You Don’t Need A Test In Order To Have A Testimony

There are many phrases heard within the four walls of the church. Some make us smile, while others fail to bring intended comfort. For example, we seldom if ever hear the phrase, “God is in control” until something bad has taken place. In such a situation, this particular phrase is meant to comfort those affected by what may have happened. However, in reality, temporary comfort may come, but will never last. Believing God is the one who chooses what does and does not happen will eventually lead to bitterness and a lack of trust on our part toward God. Remember, we cannot look to God as being the source of our problems and also look to Him as being the solution.

There are other phrases such as, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good!” as well as “The best is yet to come”. Many of these phrases sound great and some of the ideas behind these phrases are indeed found in scripture. However, there are many ideas floating around in the church that are spoken, but have no literal basis found in the written Word of God. Some of these phrases will open the door to the devil and take our focus off God without our realizing what is taking place. One of the phrases in question is found below.

“You cannot have a testimony without a test”.

There are a number of variations to the statement written above, but I am sure you get the point. You may have even made this statement based on what has taken place in your own life or in the lives of those around you. However, this particular statement is not found in scripture. More importantly, if we believe we must have a test in order to have a testimony, what reason do we have to resist any problem(s) we may face? After all, if God is in control, He must have allowed or caused everything we face in life. Why should we resist any of our problems? In doing so, we may be resisting God or at the very least, trying to stop the will of God short of its intended purpose. Of course, we have already looked at the fact that God is not in control of everything that does and does not take place upon the earth. We have also examined the fact that our problems do not come to aid us in the growth of our faith.

I laugh at the fact that someone would ever look to the word, testimony, and come up with the phrase, “You cannot have a testimony without a test”, because the first four letters of the word testimony form the word test. Sadly, this has indeed happened and due to the large following of those who use this line of thinking, many believe anything that comes out of their mouth as being truth. Later in this book, we will look at the most important qualifications we should use to determine whom we will and will not receive from.

God is too good to leave us in the dark at any time. In fact, He has given us the Holy Spirit to reveal to us all things (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit will also bring all things to our remembrance, which will aid us in numerous situations throughout life. Another important aspect of the Holy Spirit is seen in John 16:13.

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

Notice the last few words of John 16:13: and he will shew you things to come. One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to show (shew) us things to come. This includes problems we may face. God shows us what is going to happen in order that we may avoid the issue all together. In some cases, we cannot control what is taking place due to the choices being made by others, but we can seek God as to how we should handle what is going to happen ahead of time. In others words, nothing should ever take us by surprise. While I realize this is not always the case, it should be, based upon God’s faithfulness to us.

"I laugh at the fact that someone would ever look to the word, testimony, and come up with the phrase, “You cannot have a testimony without a test”, because the first four letters of the word testimony form the word test."

On the other hand, there are situations we can find ourselves moving toward, but by following the instruction of God as He speaks to us via the Holy Spirit, we can avoid such things. This reminds me of one of many examples I have from the times when I missed it concerning God’s warning. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. God did not condemn me when I did not heed the warnings of the Holy Spirit, but because He does not control everything that happens on the earth and the fact that we all have a free will, if we do not heed His warnings, we may find ourselves in less than desirables situations.

One night as I was driving home, I approached an intersection at which I could turn in order to drive home. In doing so, I would have taken the long way home. On this particular night, I thought about taking the turn, but decided to keep driving in order to drive to the next area at which I could turn in order to take the short way home. I had found myself thinking I should take the long way home, but decided not to do so. As it turned out, I ended up being forced over toward the curb by a driver who failed to signal when he changed lanes. The end result was two blown tires on my car. It was not the end of the world, but cost money and time as well as created frustration that did not have to come about.

I realize that some may say, “Oh, it could have been worse! God kept you safe.” While this notion could be true, the ultimate answer is the fact that God tried to keep me from dealing with the problem in the first place. Had I recognized God’s warning and taken the long way home, the incident would have never taken place at all. In all reality, I simply did not recognize God’s voice.

Many will say, “I don’t always hear God’s voice”. Please allow me to show you how easy it is to hear and recognize God’s voice. How many times have you ever run into a situation in which you said, “I knew something was telling me”? You may finish the sentence however you wish. Some may say, “I knew something was telling me not to do that and I’m glad I listened”. On the other hand, some, such as myself in the situation I mentio0ned earlier, might say, “I knew something was telling me not to drive in that direction. I wish I had listened”. That something is God speaking to us via the voice of the Holy Spirit. There is never a time when we face problems of any sort in which God did not place a roadblock in our path in an effort to keep us out of trouble. God truly does not want His children to suffer!

A test may bring about a great testimony; however, I would rather my testimony be one of the fact that I avoided the test (problem) in the first place.

