Why Does God Test Us?

The main question that this blog is going to answer is - Why does God test us?

But we cannot give an answer, not just yet, to this particular question without each of us personally answering a few other questions first. I believe the answer to these pre-requisite questions will help us better understand how we are going to arrive at the answer to our main question of God’s testing.

Question #1 - Who is God?

So, the first question we need to each answer for ourselves is – Who is God?

If how you answer this question falls anywhere outside the true definition scripture gives us of who God is, I would recommend putting your pursuit of answering our main question for today and spending some intentional time reading through scripture to get a better understanding first of who God is according to the Bible. Start in the Gospel of John located in the New Testament. Colossian 1:15 tells us, “The Son is the image of the invisible God.” This one verse tells each of us, regardless of where we might currently stand in our faith journeys, something very powerful yet easy to comprehend.

If you want to know who God is, what God is like, how God feels about you, and what God thinks about, examine God’s character, nature, or attributes, just spend some time getting to know Jesus because Jesus will show and tell you everything you need to know about God. The Gospel of John backs up this bold claim found in Colossians when it tells us in John 1:14 that the Word (God) became flesh (Jesus) and (Jesus) started hanging out with people, showing them the grace and truth about God.

Jump back into the Old Testament book of Psalms and here you will find verse after verse after verse referencing the goodness of God. For example, Psalm 38:9 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” But God’s goodness is not just found in only these three books of the Bible. All of scripture reveals to us that God is good if we are willing to look.

The huge point I am trying to make in one short paragraph is that before we answer the question of – why does God test us – we first need to answer the question – who is God – because if one cannot see God for who he truly is, one will never be able to see or understand how God testing us might actually be for our good too.

Question #2 - What Right Does God Have to Test Us?

The second question we need to take a moment to answer on a deeply personal level before we can look to answer our main question is – what right does God have to test us? Another way you could word this question would be – what has God done to prove to you or me that he has the authority to test us?

Again, my advice would simply be to take a look at any of the Gospels found in the New Testament. Remembering as you read through scripture that Jesus was God and God is Jesus. Look and read for yourself what God has done for each of us to prove he has earned the right to test us because God went as far as sending his Son Jesus to be sacrificed, crucified, murdered, and three days later conquered death.

“But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8

The Good News of the Gospel is not a story about what you or I need to do in order to be saved from our sins. The Good news in the Gospel is what God has done for us through Christ Jesus on our behalf. We will never fully be able to answer or embrace the answer to – why does God test us – if we first cannot come to see God is good. Despite our sinful nature and personal rebellion again God’s goodness, he still lovingly chose to forgive us and offer grace, mercy, and love through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ’s life and death.

Question #3 - What Does the Bible Say about Why God Tests Us?

Finally, the third question we have to answer before our main question is – what does the Bible say about why God test us? 

The easiest place to look in scripture to help us find our answer to this important question is found in the book of James 1:1-8. In these verses, James tells us that, if you have come to know God as good and put your faith in Jesus Christ, you can expect God to test you because by testing you, it produces perseverance. This type of testing eventually leads to maturing in your faith – not lacking anything. In other words, James tells those who would call themselves followers of Jesus that God testing you is actually a blessing because it is part of how we slowly become more and more like Christ – aka Sanctification.

Now we are finally ready to answer the big question of this blog!

Ultimately, I think the best way to answer heavy questions like this is to look to scripture and let the word of God do the heavy lifting of answering it for us. I also think it is important to look to answer any other questions, like we have done, to help us better understand questions like this. But since we have done the latter, let us look at scripture to help us find an answer.

Earlier I mentioned the book of Romans. In chapter 8, Paul reminds us in verse 28 that in all things (including our testing) God works for the good (because He is good) of those who love him (followers of Jesus) and are called according to his purposes. I think that Romans 8:28 is the answer to our big question – why does God test us? He tests us because God is good. He tests us because he has earned the right to test us. He tests us because he knows it is for our good. He tests us because he knows it is how we become more and more like Christ. He tests us because he loves us.

Tim Keller once said, “Trials (testing from God) reveal your motivations in faith: Am I serving God or do I want God to serve me?” He also once said, “In prayer, God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything he knew.” I love both of these quotes because I think they help us begin to see – if we have come to grips with the reality that we are all in desperate need of a savior. Jesus Christ is that savior – that we should be running to God and begging him in prayer to test us over and over again because we have come to know that God is good and therefore, his testing is actually and ultimately for our good too!