The Square

It’s good to test yourself every once in a while. In school, tests always forced me to study. If I wasn’t going to be tested, I wouldn’t study. In life God tests us by asking us to do something that we can’t accomplish. When we realize we’re helpless to complete the task, that’s when we realize we need to depend on God and that with Him we can do whatever He asks. I know someone who hates public speaking but felt that God asked her to give a talk to a Mom’s group. She was stressed for weeks leading up to the talk. She was praying about it, reading Bible verses as encouragement and receiving support from loved ones and friends. This was a test and she was faithful. The day came and she couldn’t eat until the speech was over. There were about 70 people in the room and she got up there and talked about what God told her to say and touched many ladies lives. A+. Here’s a sobering verse: 1 Chronicles 29:17 “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.”

And here’s some verses that when you think about it, take great faith and trust to pray. Psalm 26:2 “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;” Psalm 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”

Another way God tests us is financially. All that we have is from God. Christians would agree with that statement. Even every breath we breathe is given from God. However, when God commands in His word that we give Him back a tenth (tithe) of our wages, many Christians fail the test and don’t obey. This is just one way that we get stretched by God. Malachi 3:10 says “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” If you’re currently failing the test with your finances, take a leap of faith and give God what already belongs to Him. Malachi 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings.”

Here’s a workout, I call The Square, that you can do with a friend to test each other. This is how it works. You do a round and then hand off the weights to your friend to do a round. Continue like this for 7 rounds. Physical and Spiritual tests can be very difficult at the time but, the benefits are worth it. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test everything. Hold on to the good.”