A Cup of Testing

 
A CUP OF TESTING

By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly

“Remember every road that God led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not." - Deuteronomy 8:2 MSG

Are you being tested?  God’s people were tested in the wilderness.  So was Jesus.  I used to think that it was the devil who lured us into the desert, but scripture tells us that is was the Spirit of God who led Jesus into the desert to be tested.  The purpose was to prove what Jesus was made of and whether He would be obedient to the Father’s commands.

Jesus later prayed in the garden, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” – ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26:39‬ ‭NIV‬‬ His anguish poured out as great drops of blood.  On the cross, with the weight of the sins of the world on His shoulders, He poured out love and forgiveness through His blood.  His obedience was as worship to the Father.

As they say, “a person is like a tea bag—you never know what they are made of until you put them in hot water.”  We are not put in hot water to scald us, but rather to reveal what we are filled with.

This season of severe testing is indeed revealing what each of us is made of.  Tea bags are hitting hot water as we speak.  But thanks be to God, we have NOT been abandoned to be boiled to death.  Beloved, we may not see or hear Him, but He is with us and lovingly watches over us every minute.  Let’s invite His presence into our struggle.

Father, we lift our cups before You. We ask to be spared, but say, “not as I will, but as You will.”  Remove our hatred and selfishness.  Fill us, instead, with Your Spirit, faith and courage.  Like the fourth man in the furnace in Daniel 3, be with us in the heat.  We need You like never before. Help us to glorify You in this testing, and may You find that what pours out of us is love, worship and the sweet fragrance of Christ.   In Jesus’ Name❤️

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