When He has Tested Me – Job 23:8-12

When He has Tested Me – Job 23:8-12

  1. God uses trials to inspect us.
    1. Job 23:10
    2. Deuteronomy 8:1-10
      1. God led you in the wilderness… by a pillar of cloud and fire
        1. to humble you (cf Daniel 4:28-37)
        2. to test you (cf 2 Cor 2:9)
        3. to know your heart (cf Prov 17:3)
      2. God allowed you to be hungry so he could feed and teach you.
      3. Your clothes didn’t wear out & your feet didn’t swell so you could know the Lord loves you (Prov 3:11-12, Heb 12:5-6).
    3. Once we pass inspection, God has something better for us.
  2. God uses trials to correct us.
    1. Isaiah 27:7-9
    2. Proverbs 22:15 – foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.
    3. Sometimes God allows the consequences of our actions to correct us – Luke 15:11-19
    4. Psalm 119:71 – “It is good that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.”
  3. God uses trials to protect us.
    1. Genesis 50:20 – you intended it for evil, but God meant it for good.
    2. Deut 6:24 – What God does for us is for our good always.
    3. 2 Corinthians 5:7 – for we walk by faith and not by sight
  4. God uses trials to perfect us.
    1. Proverbs 20:30 – “Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, as do stripes the inner depths of the heart.”
    2. James 1:2-3 – count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience have her perfect work.
    3. Romans 5:3-4 – we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces endurance, and endurance character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint.
    4. 2 Corinthians 12:9 – My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
    5. Hebrews 12:9-11 – we endure trials and are trained by them now that we might later enjoy divine and eternal peace.
  5. In a practical sense, we are what we are as the result of our response to God’s tests:
    1. The character issues associated with elder and deacon qualifications reveal a man’s response to a lifetime of testing and trials.
    2. Every Christian should seek excellency in these areas of character, ultimately being conformed to the image of Jesus.
    3. “People are like tea bags, you don’t know their strength until you place them in hot water.”
    4. The same sun that melts wax also hardens clay.
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