"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside."
(Job 23:10-11)
We will all face tests or trials in our life, at one point or another and, depending on how we handle them, we may even have to repeat the test. When we are in school and we take a test, if we do poorly on it, the teacher may require us to retake the test. She doesn't arbitrarily make that decision but does so that we can prove we have learned the work and are proficient in it.
In Job 23:10-11 Job knows that God is sending a test his way but he also knows that he is going to ace this particular test. He won't need to repeat this test. He knows that he has prepared for it by following in God's steps and doing what He has asked him to do. He hasn't turned aside, or done things his own way, but rather he has chosen to do things God's way. Because of this, he is the best prepared that he could be for any test that might come his way.
Do you find yourself constantly repeating the same trials in your life; the same tests? Have you asked God why? So many times when we find ourselves in a situation, like that, we tend to blame God or ask Him to deliver us from it and if we haven't learned what it was that God wanted us to learn, we will be destined to repeat the test.
It might sound overly simplistic but I have found when that happens to me, I stop and ask God what it is in me that He wants to see changed. He is the refiner and we are the unpurified gold. Whenever the Master sees something in us that needs work, He puts us through His refining fire to burn out the impurities. If we allow Him to work on us, we will come forth as gold, pure gold, fit to be used in His Kingdom.
The next time that you are facing a trial it just may be a test the Lord is allowing you to take. Will you pass it by following in His steps and not turning aside? Or will you go off in your own direction and do things your own way so that you are destined to repeat the test? It's your choice how you handle the tests and trials that come your way, but your choice will determine if you pass the test or have to do a repeat test in the future.
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