On Spiritual Testing

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1: 2-4, NASB)

EVERY CHRISTIAN knows he is going to be tested. He expects to be tested. These tests are not examinations to see if he knows scripture. These are not tests on doctrinal stances. These are the very real tests of God, and sometimes of Satan, that test the Christian’s faith and his walk.

Satan cannot test us without God’s knowing and without God’s permission. Remember the story of Job? Satan could not act without God’s granting, and he was bound by God’s restrictions. Satan could do anything he wanted to Job, but he could not kill him.

The closer we grow to God, the more we try to put into practice what we have learned about God and His will for us. It follows that the more we strive to act in faith and do God’s will, the more we will be tested. And the tests will become harder.

One of the most telling Scriptures about spiritual testing is found in Luke’s Gospel. The night He was betrayed, Jesus told Peter something that must have seemed strange when he heard it. “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail, and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32 NASB)

Christ reveals here several things we need to understand about testing. First, Satan can and does demand the right not just to test us, but to test us severely. Being “sifted like wheat” is an interesting phrase. It means Satan has demanded the right to completely shake Peter up, to grind him fine. But sifting wheat also removes the chaff and the impurities.

Second, Jesus makes it clear that God does not reject Satan's demands. The sifting is going to happen. It is as we say, “a done deal.” This was true for Job; it was true for Peter, and it is true for us.

Third, Jesus did not say He prayed for Peter to avoid the testing. Christ intercedes for us in times of testing and trial and prays for us. But He does not pray for us to escape trials, but to survive them. He prays that our faith may not fail. And we know that God does not fail to grant His Son’s prayers.

Jesus also prayed that after Peter repented, turned again, he would use this experience to strengthen others.

This is the fourth and most important point. Jesus already knew Peter was going to fail the test. In order for Peter to turn again, he has to turn a first time. The turning again is repentance. The first turning is his failing the test.

We all know the test. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the cock would crow at sunrise. Peter, relying on himself and his sense of inner strength and the love he had for Christ, denied that possibility. How many times has each of us fallen into that same self-laid trap?

Even though Peter knew he was going to be tested and had time to prepare and strengthen himself, he did exactly what he swore he would not do. In the middle of the night, while Christ was before the priests being beaten and cursed, Peter denied knowing Him three times. His third denial was accompanied by a curse. He failed the test miserably. Or, did he?

Peter failed to live up to his over confident image of himself, but his faith in Christ did not fail. When he repented, that faith grew stronger and Peter did indeed become a source of strength for the other disciples. In his later life, he wrote two letters encouraging Christians to endure testing and to see it as being purified as gold. His letters then urge us on to faith and good works.

Testing is learning the power of faith the hard way. But the lessons hardest learned endure the longest.