Revealing Truth Concerning Job 42:11

When I originally wrote, "Understanding The Book Of Job", I purposefully left a lot of information out. I did this for numerous reasons. One of which was the intention of moving readers toward studying the written Word of God in order that He would give them revelation concerning questions that may have arisen during their reading of my book. An additional reason had to do with the fact that I planned and still plan to write a book titled, "Continuing To Understand The Book Of Job".

While I still intended to write this new addition of truth concerning Job, I am not sure when it will happen. In the mean time, I want to address a verse that could, but ultimately should not throw a curve for those who are studying the book of Job.

When we properly understand who actually gave satan power over Job's life, the answer concerning what we are about to discuss should be obvious. It all begins with Job 1:8.

"And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?"

It is important to remember the fact that the first few words of Job 1:8 have been misrepresented in the majority of biblical interpretations and translations.

The original Hebrew translation of Job 1:8 reads, "Why have you set your heart upon my servant Job" as opposed to "Have you considered my servant Job". God was not asking the devil if he wanted to attack Job. God was asking the devil why he wanted to attack Job.

In fact, the devil was so dumb to the point of trying to tempt God to attack Job.

Job 1:11, "But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."

The devil was literally attempting to tempt God to attack Job! This is because satan was not after Job, but ultimately after God. Satan was obviously angry at God after God had given power over the earth to man (Genesis 1:26, 28). After Satan (then known as Lucifer) fell in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3), due to jealousy over the power which God had given man over all the earth (Genesis 1:26) he became angry with God. However, since he could not do anything to God, satan went after the next best thing, which was God's prized creation, man. This is one of the key elements which lead satan to seek doing damage to Job.

It is of utmost importance we understand that God did not give satan power over Job. It was ultimately man who did so. This is why satan did not go to God to gain the power he once had over the earth. Instead, he went to those who had the power. This of course was man as seen in Genesis chapter three.

While this information may come as a shock to many, I encourage you to study the written Word of God, asking God to reveal truth to you concerning this topic.

The purpose behind my writing this article is of course to reveal truth concerning the words of Job 42:11.

Job 42:11, "Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold."

The words we will focus on are, "and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him".

Before we move on, let's do a quick review as to what lead to Job's need for comfort concerning what the Lord did to him.

First of all, God did not take from Job. Yes, Job may have said, "The Lord gives and the Lord has taken away" in Job 1:21. However, Job did not know what he was talking about when he made this ignorant statement that many have sadly embraced as truth.

Job 34:35, "Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom."

We must be sure to tie the words of Job 1:21 into the words o Job 34:35.

In addition, I know many may stand upon the words of Job 1:22, which read, "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." These words have lead many to believe Job was never angry with God in the midst of his difficulties. However, we must be sure to continue reading in order to discover truth. We may do so by reading Job 13:3 and Job 23:3.

Job 13:3, "Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God."

Job 23:3, "Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!"

I believe the two verses above speak volumes of Job's feelings toward the Lord. If this is not enough, let us look to the words of Job 34:36-37.

"My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. 37 For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God."

Wicked men do not love God nor cease to blame Him for their problems. Job had become quite angry with God as he fell into the trap of believing that God was the source of his troubles. Job's bad attitude toward God had spiked. It was at this time that God Himself stepped up and began to deal with arrogant Job in a direct manner.

Job 38:2, "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"

The words of Job 38:2 are the beginning of God's response to Job. God had reached the boiling point concerning Job's false accusations toward Him (God). God literally gave Job the chance to "get in His face" so-to-speak based upon the words of Job as seen in Job 13:3 and Job 23:3. God continued His chastisement of Job in Job chapter 38 through 41. This of course reveals the truth that God's chastisement of those He loves does not involve sickness, the loss of a job, the death of a child, or any additional form of natural pain. God's form of discipline comes via His word just as we see with Job (2 Timothy 3:16).

God literally came down upon Job with harsh words in order that Job would see the tremendous error of his ways.

When truth is revealed, God's harsh discipline of Job is why Job's family and friends comforted him. In fact, God only did two things to Job. He verbally disciplined Job, which lead to Job humbling himself and admitting that God was not the source of his problems beginning in Job 40:3.

I believe this information should reveal truth concerning the often-misunderstood words of Job 42:11. It was the devil, not God, who was to blame for Job's problems. Additionally, it was man, not God who gave the devil his ability to afflict Job.

In closing, I want to bring up on final, but important point.

When Job humbled himself and stopped blaming God for his problems was the time in which God was able to bless Job and give back to him twice what he had lost.

Let us also be careful to not blame God thus tying His hands and limiting His ability to bless u also (Psalm 78:42).

To learn additional truth cocnenring the book of Job, purchase a copy of “Understanding The BookOf Job” via the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Book-Job-Separating-Truth/dp/1453878769/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359144548&sr=8-1&keywords=understanding+the+book+of+Job