Light of the World Today
"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23 and 24 NIV
The last five parts gave you four kinds of challenge: formation, opposition, consequence and preparation. Today is about telling them apart. It matters more than most people realise. A doctor who gives the right medicine for the wrong illness still sends the patient home unwell. If you rebuke a formation season, you spend your strength fighting what God is building. If you patiently endure a consequence you should have repented of, you only lengthen it. So here are four simple tests.
Four Tests You Can Use Today
The formation test. Does it press on something inside you, such as your patience, your trust or your pride, more than on your plans? James 1:3 in the NIV says the testing of your faith produces perseverance. If God feels near even when answers are absent, lean in and cooperate.
The opposition test. Did it begin soon after you said yes to something God asked? Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:9 in the NIV that a great door for effective work had opened to him, and there were many who opposed him. The open door and the resistance arrived together. Pray, then stay at your wall.
The consequence test. When you trace it back honestly, do you find a seed you sowed? This is the hardest test and the easiest to dodge. It is also the one where you hold the most power, because a seed can be dealt with.
The preparation test. Does it line up with a promise or calling already spoken over you? Psalm 105:19 in the NLT says that until the time came to fulfil his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph's character. Mine the season and keep going.
Many challenges carry more than one of these at once. Ask which one is carrying the most weight today.
A Real World Example: Ben Carson
Ben Carson was born in Detroit on 18 September 1951. When he was eight, his parents separated, and his mother, Sonya Carson, raised him and his brother in difficult financial circumstances. In his autobiography Gifted Hands, Carson recounts that at age 14 he tried to stab a friend during an argument, but the knife struck the friend's belt buckle. Shocked by what he had nearly done, he prayed and turned to God and the book of Proverbs, an experience he says marked the beginning of overcoming his anger.
"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."
Proverbs 16:32 NKJV
He has said he believes God took away his temper and enabled him to become a surgeon. Notice what he did. He did not blame the poverty or his father's absence. He found the one challenge that was a seed of his own and dealt with it. At 33 he became director of paediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. In 1987 he led a team of about 70 through a 22 hour operation, the first successful separation of twins joined at the back of the head. He prayed before every operation he performed.
How to Apply This This Week
Pray Psalm 139:23 slowly, then write down whatever comes to mind. Do not edit it yet.
Ask one wise person. Proverbs 20:5 in the NIV says the purposes of a person's heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out. You may be too close to see clearly.
Respond to the right kind. Formation, cooperate. Opposition, pray and stay. Consequence, confess and replant. Preparation, learn and wait.
Conclusion
Across six parts, one truth has held steady. Challenges are not strange, and God is not absent. As The Message puts it in 1 Peter 4:12, when life gets really difficult, do not jump to the conclusion that God is not on the job. Name the kind of challenge you are in. Respond to it correctly. And trust the one who turns every kind of difficulty into something he can use.
Memory Verse
"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts."
Psalm 139:23 NIV
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Key scriptures: Psalm 139:23 and 24 NIV, James 1:3 NIV, 1 Corinthians 16:9 NIV, Psalm 105:19 NLT, Proverbs 16:32 NKJV, Proverbs 20:5 NIV, 1 Peter 4:12 MSG.