit like the leader of our canoeing group saying to me in that gale on the North Sea; ‘I want you to go on ahead of us so that we can’t see you!’
Why would Jesus Christ, the Son of God, want to do that?
Does God test us?
Jesus wanted to test them, to see whether they trusted Him, or not.
That was no trivial storm.
Those fishermen were accustomed to dangerous seas and yet they were petrified!
So this was a really difficult test, in an extremely tough situation.
How did the disciples cope with their test?
- They were terrified
- The situation was beyond them
- They thought they trusted Jesus.
- They were certainly following him, but when the crunch came where was their trust?
We may think that we are ‘good’ and that we will make the right decisions, but difficult times bring out our true character.
What is our goal in life?
Do you want to get baptised – find out more here.
4. Life can be testing and unpredictable. Does God test us?
When everything is going well, there is no problem is there?
But suddenly a bad illness hits us, or someone loses their job, and the money becomes very short, which causes arguments, shouting, and bad feelings…
We may attend a church and think that we trust the Lord.
But God may test us.
The problem suddenly pushes us beyond our level of skill, or patience, and we feel very alone and exposed.
Do we put our trust in our own strength?
Or do we hear the voice of Jesus saying: ‘Trust me. I am God. I see all things, I know all things. I am all-powerful and nothing is too hard for me. Trust me.’
Does God test us? Yes, and we need to trust Him that it has a purpose in our lives.
The apostle James gives us some advice:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
James 1:2 NIV
Matthew Henry in his Bible Commentary says of this verse in James:
1. It is implied that troubles and afflictions may be the lot of the best Christians, even of those who have the most reason to think and hope well of themselves.
‘Commentary on the Whole Bible’ (1721) by Matthew Henry 1
Such as have a title to the greatest joy may yet endure very grievous afflictions.
As good people are liable to be scattered, they must not think it strange if they meet with troubles.
2. These outward afflictions and troubles are temptations to them.
The devil endeavours by sufferings and crosses to draw men to sin and to deter them from duty, or unfit them for it;
But, as our afflictions are in God’s hand, they are intended for the trial and improvement of our graces.
The gold is put into the furnace, that it may be purified.
3. These temptations may be numerous and various:
Divers temptations, as the apostle speaks.
Our trials may be of many and different kinds, and therefore we have need to put on the whole armour of God.
We must be armed on every side, because temptations lie on all sides.
4. The trials of a good man are such as he does not create to himself, nor sinfully pull upon himself;
But they are such as he is said to fall into.
And for this reason they are the better borne by him.”
Does God test us?
Yes, but not in a severe, judgmental way.
Remember, that God is a loving Father who wants the best for His children.
5. Jesus’ miracles were SIGNS
When He calmed the storm, what do you think the sign for that miracle was saying?
The miracle of Jesus calming the raging storm teaches us that:
- Jesus has power over nature.
- Jesus is the One who created the world, so it is an easy thing for him to calm this storm!
- We need to learn from the things Jesus said.
It is easy to be tempted that this is a made-up story.
But it is true, it happened.
Does God test us?
Yes, He does allow us to go into difficult situations so as to expose any weaknesses in our lives.
This is to expose them so things can be put right and not to condemn us.
God does test His children and it is a refining process so that we can gradually be more like Jesus.
Not that we will ever be perfect like Jesus, because he himself is our righteousness.
Jesus is our robe of right-ness so that we can stand before a pure and holy God.
How to feel happy and just feel better.
Here are a few Bible verses that help to give stability in our lives and there is a ‘Recall Notice’ on the human race!
The things we do can pile up against us like a debt we owe God…
References – open in new tabs:
Sailing boat image: thanks to ‘The Pictorial Dictionary’
published by The Educational Book Company, London