Does God Test Us?

Ever heard any of these phrases?👇🏼

“God is doing this to me to teach me something.”

“God is allowing this to happen to me to test me.”

“God is refining me by putting me through this trial.”

“God has placed this Goliath in front of me to bring out the David in me.”

Many beautiful, precious Christians will say things like this whenever they face a trial or challenge. 😥

However, are these statements true? 🤔

Does God “test” us, or take us through trials and challenges for a greater purpose? 🧐

Let’s see what God Himself says about it:👇🏼

In James 1:13 He says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

Let’s break this scripture down to see what it all means (from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance):

In the original Greek, the first part of the verse, “Let no man say…” is written with such emphatic exhortation that it could literally be translated as, “Don’t EVER, EVER, absolutely NEVER, let it even be a remote possibility, not even once, that any man should say…” 🤐

“…when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God…”

The word “tempt/ed” (used 4 times in this passage) is the Greek word “piradzo” which means, “to make proof of, test, put to trial for the purpose of ascertaining a person’s quality, how he thinks or how he will behave, to try or test a person’s faith or character.”👨🏼‍⚖️

The verse goes on to say, “For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

The phrase “cannot be tempted by evil” (Greek = apeirastos) means “incapable of, lacking the very capacity to be enticed or influenced by evil”. 😇

And in the phrase “Nor does He Himself tempt anyone” the word “anyone” (Greek = oudeis) means, “not a single person in existence, with no exceptions.” 0️⃣

So if we were to translate this passage in James using original meanings, God would literally be saying:

“Don’t ever, EVER, absolutely NEVER, not even once – don’t even let it be a remote possibility that anyone says, when they go through a test, trial, or challenge, that God is the one testing them to prove them, putting them on trial to refine them, testing to see how they will think or behave, trying their faith or testing their character. For God is incapable of being – in fact, He doesn’t even have the capacity to be – influenced by evil (because purposefully putting people through tests and trials is EVIL) nor does He Himself ever, EVER, absolutely NEVER put a single person in existence through tests or trials – no exceptions!” ⛔️⛔️⛔️

Verse 17 goes on to say, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” 

In other words: “Tests, trials and challenges are NEVER from God – God is the giver of (only!) GOOD and PERFECT gifts!  He doesn’t change like the shadows – one moment over here and the next moment over there – He is the ONLY ABSOLUTE REFERENCE POINT!” ☀️(Strong’s)

God is NEVER the cause of our loss, pain, or hardships. (Jn 10:10) ❌

We will only ever have ONE enemy in our earthly lifetime, and it’s NEVER, EVER God. (1 Pet 5:8) ✝️🟰❤️ #faithtalks #forusandneveragainstus

(Stay tuned for Part 2 – “So where DO tests and trials come from?” 😉)

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For further teaching on this subject, listen to “Know Thy Adversary” episodes 77-85 on Faith Talks with Emily Preston

For a FREE copy of Confessions for Life: God’s Promises for You – a booklet of scriptural declarations that cover all the main areas of life, go to www.faithtalks.com.au or email questions@faithtalks.com.au

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