You Can't Have a Testimony Without the Test

You've probably heard this a million times; to have a testimony, you need to face the test. This is the part many of us are not willing to come to terms with. Sometimes the test seems too long, too difficult and downright impossible to get through. We try our best to guess the answers to the test. We hear of someone's testimony and try to do exactly what that person did, we pray like that person did, fast, cry out to God and try so many other 'methods' someone else used, yet we wake up the following day and our test is still there pushing us to the brink of faithless-ness.

Don't lose hope! Your test is unique! It may be the same situation someone else you know faced, but designed to teach you a completely different lesson. I have recently come to understand that God tests us to teach us. His intention is not to frustrate us or suppress us. No! His word says he wants us to have life in abundance. However for us not to mismanage his abundant gifts, it is imperative that we go through the tests, the training, the course, the whole nine yards. Sometimes the test is designed to break you because you have the wrong attitude and then re-mould you so you can have the attitude God desires. It might be to break your pride or self sufficiency so you can rely on God fully.

It is only after you've learned the lessons from your test that your testimony will arrive. The thing about this test is we can't fake anything. We can't pretend we've learned the necessary lessons when we haven't because God knows us inside-out. He created us so he knows what we're thinking, he knows our flaws our deepest desires and our wildest imaginations. 

There's no point fighting against your test because your testimony won't come. You can't drop out of the university in your second year, yet expect to receive a certificate the day your classmates graduate. Go through your test! Pray for a sensitive spirit so you can learn your lessons quickly and above all, praise God fervently throughout your test! It will confuse the enemy that's telling you to accept a quick fix that has a hidden price! God makes no mistakes! He knows why he's testing you, and his plans are way better than yours for "He is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we can ever ask or imagine according to his power that works in us" (Ephesians 3:20). 

Go through your test, your testimony is on the way! God makes no mistakes! XOXO