(I wish I could say I always responded rightly to the tests I have endured. I did not always count them all joy!)

Later, the book of James offers Job as an example of how to respond to testing:

You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:11, nasb)

Do you and I view testing as an opportunity to experience the Lord’s compassion and mercy?

Moses

Let’s look now at God’s testing of Moses. Moses was 80 years old when the Lord commissioned him to return to Egypt and deliver Israel from their slavery. Yet, when Moses was actually on his way back to Egypt, “the Lord met him and sought to kill him” (Exodus 4:24–26). Why? Because of Moses’ disobedience.

Moses had disobeyed the covenant of circumcision made with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:9–14). Only when he repented and had his son circumcised did the Lord spare Moses’ life and release him to go on his way. Moses’ position as a leader did not exempt him from God’s discipline—actually, it made him all the more accountable.

For you and me, there is a personal application of this passage, especially as we grow older. We cannot expect to complete our God-given assignment if we make room for disobedience in our lives. When we come under the dealings of God, we need to humble ourselves before Him and pray the prayer of David in Psalm 139:23–24 (niv):

Search me, O 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.

If we allow the Lord to search our hearts and He does not find anything offensive, we may conclude that we are under God’s testing, not His chastening. If we are being chastened, our response should be to repent; if we are being tested, our response should be to endure.

How the Enemy Works

We can learn much from Satan’s original temptation of Adam and Eve. His Greek title diabolos (devil) means slanderer. To slander someone means to defame their character. Especially when we are being tested, we need to remember that this is Satan’s primary activity.

First and foremost, Satan defames the character of God Himself. Hence his question to Eve: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan implied that God was an arbitrary, unfair despot. He was withholding a “higher level” of knowledge from Adam and Eve, which would come to them if they tasted of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Satan’s goal was to undermine their trust in God’s goodness, when in actual fact, God had already provided them with everything that was good, beautiful, and delightful. Adam and Eve moved from:

Mistrust of God’s goodness; to
Disbelief in God’s word; and then to
The act of

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