Many of us probably have a few less than pleasant memories of our elementary school teachers telling us to “take everything off of our desks and to take out a No. 2 pencil.” The dreaded “pop quiz” which always seemed to come at the most inopportune time.
As adults we still have those pop quizzes—the impromptu meeting with our boss, the unexpected car repair, health issue, or phone call in the middle of the night. Things which are both unexpected and for which we may (or not) be fully prepared.
A Test of Faith
Surely those things are purely by chance, right? God Himself wouldn’t spring those things on us, would He? In Deuteronomy 8:2 Moses said to the Israelites:
“You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” (NASB, emphasis added.)
Moses was stepping aside after leading these people for forty years in the wilderness. Joshua was to take over and lead them across the Jordan river and into the Promised Land. And Moses was reminding them of the many tests that God Himself had given them.
Tests to prove what was in their hearts, whether they would trust Him–or not. Moses was advising, encouraging, exhorting, and warning them to not forget what they had learned in these forty years, to not mess up!
As a Heavenly Father of infinite mercy and grace, He has given us everything that we need for life and godliness through His Word, His Spirit, and the Cross. He has given us pastors, teachers, mentors and friends to show us and teach us how to live a life pleasing to Him.
He also has high standards that we represent Him well as His children. With that in mind He will occasionally give us tests to check our progress.
Trusting God with Our Resources
One of the most common tests that He has for us now as then is with our resources. In verse 3, Moses reminded the Israelites of how God allowed them to suffer hunger in the wilderness and fed them with daily manna. He allowed His own people to suffer hunger!
What about His promises of providing our needs according to His riches in glory? Of providing our daily bread? It was a test—it was only a test.
In Malachi 3:8-12 the prophet confronts the people’s sin of robbing God through their tithes and offerings. He promises them of God’s untold blessings if they will but obey Him, yet they didn’t. Do we trust God today with our finances? Our tithes? Our offerings?
Do we remain faithful when He allows us to “suffer hunger” when things are tight? When facing job loss, or car repairs or medical expense? Or are our tithes and offerings the first things we cut, robbing God?
Trusting God in Our Relationships
Another common area of God’s Pop Quizzes is in relationships. Sooner or later in the Christian life people are going to hurt us. Whether deliberately or unintentionally we are going to be hurt, maligned, or misunderstood.
Jesus Himself said that our enemies would be those of our own household (Matthew 10), and because the world hated Him it’s going to hate us, too (John 15). When we get hurt, do we trust and obey His Words in Matthew 5 to bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who use us? Do we believe Romans 12:19 that “vengeance is mine saith the Lord?” Or do we take matters into our own hands?
A third way we might experience a pop quiz is in how we treat strangers. Hebrews 13:2 tells us:
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (NASB)
The sweet old lady in the checkout line who is counting out exact change—one penny at a time. The parent in the seat next to us on the airplane whose toddler isn’t happy. The server at a restaurant who is having a bad day.
Those and countless other situations are opportunities to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit. And may very well be pop quizzes perhaps carried out by angels.
Putting Our Lessons Into Practice
In Mark 4:35-41 Jesus gave the 12 Disciples specific instructions to get into a boat, they were going to the other side. A severe storm arose and the 12 concluded that, despite what Jesus had said, they were going to die. Jesus calmed the storm. Then, He asked why they were so fearful.
It seems that whenever our Lord taught the Disciples a principle, parable, or doctrine, He would soon give them an opportunity to implement what they had learned.
In the same way, it seems whatever the Lord may be teaching us through our Bible studies, quiet times, our Pastor’s teaching or Sunday school lessons, He will soon give us real-time opportunities to implement what we have learned.
This is when we need to be “doers of the Word and not hearers only.” And why we need to be diligent in learning these lessons in the classroom and not during the storm.
When storms come into our lives it’s a good idea to not panic. Carefully consider what the Lord has said to us through His Word about those storms. Choose by faith to trust His Words over our own opinions. In all probability the storm is a test, only a test.