God's Faith Tests: A Sermon On Spiritual Growth

God tests our faith in many ways, and these tests are essential for our spiritual growth and maturity. While they may be challenging, they ultimately serve to strengthen our relationship with God and lead us towards holiness. The Bible offers valuable insights into how God tests our faith and why such trials are necessary for our spiritual development. Through difficulties, demands, financial challenges, and delays, God puts our faith to the test, not to break us but to build our endurance and deepen our trust in Him.

God tests our faith through difficulties

The book of Hebrews 11:6 further emphasizes the importance of faith, stating, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." As parents are pleased when their children trust them, God, our heavenly Father, is pleased when we put our trust in Him.

When facing difficulties, it is essential to remember that God has a plan and purpose for our lives, and He will help us through these trials. We must learn to rejoice continually and trust that God is in control.

Additionally, 1 Peter 1:6-7 highlights the purpose of these trials: "For a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

Our faith is refined and strengthened through difficulties, preparing us for the glory and honor that await us when Jesus Christ returns.

God tests our faith through demands

The Bible is filled with examples of people who chose to trust in God, even when His demands seemed impossible. Abraham, for instance, was seventy-five years old when God asked him to leave his home and go to a place he had never been, without knowing the destination. Noah was asked to build an ark in the middle of a desert, despite never having seen rain. The Israelites were commanded to gather only enough manna for one day, even though it would have been more convenient to gather more.

These demands are not meant to make our lives difficult, but to grow our faith. They challenge us to trust in God and obey Him immediately, even when we don't understand the reason behind His commands. By responding in faith and obedience, our faith is strengthened and our relationship with God is deepened.

God tests our faith with dollars

Money is one of the greatest tests of our faith. Finances are a significant test of character and faith. God uses our material possessions as a test of character and a test of faith. For many people, finances are the greatest test of all.

Luke 16:11 says, "If you haven't been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Jesus is giving a truth that is taught throughout Scripture: there is a definite, direct relationship between how we handle our money and the spiritual depth in our lives. There is a direct connection. If we are not faithful in handling material wealth, He will not trust us with spiritual wealth. If we are not faithful with our possessions, He will not trust us with spiritual power. Money is a test.

We can check our checkbooks to find out how we are doing. What we do with our money determines how much God can bless our lives. Every time we give to God, our faith grows. Every time we give, it breaks the grip of materialism in our lives. Every time we give, we grow in love, hope, faith, and maturity.

In 1 Chronicles 29, David and the people of Israel raised money to build the temple. In that single offering, they raised over four hundred million dollars in today's terms—the most successful building campaign in history. David says, "Who am I, and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from You, and we have given You what comes from Your hand."

David continues, "I know, my God, that You test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things that I have given willingly with honest intent, and now I see, with joy, Your people who are here have given to You." David says that giving not only tests our faith, but it is also a test of the integrity of our hearts.

If we want to grow in faith, we must learn to give generously. We must evaluate how much our giving reveals our faith. We must ask ourselves if God looked at our giving, would He say that we truly trust Him?

Malachi 3 says, "Test Me in this,' says the Lord. 'Bring all your tithes into the storehouse and test Me in this. See if I will not provide for you, throw open the floodgates of heaven, and pour out a blessing that you won't even be able to handle." In other words, God is saying, "You give to Me, and I'll give to you, and we'll see who wins."

Giving not only tests us, but it also tests God. We are dared to put Him to the test to see that He will keep His promises.

Practical Steps to Growing Our Faith

• Rejoice continually: We must learn to rejoice continually, not just when things are going well, but also when we face difficulties. We can trust that God is in control and that He has a purpose for our lives.
• Obey immediately: When God gives us a command, we must obey immediately, even if we don't understand or if it seems inconvenient. We must trust that God knows what is best for us.
• Give generously: We should evaluate our giving and ask ourselves if we are giving sacrificially and cheerfully. Giving breaks the grip of materialism and helps us grow in faith and love.

God tests our faith through delays

We don't know the answers to these questions, and that's the point. Faith is waiting for God's timing without knowing "when".

God is more interested in our character than our comfort. He wants us to grow in spiritual maturity, and He does that through tests. It's like lifting weights at the gym; the more you test your muscles, the more they grow.

The Bible tells us that when our faith is tested, our character will grow. We see this in the story of Abraham, who waited years for a child, even though it seemed physically impossible for him and his wife, Sarah, to have one. Their faith grew because of the delay.

Another example is Moses, who endured conflict, criticism, and pain throughout his life. He must have asked God, "How long, Lord?" But he persisted through the pain, and his faith grew stronger.

So, when we're facing delays, we can remember that God is working behind the scenes, even if we can't see it. We can trust that He has a plan and that the delay is for our benefit, to grow our faith and character.

The next time you're facing a delay, remember to pray and ask God to increase your faith. Specifically, you can pray, "Lord, help me to wait patiently. I don't know when the answer will come, but I know that I can trust You."

God tests our faith through problems

Difficulties

God tests our faith through trials, problems, pressures, and tough circumstances. 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, "For a little while you have had to suffer great and all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."

Demands

God asks us to do things that seem impossible. There are 1050 commands for believers to obey in the New Testament alone. Some seem unreasonable, inconvenient, or downright impossible. When we are faced with such commands, the question becomes: who or what will we believe and trust?

Dollars

Money is one of the greatest tests of faith. Our relationship with money is a test of character and faith. Luke 16:11 says, "If you haven't been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" The way we handle our money determines how much God can bless our lives.

Delays

If our prayers were immediately answered and our needs instantly met, we wouldn't need faith. Waiting and patience are essential to growing our faith. Deuteronomy 8:2 says, "God led you all the way in the desert these forty years to test you in order to know what was in your heart."

In conclusion, God tests our faith through problems to strengthen our faith and help us grow in spiritual maturity.

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