Maybe it’s because my son now has a driver’s licence, but I have been thinking about when I got my licence. My grumpy instructor is firmly etched in my memory. He was roughly 50 years of age, scruffy and disheveled, with large bags under his eyes. He barely spoke anything beyond terse instructions; “Left.”  “Turn Right”. “Parallel Park here.”  No matter what I did, the general demeaner of annoyance never changed. Every once and a while he would make a small notation in his clipboard.

When the exam was finished, he simply said “Passed” and handed me the sheet of paper. By the time I looked up, he was out of the car.

In the life of faith, we sometimes use the language of “testing” to describe God’s interactions in our lives. We might even say something like “God’s not troubling you, He’s testing you”, to describe life’s difficulties. But have you every wondered what we mean when we talk about God testing us?  Is God the heavenly equivalent to a disgruntled driving instructor?

Tests, in scholastic exams and road-tests, are designed for us to prove ourselves, to show our knowledge, our skill, or our worth. Importantly, these tests are binary in nature. Regardless of the range of letter grades, or the acceptable amount of demerit points, testing boils down to two options. You either pass or you fail; you make the grade, or you miss out.

Does God test in the same manner? Does God dole out heavenly exams to see where we stand?  Sadly, some people think this way.  A post in my social media feed linked receiving heavenly blessings to “passing God’s tests.” Trials and tribulations, on the other hand, are the necessary counterpoint. But, if this is what we mean by testing, such a belief condemns us. We never know when, or from where, our testing will come. Thus, we are never confident in our life with God and thereby live in a state of perpetual fear and confusion. 

Yes, scripture talks about God testing us, but the interesting thing is, we never hear of people “failing” the test.  Scripture never records that God lambasts someone for failing some spiritual exam. People sin, make mistakes, and some flatly reject God’s presence and grace. But neither Adam, nor Eve, Cain, nor Judas, are ever described as failing the Lord’s test.

This means that God’s tests are not about us passing or failing. God’s tests are not episodic moments by which the Lord checks to see if they were spiritually studious enough. God tests us not to see if we will fail, but to give us the opportunity to walk in step with the God of our liberation and healing. Tests are invitations to experience the miraculous and merciful presence of God. This is because a test, fundamentally, is rooted not in our own activity; they are testimonies to the God who is with us.

Don’t get me wrong, a time of testing can be difficult. I’m not suggesting that being tested is easy. There are times where God leads us into places that either stretch or challenge us. We see this constantly throughout the scriptures. No one in scripture lived life on easy street, not even Jesus. But if we assume that every hiccup in our spiritual lives is somehow tantamount to a failure on our end, then we inevitably miss out on what God wants to bring about in our lives.

See, we never enter a time of testing alone. If we believe that God tests us so that we might prove our spiritual mastery, then we will believe we move through the test solely by our own effort. Again, this is a pass/fail mentality.  God issues the test; we take the test. We act; God observes. But again, is this what we believe about God? Does God remain aloof and distant from our lives, precisely in those moments where we feel stretched beyond our ability?  

If you feel you are in a time of testing, take heart. Before you fret about what you should do or how you should respond, take a moment to see what where God is moving in your life. Because God’s tests are never just about what we do.  God doesn’t stand silent on the sidelines of our lives waiting to see if we make the correct response. God journeys with us. God goes before and behind us, God fights for us, and forgives us, redeems us, and strengthens us. Testing, therefore, testifies not just to our faith but to the very activity of God.